City Sues Controversial UWS Landlord For Fire Safety Violations

UPPER WEST SIDE, NY — The Upper West Side landlord accused of keeping up unrelenting sidewalk sheds and scaffolding at neighborhood buildings is now facing new accusations about fire safety issues.

In the wake of a fire that killed 17 residents in the Bronx, the city filed a suit against Jacob Weinreb on Feb. 9, the head of the real estate firm Weinreb Management, for failure to correct over 200 violations, including many within its residential Upper West Side buildings.

The majority of the issues listed in the suit have to do with the buildings' facades, but also include over 20 fire safety violations issued by the FDNY.

"Defendants have displayed a pattern of failing to correct hazardous façade defects at their buildings: rather than taking corrective action," reads the suit. "Defendants have allowed their buildings to deteriorate to the point where they pose an imminent threat to the health and safety of the tenants and the public."

Weinreb did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment.

Here are the UWS buildings under Weinreb's management:

• 5 West 86th St.
• 350 Central Park West
• 255 West 88th St.
• 276 Riverside Drive
• 777 West End Avenue
• 420 West End Avenue
• 51 West 86th St.

At 51 West 86th St., the suit says that the building was issued two violations for faulty sprinklers, missing fire extinguishers and malfunctioning alarm systems.

The suit then moves on to 777 West End Avenue, where it says that Weinreb did not produce records of inspections and failed to equip the UWS building with working extinguishers and fire hoses.

Out of the 11 Manhattan properties Weinreb owns, 10 of them have active sidewalk sheds.

The discovery came after Patch first reported on the growing frustration from residents of a building at 51 West 86th St. that's been swathed in a sidewalk shed scaffolding for the last 15 years.

“These owners must address the hundreds of uncorrected violations from multiple city agencies putting the public and residents of these buildings at risk,” Nicholas Paolucci, a spokesperson for the city’s Law Department, told The Real Deal. “No building owner is above the law.”

The suit asks the judge to demand that Weinreb Management certifies their compliance within thirty days to fix "all outstanding violations" at its buildings, conduct all the required inspections and file all the corresponding reports, and impose penalties for each building condition found to be in violation of city code.

Read More:

• Scaffold Covers UWS Building For 15 Years, Residents Say
• Scaffold Covers Nearly All Of UWS Landlord's Buildings: See It