Hundreds of Harlem residents protested in New York City on Wednesday over what they call the state’s failure to protect them from soaring rents and neglect. A court monitor was created to oversee Castellan Real Estate Partners, the hedge fund-backed owner of more than 50 rent-stabilized apartments. But advocates say Castellan continues to squeeze tenants with higher rents and to ignore poor conditions at its buildings. María Aguirre of the Movement for Justice in El Barrio said she faces constant harassment.

María Aguirre: “I’ve been living in that apartment for more than eight years. There was another landlord, but the current one has been harassing us, and he is causing us a lot of problems. Last winter, I had problems with the heat and hot water. It was really cold in the winter, and they just said that we had to wait. It’s really complicated, especially for us, mothers who are single and work. We have to get home to cook for our kids when they come back from school, and without gas it’s impossible.”