
Public advocate releases annual ‘Worst Landlord Watchlist’

NEW LOTS – AT A WEDNESDAY virtual press conference, city Public Advocate Jumaane Williams unveiled his sixth annual Worst Landlord Watchlist, spotlighting the worst landlords in the city. The list is based on housing code violation data from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, including issues such as heat and hot water outages, rodent infestations and collapsing infrastructure. Heat and hot water outages can lead to unsafe usage of space heaters, sparking deadly fires, as in a 2021 Flatbush blaze that led to landlord Evener Leon being convicted of criminally negligent homicide after tenant Jean Yves Lalanne jumped to his death while escaping the flames.
The #1 Worst Landlord on this year’s list is Barry Singer, with an average of 1804 open violations across seven buildings, including 509 Hinsdale St. in New Lots. While this is Singer’s first time topping the list, he has a long history of documented misconduct dating back decades, Williams said.
The public advocate also said that last year’s Worst Landlord, Daniel Ohebshalom, has been incarcerated twice since the 2023 list was released. Williams has pushed for stronger actions against bad actors, including the ‘Worst Landlord Law,’ which passed in 2023 and increases penalties and inspections for dangerous buildings, and a second bill that would require HPD to more quickly respond to and perform inspections of hazardous violations.
View the full list of the 100 Worst Landlords, as well as the worst buildings in each borough, online at the public advocate’s landlordwatchlist.com .
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