Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Wednesday released his annual list of the “worst landlords” in New York City — revealing some of the horrid conditions which neglectful property owners have forced some Big Apple residents to live with every day.
The yearly list, which is compiled based on the number of dangerous housing violations given to a landlord’s property, features 100 of the most egregious violators from around the five boroughs, with many renting apartments that suffer from “heat and hot water outages, rodent infestation issues, and deteriorating infrastructure.”
For the second straight year, property owner Daniel Ohebshalom, along with his partner Johnathan Santana, top the list for their mismanagement of 15 apartment buildings that house 306 units.
“Johnathan Santana and Daniel Ohebshalom may be shameless in their negligence and predatory practices, as is clear in their record violations, but it’s clear that spotlighting and shaming them and other worst landlords in the city can have a meaningful impact,” said Williams.
According to the public advocate, Ohebshalom’s properties collectively have 3,293 open violations, which is “the most in the list’s history.”
Tenants at one of the properties, located at 410 W. 46th St. in Hell’s Kitchen, complain of rodents, heat outages, and mold, along with crumbling walls and ceilings.
“We have suffered continued abuses, both health-wise and life-threatening,” said John Reeds, a resident of the building.
City workers had to step in earlier this year to make emergency repairs to the building after tenants warned that the roof was close to collapsing, and they could not get the building owner to intervene.
As a result, Ohebshalom settled multiple lawsuits brought by the city this year to repay the cost of those repairs — which total over $4.2 million.
While Ohebshalom sits atop the list of the worst landlords in the city, there are other serious violators in every corner of the Big Apple.
The 50th worst landlord on the public advocate’s list is Jacob Zanger, who owns the Bronx building at 1915 Billingsley Terrace in the Morris Heights that partially collapsed earlier this week.
That building faced over 100 violations for unsafe conditions prior to the collapse, which saw several homes in the six-story building destroyed.
This year’s list features 100 landlords of 626 buildings, collectively housing 13,541 housing units.
See the full list of New York City’s worst landlords here.
