Guttenberg officials took matters into their own hands last week when they ordered a Bergenline Avenue apartment complex to be evacuated and subsequently padlocked because of what they said were unsafe conditions in the 10-unit apartment building.
Tenants of the building were asked to vacate the premises and were temporarily moved to a North Bergen motel. The building, deemed a “total horror show,” by Councilman David DelleDonna, was padlocked and an arrest warrant was placed on the owner, Dr. Esmat Zaklama.
Zaklama, a pain management specialist from Jersey City who has previously run for mayor of Jersey City, as well as published a weekly political newspaper, has not been heard from or seen since the warrant was placed.
Township officials became aware of the situation when a tenant called police to complain that she found three men in her apartment, removing furniture.
“Apparently, the owner rented her apartment without her knowledge and he was having these people remove her belongings,” Delle Donna said.
According to police reports, the woman came home to find three men in her apartment packing her belongings and putting them in the basement.
Reports state that Zaklama “allowed the three men into the woman’s apartment after he’d rented the same apartment to a woman from Tennessee, but these men had no legal paperwork that would allow them to remove the existing tenant’s things.”
The men – Rimon Ghobrial, 23, and Ashraf Sadek, 27, both of North Bergen, and Milad Zakaria, 41, of East Street, Jersey City – were charged with criminal trespass. Police issued an arrest warrant for Zaklama, charging him with theft by deception.
But that was just the beginning. The woman offered more to township officials.
“She also told us about the conditions of the building, so we went in to check,” DelleDonna said.
Disgusted
DelleDonna said that he was totally disgusted by the condition of the building.
“There were extension cords going from the first floor to the third floor, just so the tenants on the third floor could get electricity,” DelleDonna said. “There were rodent droppings all over the place. The smoke alarms didn’t work. There was rubbish and garbage in the basement. It was a total horror show. As far as we’re concerned, it was totally uninhabitable.”
According to township officials, Zaklama now faces $8,000 in fines for failing to make the improvements, and faces more penalties with each day that the improvements are not made.
This was the second time in 18 months that residents had to vacate the premises. In June, 1999, residents were temporarily homeless for five days, when fire officials asked Public Service Electric & Gas to discontinue service, because of a series of possible fire hazards.
The township officials also determined that the building’s two first floor apartments were being occupied illegally. The space was first zoned for commercial use, but the owner apparently converted the space into illegal apartments.
DelleDonna said that he has not heard from or spoken to Zaklama for a year.
“He got permits to do work in the building, then we never heard from him,” DelleDonna said. “As it stands now, he cannot do any work to the building without a permit and he has to come in to get the permit.”
Repeated phone calls to reach Zaklama went unreturned. A receptionist in his Jersey City office simply said that the “doctor was out of town.”
Zaklama told a local daily newspaper that there was no emergency situation at the site and that the township officials acted “improperly” in shutting down the building. He also indicated that he had filed complaints against the town’s police department, the mayor’s office, as well as the FBI Corruption Unit. He also indicated that he plans on filing a $20 million civil rights suit against the township.
So sue me
That’s news to DelleDonna.
“The township of Guttenberg has not been notified of any lawsuit,” DelleDonna said. “If he thinks he’s right, then he should show up and file the charges. Believe me, we’d be interested to see him.”
According to Lt. Joseph Gryzbowski, Zaklama has warrants for his arrest for similar charges in seven different communities.
“He has a history of doing this in other towns,” Gryzbowski said. “The charges against him are all indictable offenses and the other warrants are outstanding, but he refuses to come in. We can’t find him. He calls from a cell phone, which says he’s out of state. He’s doing everything in his power to circumvent the law.”
DelleDonna said that the township looked into the possibility of doing the repairs itself, then billing Zaklama for the cost, but then decided after advising state housing officials.
The building has had a troubled history since it was sold in a sheriff’s auction in March,1999. In June, the township sold a municipal tax and sewer lien on the property for $14,000 – a lien that also remains.