Worst landlord list features few Queens property owners
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Queens’ worst building according to the public advocate’s office is 90-38 170th St. in Jamaica, which is owned by Napa Partners LLC. Screenshot via Google Maps
By Ryan Schwach
While Queens landlords were mostly absent from the public advocate’s list of the city’s worst landlords released Wednesday, the borough was not without its notable offenders.
Only one landlord who landed in the top 10 on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ annual list of the worst landlords in the five boroughs has a notably egregious building in Queens, but several buildings in Queens were cited with a high number of complaints in the last year.
Williams, who releases his worst landlords list every year, does so to call to attention landlords who fail to meet the needs of their tenants, particularly as the temperature hits yearly lows in New York City.
“While this extreme cold temperature is difficult for all of us, for tenants in the worst buildings owned by the worst landlords in our city, they can be really dangerous or even deadly,” Williams said during a virtual press conference on Wednesday.
“The people on this list are at best dangerously negligent, and at worst, actively choosing to profit off the pain of New Yorkers living in unsafe, deplorable conditions,” he added in a separate statement. “Last year’s worst landlord has been to jail twice since the list was published, a clear message to owners of what their tenants deserve, and the consequences of their inaction. This list is a way to turn up the heat on bad actors so that we can get real accountability and change.”
The honor of the city’s worst landlord fell to Barry Singer, who operates buildings in the Bronx and Brooklyn, which together have an average of over 1,800 open violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development.
“He has a long documented history of egregious neglect and misconduct dating back decades,” Williams said.
Queens’ most egregious building, 90-38 170 St. in Jamaica, was hit with 435 HPD violations last year.
The building is operated by Napa Partners LLC and Melanie Martin, who was ranked as number four on the worst landlord’s list.
Williams said that Martin is now head officer of a real estate portfolio that mostly belongs to Daniel Ohebshalom, last year’s number one worst landlord who is currently incarcerated for failing to repair issues with his buildings.
The public advocate called for legislation that would enhance transparency in building ownership.
“This is specifically to try to evade folks like the public advocate's office, government and tenants to find out who owns that building,” he said.
Queens has far less of the city’s worst buildings operated by the worst 100 landlords in the city.
Other notable buildings include the Kaybern Court Condos on 97-52 75 St. in Ozone Park, which had 344 HPD violations, which is owned by 96th worst landlord Ricardo Von Puttkammer, and 108-20 48th Ave. in Corona, which had 336 violations and is owned by Steve Levine, the 99th worst landlord.
However, Willams said that even though Queens had fewer landlords on the yearly list, that doesn't mean Queens is without its fair share of bad landlords.
“I don't think, unfortunately, [Queens] is short of bad property owners and landlords,” he said. “I think it might be just a function of where most of the apartment buildings are in the city.”
The full list can be found at Landlordwatchlist.com
