NYC's 100 Worst Landlords: The Full List For 2017

NEW YORK, NY — New York City's 100 worst landlords have racked up thousands of code violations while forcing tenants out of their homes, officials and activists said Tuesday. Public Advocate Letitia James' office released its annual list Tuesday of the five boroughs' most neglectful property owners.

The top 10 worst landlords own a total of 82 buildings in Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens and the Bronx with more than 8,000 outstanding city code violations between them on average.

"Today we put them on blast," James said Tuesday at a rally in Manhattan's Foley Square. "Today we put a face to those individuals who basically believe that money is more important than the lives of those individuals who have built this city."

Jonathan Cohen of Silvershore Properties topped the list. His 19 buildings in Brooklyn and Queens have an average of 1,090 outstanding housing code violations and 15 outstanding building code violations.

James' office compiled the list based on the average number of open violations in a given month between October 2016 and October 2017. The list considers violations of maintenance requirements, such as the obligation to provide heat and keep apartments rodent-free, as well as building code violations.

Cohen and Silvershore's tenants have had to live without heat, hot water and gas while vermin and mold infest their apartments, James said. As recently as last week, tenants at one of Silvershore's Sunset Park buildings were complaining of no heat in their apartments, broken appliances and mold, according to city records.

Residents of four Silvershore buildings sued the company in July, asking a judge to appoint an independent manager to fix up the properties in north and west Brooklyn. Cohen was No. 17 on the 2016 Worst Landlords Watchlist.

In an email to Patch, Silvershore said it "inherited" many of the outstanding violations from the 19 buildings' previous owners. The firm said it has been "extremely proactive" in addressing problems in its buildings.

"We have done a tremendous amount of work in these properties and expect the number of violations to be reduced significantly once the HPD dismissal inspections are scheduled this month," Silvershore wrote in the unsigned email.

The 100 bad landlords' buildings are concentrated in eastern Brooklyn neighborhoods such as Bed-Stuy, Bushwick and Crown Heights, as well as parts of upper Manhattan such as Hamilton Heights and Manhattanville.

James and housing activists said the worst landlords often try to force poor tenants out of apartments in gentrifying neighborhoods to make a quick buck.

But some of them "got the message," James said — six landlords who were among the 10 worst in 2016 are absent from this year's list.

"Shame works," James said.

Click here to see the full 2017 Worst Landlords Watchlist.

(Lead image: A decrepit appliance is pictured in one of Silvershore Properties' buildings. Photo from Public Advocate Letitia James' office)