By:Doug Miller
Cesta, 44, who owns a number of multi-family homes in Long Beach's North Park neighborhood, was arrested by Long Beach police and charged with multiple building violations. (A bench warrant had also been issued by the city for Cesta's unpaid traffic violations.) He pleaded not guilty, was released on $2,500 bail and is due back in court Feb. 8.
Nassau County District Attorney Denis Dillon announced Jan. 18 that as part of his re-election campaign, he would dedicate the resources of his office to helping local governments prosecute the owners of illegal dwellings.
Among the homes Dillon singled out as particularly egregious violators was 25 E. Hudson St. in Long Beach, a two-family house that allegedly was operated as a rooming house. The house, according to the city, is owned by Cesta, as is another at 164 E. Chester St., a legal three-family house the city cited for numerous property violations, including lack of heat, peeling paint and water leaks. The city announced it would pursue criminal charges against Cesta the day after 25 E. Hudson appeared on the front page of Newsday.
Last month, the City Council adopted an ordinance that allows the building department to serve absentee landlords by simply stapling summonses to their properties without having to track the owners down.
"We have [Cesta] for a number of charges for three properties," said the city's building commissioner, Scott Kemins. "On 25 E. Hudson there are six violations pertaining to [its] being used as a rooming house. There were 13 rooms being rented out to 25 people."
Among the other complaints was one about the building's heat, or lack thereof. All dwellings, even illegal ones, are required to be heated, and the city had responded to a number of complaints this winter from residents who were not given adequate heat. Kemins said Cesta had cut off their heat as a way of getting some of the people to move out, in order to bring the house back into compliance. At the time of Cesta's arrest, Kemins said, the house was fully heated.
The actual charges Cesta faces will be determined by the judge, since each individual building code violation does not translate into a criminal charge, Kemins explained.
The violations for 25 E. Hudson include the overcrowding and illegal kitchens and bathrooms. At 164 E. Chester, Cesta was cited for a broken pipe in the ceiling, for a lack of heat on the first floor, peeling paint and cracked drywall that were discovered when an inspector visited Dec. 20. On Dec. 9 an inspection uncovered water damage. On Nov. 12, there was no heat, and on Oct. 21 an inspector found water leaking. Cesta was cited on each of those occasions, Kemins said, but never answered the citations.
Cesta's attorney, Lawrence Elovich, said that most of the charges his client faces do not rise to the level of crimes, but that, nonetheless, he hoped to be able to settle the issue with the city before going to trial. "We'd like to conference the matter with the building department and the city's corporation counsel and see if we can resolve all these issues," Elovich said. "[Cesta] has assured me that all of the building violations have been taken care of."
Cesta was taken into custody Jan. 26 and arraigned the following day in Long Beach City Court. He was then "perp-walked" in leg irons in front of the region's media. The leg irons are now required attire for every prisoner in the Long Beach Police Department, an officer said, ever since a cop had his nose broken last year by a prisoner who was trained in martial arts.
Elovich said he understood why the police department used such caution with his client, and was not going to make an issue of it, but added that Cesta was angered by the treatment.
Comments about this story? DMiller@liherald.com or (516) 569-4000 ext. 213.
