The daughter of a well-known New York music studio owner is facing a lawsuit over claims that she remained in a Brooklyn apartment for years while refusing to pay rent.
Tracy Rosenthal, 39, whose father is Grammy-winning studio owner Steve Rosenthal, has described herself as being on a “rent strike” for the past four years after returning to New York City from Los Angeles.
Speaking at an August meeting of the North Carolina Democratic Socialists, Rosenthal said her $2,300-a-month, two-bedroom apartment in Brooklyn’s Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood was infested with cockroaches, the New York Post reported.
“As soon as I moved in, I realized that we had roaches… and I lost my mind,” she told the gathering. “I was very angry… it’s really gross.”
Rosenthal alleged that her landlord would not bring in an exterminator to address the problem. Her father, Steve Rosenthal, is known for his work with major artists including Coldplay, the Foo Fighters and David Bowie.
After learning that the building was reportedly in foreclosure and allegedly contained more rental units than legally permitted, Rosenthal said she began organizing with other tenants and encouraged neighbors to stop paying rent, according to the outlet.
The Post reported that landlord Adetunji Akinboboye lost at least $108,000 from Rosenthal’s apartment alone before ultimately losing the building to foreclosure in 2023.
“We’ve been on rent strike ever since,” Rosenthal said.
Tracy Rosenthal, the 39-year-old daughter of Steve Rosenthal, has been on a ‘rent strike’ for the last four years as she faces legal action and eviction
Rosenthal, seen with her dad and stepmom at the 53rd Grammy Awards, grew up in a $1.7 million place in NoMad and attended the Grammys with her father at least twice
Rosenthal discovered that her building was facing foreclosure and allegedly holding more rental units than legally approved, so she organized her neighbors to all refuse to pay their rent
Rosenthal now faces legal action and eviction from the buildings new owners, US Bank, who claim that she and at least two other tenants have ‘squatted on the premises,’ records filed in November claim, court documents viewed by Our News Outlet claim.
‘That, although respondents might have been entitled to use and/or occupy the premises, any license to use and/or occupy the premises expired upon the judgement in a foreclosure action,’ the petition filed by US Bank stated.
Rosenthal was ordered, along with her neighbors, to vacate the residence by November 13, 2025, the filing stated.
‘…respondents, after the date set forth in the notice, have failed and/or refused to vacate, quit and surrender possession of the premises,’ the document continued.
Online records show that the building on Hancock Street was placed under the Housing Preservation Department’s Alternative Enforcement Program in February.
The program intends to improve housing conditions and order owners and landlords to correct any issues with living conditions, including the maintenance of hot water, mold violations and vermin violations.
According to the Post, a notice from the city plastered to the buildings door declared that it had been removed from the program on July 14 after resolving the violations.
Rosenthal grew up in a $1.7 million place in NoMad and attended the Grammy awards with her father, a four-time winner, at least twice, the Post reported.
Rosenthal has been a long-time tenant activist across NYC and LA and even penned her own book on the subject; ‘Abolish Rent’
Rosenthal has championed tactics including camping outside of a landlord’s home, shaming them to their family, friends and/or neighbors or leaving ‘really bad Yelp reviews’
Rosenthal seen in a recent mini-documentary from Mayor Mamdani’s office centered around how a group of tenants successfully ‘took on one of the worst landlords in NYC’
Yet, she has been a long-time tenant activist across NYC and LA and even penned her own book on the subject; ‘Abolish Rent.’
On her website, the activist said the book, co-authored with Leonardo Vilchis, ‘takes aim at one of the foremost engines of inequality and injustice.’
‘With unsparing analysis and striking stories of resistance, this deeply reported account centers poor and working-class people who are fighting back, staying put and remaking the city in the process,’ the site states.
‘Rent drives millions into debt and despair and onto the streets, but tenants can harness our power and make the world our home.’
The book includes ways for neighbors and tenants to unionize against landlords, including making collective demands and organizing rent strikes. The pair co-founded the largest tenants’ union in the country, Los Angeles Tenants Union.
In an interview with Jacobin, Rosenthal discussed rent strikes – either the withholding of rent money or refusing the vacate – and her own experience with US Bank.
‘One of the reasons that I’ve managed to live on rent strike for two years is that my landlord is US Bank. The economic sanction on the bank is miniscule. The amount of money might be irrelevant to a bank, but to everyone who lives in my building, it is a massive transformation of all of our lives,’ she told the outlet in October of 2024.
Rosenthal has championed tactics including camping outside of a landlord’s home, shaming them to their family, friends and/or neighbors or leaving ‘really bad Yelp reviews,’ the Post reported.
In July, Rosenthal co-authored a piece in The Nation with Sumathy Kumar praising the New York City Rent Guidelines Board approval of a rent freeze
Rosenthal’s book includes ways for neighbors and tenants to unionize against landlords, including making collective demands and organizing rent strikes
In one instance, Rosenthal and a tenant union were seen on social media crashing the wedding of a landlord’s child in Beverly Hills in 2023 with signs protesting the landlord.
In July earlier this year, Rosenthal co-authored a piece in The Nation with Sumathy Kumar praising the New York City Rent Guidelines Board approval of a rent freeze – fulfilling a key promise of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s campaign.
‘Thanks to a 7-1 vote by New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board, 2.4 million rent-stabilized tenants will be able to claim one- and two-year leases with 0 percent rent increases starting October 1,’ Rosenthal and Kumar wrote.
‘Organized tenants made this victory possible. We knew what our landlords would rather we ignored: that rent is political, and that we have the ability to control it. But there is more to be done to seize the city’s tools and take power from landlords and real estate directly.
‘We need to build majorities at the building, portfolio, and state levels – majority tenant unions in our buildings and portfolios, and a massive movement that can credibly represent half the state.’
The mayor championed the approval as a ‘historic victory for New York City tenants’ in a statement at the time.
Rosenthal even appeared in a recent mini-documentary from Mayor Mamdani’s office centered around how a group of tenants successfully ‘took on one of the worst landlords in NYC.’
According to the Post, Rosenthal wrote on her now-private Instagram in June: ‘Absolute banner year for tenant power… so much is possible when we organize.’
The Daily Mail attempted to reached Tracy Rosenthal, her attorney Daniel Nakos, US Bank’s attorney Joseph Goldsmith and Steve Rosenthal for comment.
