Bed-Stuy Building Is First On Brooklyn's Worst Landlord Watchlist

BED-STUY, BROOKLYN — A building on Vernon Avenue had the most violations of any residential building in Brooklyn this year, according to a ranking by the Public Advocate's Office.

An average of 451 violations with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development between December 2019 and this November landed 381 Vernon Ave. in the top spot on Brooklyn's building watchlist, which was released Monday as part of Public Advocate Jumaane Williams' 2020 Worst Landlord Watchlist.

The ranking prepares a list of the 10 buildings in each borough that received the most violations throughout the year and an overall list of the 100 worst landlords in New York City.

This year's ranking comes with particular significance as New Yorkers were forced to stay home during the coronavirus pandemic, which Williams said exacerbated many of the dire housing conditions.

"When we overlay communities that were hit hardest by COVID, those are the same communities that have some of the worst landlords and folks who are living in some of the worst conditions," Williams said in a press conference.

The ranking uses HPD data on the two most severe classes of violations, which can include rodent infestations, lead-based paint, failure to provide public doors and lighting or a lack of heat, hot water, electricity or gas.

The Vernon Avenue building was one of two in Bed-Stuy that landed on the watchlist for Brooklyn. 223 Malcolm X Blvd. landed 10th on the list with an average of 332 violations.

On the landlord list, the New York City Housing Authority — with more than 341,000 open work orders across 326 developments — was given its own designation as worst landlord for the third year in a row. The worst individual landlord in New York City was also a repeat offender, who owns several buildings across Brooklyn.

The owner listed on 381 Vernon Aven.'s building documents did not respond to a request for comment.

Here's all 10 of the Brooklyn buildings, and the number of violations recorded this year:

1. 381 Vernon Ave.: 451
2. 568 Lincoln Ave.: 446
3. 719 Miller Ave.: 433
4. 8714 21st Ave.: 381
5. 2 Stoddard Pl.: 362
6. 397 East 49th St.: 356
7. 1588 Eastern Parkway Extension: 352
8. 250 Parkville Ave.: 340
9. 563 New Lots Ave.: 334
10. 223 Malcolm X Blvd.: 332

See the Public Advocate's full report here.