Landlord Facing Crown Heights Rent Strike Again Named NYC's Worst

CROWN HEIGHTS, BROOKLYN — A notorious landlord who has been at the center of a rent strike in Crown Heights has been named the worst landlord in New York City for the second year in a row.

Jason Korn — who first topped the list in 2019 — was named the worst individual landlord in New York City for 2020, according to the annual ranking released Monday by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams.

Korn saw an average of 1,822 violations across 10 buildings he owns throughout Brooklyn and Upper Manhattan since December of last year, according to the ranking, which looks at violations filed with the Department of Housing Preservation Development.

"Jason Korn...exemplifies the worst of the worst," Williams said in a press conference. "Tenants [cite] widespread neglect and deplorable conditions. This is over many years."

The ranking comes as Korn battles a months-long rent strike at one of his buildings in Crown Heights, which has more than 100 open violations with HPD despite not making the list of 10 buildings that put him on the list.

A tenant from the 1616 President St. building was among New Yorkers who told horror stories of their buildings during Williams' press conference on Monday.

"We started a rent strike because of the repairs and because half of my building all [lost] their job because of the pandemic," said Rose Helesca, who has lived in the President Street building for 15 years. "Jason Korn calls us every Sunday for a payment plan. He calls us and harasses us."

Helesca, a nurse and mother of three, described broken windows and doors, malfunctioning heat and mold, which she said sent her 8-month-old baby to the hospital twice for breathing problems.

Attorneys for Korn told Patch that they cannot verify the conditions Helesca described because tenants have refused to let the landlord in to inspect the building or make repairs since the strike began.

"How does a landlord do repairs if they can’t access the building?" attorney John Bianco said.

Bianco also disputed Williams' assessment of Korn's other buildings, pointing to what he says is an "unfair methodology" and a problem with HPD's monitoring system.

HPD's database often duplicates violations when tenants call multiple times with the same complaint and often don't remove the violation even after it is rectified, Bianco said. He added the his office has sent paperwork detailing which violations are resolved to Williams but has not heard back.

"We showed Mr. Williams that Mr. Korn was down to less than one violation per unit," Bianco said. "Not only should he not be number one on the list, he should not be on the list at all."

Korn was not the only Brooklyn landlord to make the list. More than 20 buildings in the borough were included on the list of those managed by the 10 worst landlords.

But aside from the individual landlord list, the largest violator by far was the city's own housing authority.

The New York City Housing Authority — with more than 341,000 open work orders across 326 developments — was given its own designation worst landlord for the third year in a row.

Williams said the substandard housing conditions in both NYCHA developments and private buildings are even more dire given the coronavirus pandemic, which has forced New Yorkers to stay at home.

"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. "...We can and we will fight back against these landlords."

The public advocate recently introduced a Worst Landlord Accountability Bill that he says would protect tenants from landlords like those on the list.