Town: Stony Brook home illegal multifamily

Brookhaven Town investigators have accused a Mount Sinai landlord of operating an illegal multifamily dwelling in Stony Brook, putting 14 college students at risk of losing their Stony Brook apartments.

The landlord, Steven P. Graziano, faces up to $24,000 in fines for a battery of offenses ranging from lack of a rental permit to construction without required permits at the Christian Avenue home. The home is a 7,000-square-foot, single-family house that was divided into three apartments, town officials say.

Town investigators recently executed a search warrant at the home after complaints from neighbors about loud parties, disturbances and multiple vehicles.

In addition to numerous construction violations, investigators found that the tenants violated a town law that no more than eight unrelated people can live in a home, said Councilman Steve Fiore-Rosenfeld. Some or all of the students may not be allowed to continue living at the house if Graziano does not correct the violations, he said.

The town does not evict tenants, so whether students will be evicted might need to be determined in court proceedings, town officials said. Graziano is due in Brookhaven Community Court in Patchogue on April 14.

Fiore-Rosenfeld said the town enforced the housing laws at the Stony Brook house because of an ongoing push against all illegal housing, and not just illegal student housing.

"I'm not looking for a student problem. Students have a right to rent an apartment," Fiore-Rosenfeld said. "But they've got to follow the law."

Attempts to reach Graziano were not successful.

The students all appear to go to Stony Brook University, town officials said.

One resident of the home, who identified himself as Mike and declined to give a last name, said Graziano "keeps us in the dark about everything." He said he is hopeful he and his roommates will be able to remain in the house until the end of the academic year.

"We didn't do anything wrong, we're just going to school," he said.

The home is about one mile from Stony Brook's campus in a wooded suburban area.