Brooklyn landlord first to be arrested by new task force
After being charged with endangering the health and safety of his rent-regulated tenants at 1578 Union Street, landlord Daniel Melamed has been arrested after months of investigation conducted by the city’s new Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force.
Melamed was indicted on multiple criminal charges, including unlawful eviction and endangering the welfare of a child—a six-year-old that lived in the 14-unit building during months of demolition and construction, according to Attorney General Eric Schneiderman’s office. Pirooz Soltanizadeh, an engineer Melamed hired to oversee construction at the building, was also indicted. The two arrests are the first for the task force since its implementation in February.
“We will not tolerate tenant harassment in the state of New York – plain and simple,” Governor Andrew Cuomo said. “When a landlord intentionally creates hazardous living conditions in order to make tenants’ lives unbearable and force them from their homes, they will be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.”