Brooklyn Boro

20 worst buildings in Brooklyn announced

Letitia James also released the list of the worst landlords

October 13, 2016 From Public Advocate Letitia James' office
NYC Public Advocate Letitia James. Eagle file photo
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Thousands of tenants across the city are being forced to live in squalor by “unscrupulous” landlords, and the city’s Public Advocate vowed this week to “never stop fighting” to ease their misery.   

On Thursday, Public Advocate Letitia James released the 2016 Worst Landlords Watchlist, a database of the worst landlords and worst buildings in New York City, including 20 of the worst buildings in Brooklyn. The Watchlist is designed to hold the City’s worst landlords accountable and to empower tenants and advocates. The full list is available at www.landlordwatchlist.com.

This year’s Watchlist highlights only the top 100 worst landlords and the top 20 worst buildings in each borough. This shift allowed the Public Advocate’s office to intensely focus and investigate the very worst actors. For the very first time, members of the Public Advocate’s Office visited at least one building owned by each of the 100 Worst Landlords in the weeks prior to the list being released, speaking to tenants, taking photos, and personally inspecting building conditions.

Also for the first time, the list includes data on DOB violations, as opposed to DOB complaints. Also new to the list this year is information from DOF, allowing users to identify buildings with unpaid debt sold through the City’s annual tax lien sale in the past two years. Being included in the tax lien sale is often an indicator of building distress.

“Every New Yorker deserves a safe and decent place to live, and every apartment must meet basic standards of decency,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “The Landlord Watchlist has become a critical tool for helping tenants organize against unscrupulous landlords, has assisted with the criminal convictions of some of New York’s worst landlords, and has led to better living conditions for countless New Yorkers. We will never stop fighting for the housing rights of every New Yorker.”

The Worst Landlords Watchlist was started by then-Public Advocate Bill de Blasio in 2010 and is an information-sharing tool intended to allow residents, advocates, public officials, and other concerned individuals to identify which buildings and property owners are in constant violation of the law and hold those landlords accountable.

THE TEN WORST LANDLORDS

  1. Harry Silverstein (575 units in 8 buildings with 2032 HPD violations and 50 DOB violations)

  2. Allan Goldman (187 units in 25 buildings with 1193 HPD violations and 15 DOB violations)

  3. Efstathios Valiotis (237 units in 8 buildings with 1077 HPD violations and 64 DOB violations)

  4. Martin Kirzner (280 units in 11 buildings with 1036 HPD violations and 23 DOB violations)

  5. Ved Parkash (257 units in 4 buildings with 992 HPD violations and 28 DOB violations)

  6. Mark Silber (216 units in 10 buildings with 998 HPD violations and 5 DOB violations)

  7. Michael Niamonitakis (225 units in 5 buildings with 936 HPD violations and 13 DOB violations)

  8. Felix Gomez (260 units in 6 buildings with 939 HPD violations and 3 DOB violations)

  9. Rawle Isaacs (214 units in 4 buildings with 869 HPD violations and 22 DOB violations)

  10. Joel Kohn (152 units in 23 buildings with 823 HPD violations and 33 DOB violations)

Seven of the landlords on last year’s top ten list are no longer included in the top ten. Three of these landlords (Yechiel Weinberger, Moshe Piller, and Shaul Koplowitz) no longer appear on the list. Five of these landlords (Joel Goldstein, Jason Korn, Richard Liriano, and Jonathan Cohen) have been moved lower on the list due to improvements in their buildings.

THE TWENTY WORST BUILDINGS IN BROOKLYN

  1. 232 Schenectady Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213 (232 HPD violations, 3 DOB violations); Head Officer – Avraham Tarshish

  2. 827 Halsey Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233 (317 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officer – Brian Hodge

  3. 3126 Coney Island Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11235 (310 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officer – Douglas Rosenberg

  4. 261 Lenox Road, Brooklyn, NY 11226 (279 HPD violations, 4 DOB violations); Head Officer – Harry Silverstein

  5. 2005 Albemarle Road, Brooklyn, NY 11226 (228 HPD violations, 10 DOB violations); Head Officer – Harry Silverstein

  6. 1130 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225 (228 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officer – Harry Silverstein

  7. 2249 E. 21st Street, Brooklyn, NY 11229 ( HPD violations, DOB violations); Head Officer – Ira Epstein

  8. 473 Park Place, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (225 HPD violations, 3 DOB violations); Head Officer – Jacob Rochlitz

  9. 425 Jerome Street, Brooklyn, NY 11207 (232 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officer – Joel Rolnitzky

  10. 1711 Fulton Street, Brooklyn, NY 11233 (753 HPD violations, 9 DOB violations); Head Officer – Joseph Hoffman

  11.     101 Lincoln Road, Brooklyn, NY 11225 (257 HPD violations, 5 DOB violations); Head Officer – Michael Niamonitakis

  12. 720 St. Marks Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11216 (252 HPD violations, 5 DOB violations); Head Officer – Michael Naimonitakis

  13. 545 46th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11220 (315 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officer – Moshe Mehlman

  14. 363 Grand Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11238 (225 HPD violations, 5 DOB violations); Head Officer – Peter Armstrong

  15. 1018 Eastern Parkway, Brooklyn, NY 11213 (235 HPD violations, 0 DOB violations); Head Officers – Rubin Dukler

  16. 245 Sullivan Place, Brooklyn, NY 11225 (493 HPD violations, 6 DOB violations); Head Officer – Uzy Stein

  17. 297 E. 49th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11203 (231 HPD violations, 1 DOB violation); Head Officer – Wendy Redhead

  18. 1719 Pitkin Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11212 (253 HPD violations, 1 DOB violation); Head Officer – Y Schwartz

  19. 1351 Hancock Street, Brooklyn, NY 11237 (270 HPD violations, 4 DOB violations); Head Officer – Yakov Twerski

  20. 394 Montgomery Street, Brooklyn, NY 11225 (274 HPD violations, 7 DOB violations); Head Officer – Yvonne Mullings

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