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January 19, 2008 05:32:59
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Jersey City 'slumlord' jailed over building conditions
by Michaelangelo Conte
Friday January 18, 2008, 7:30 PM
A landlord out on $70,000 bail was jailed today when he couldn't post an additional $23,000 for more violations at a building where officials say tenants lived in overflowing sewage, without heat, hot water or electricity.
Officials said the building, 16 Woodlawn Ave., also had housing and fire code violations.
Jersey City police tracked down Gregory Wong to his mother's North Brunswick home and staked him out during the week and again at 5 a.m. todaybefore arresting him there in connection to violations at the six-unit building.
"I hope the message is that the Mayor's Quality of Life Task Force is going to continue to crack down on these landlords in Jersey City," said Task Force Chairman Mark Redfield.
Redfield said the city has issued 17 warrants for Wong's arrest based on violations at the building from late 2006 through late 2007. Because Wong never made repairs, the city eventually relocated the tenants -- three families -- at an estimated $4,500 per family, Redfield said.
Wong faces more than $100,000 in fines and Redfield said he's been trying to contact him through numerous means for more than a year but had not been able to get Wong to reply or make repairs.
Municipal Court Judge Nesle Rodriguez set the $70,000 cash bail and yesterday she said she'd done so not to penalize Wong but to get him to deal with the issues at the building. Wong paid that bail without appearing in court or dealing with issues at the property, city officials said.
Rodriguez could have incorporated the new bail into the large bail Wong had already posted but opted not to, saying his arrest had been the only way to get him in court.
Wong said he could not pay the additional bail and the judge ordered him taken to jail and set a new court date for Wednesday at 9 a.m.
"He did not step up to the plate and do what he was required to do," said Redfield.
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