Queens judge orders city’s ‘worst landlord’ to repair dilapidated Elmhurst apartment building
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Queens Judge Shorab Ibrahim ordered A&E Realty to fix the over 300 violations accumulated at the 41-25 Case St. building or face significant fines. Eagle file photo by Noah Powelson
By Noah Powelson
A Queens Housing Court judge ordered the city’s “worst landlord” to fix the hazardous living conditions at a crumbling Elmhurst apartment by the end of the month or face consequences.
Queens Judge Shorab Ibrahim last week ordered A&E Realty Executive Margaret Brunn, the landlord of 41-25 Case St. who topped the public advocate’s most recent worst landlord list, to begin making repairs to the apartment building after its residents brought her to court.
Ibrahim ordered A&E to resolve the over 300 violations accumulated at the building, including mass mold infestation, broken smoke alarms, malfunctioning elevators, defective buzzer systems and more – by July 31, 2026. For each violation A&E fails to fix by the deadline, they will be subject to potentially thousands of dollars of civil fines every day.
A spokesperson for A&E told the Eagle when the lawsuit was first filed that they had already invested $4.5 million into the apartment building since it was first purchased in 2013, and were regularly conducting work improving the building’s electricity and replacing broken windows.
“Ever since acquisition, we have devoted real resources to address issues as quickly and efficiently as possible – and that is what we will continue to do,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “As a result of that work, this building, like all those in our portfolio, is in much better shape than it was when we assumed management.”
But tenants of the Case Street building tell a different story, where reports of crumbling walls or roach infestations go unanswered.
Amber Gill, a tenant leader for the building, said a mold infestation in her apartment has repeatedly left both her and her family severely ill. Her unit also regularly went without cooking gas or a working stove. But when she informed A&E, she said she never got a response, and ended up paying for repairs herself.
Speaking to the Eagle, Gill said she and the other tenants of the Case Street building had regularly informed the building’s supervisor and A&E executives of the various conditions of the building, but rarely saw a response.
Gill said security in the building is also a major concern, as locks and buzzers to the main entrances don’t reliably work.
Gill said it was common for non-residents to loiter in the building, and residents have to coordinate with each other to make sure packages aren’t stolen.
"We have no sort of protections whatsoever," Gill told the Eagle. "This is what's happening at A&E buildings."
A&E’s executives, including Brunn, were included among Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ worst landlords list.
Brunn is also the landlord of 43-09 47th Ave., a Sunnyside building that suffered a major fire that left 14 people injured and 250 people displaced on Dec. 20, 2023. Last February, residents of the Sunnyside building and Queens elected officials called on A&E to pay $6 million to repair the building, an amount that A&E claimed hasn’t been paid because of issues with their insurance company.
In January 2026, A&E agreed to pay $2.1 million in a settlement with HPD for violations accumulated in 14 buildings across three boroughs. Roughly 750 tenants live in the buildings, which were plagued with bed bugs, fire hazards, broken elevators and other poor conditions that made living there difficult.
When Mayor Zohran Mamdani announced the settlement back in January, he said it would be the first of many legal actions the city would take to address A&E’s history of violations.
“For years, A&E has operated with callous disregard for those residing in its properties, racking up over 140,000 total violations,” Mamdani said at the time. “This is not just a failure to serve those to whom it holds an obligation, it is a cruelty to over tens of thousands of New Yorkers.”
