33 Inwood, Wash Heights Buildings Make NYC's Worst Landlords List

UPPER MANHATTAN, NY — In a year when rent payments became more challenging to make for countless New Yorkers, residents still had to contend with mistreatment by their landlords, and an annual report by the city's Public Advocate names over 30 Inwood and Washington Heights buildings as some of the worst run in the city.

The report includes 33 Inwood and Washington Heights buildings, which made the list based on the average number of violations they received this year from the city's Housing Preservation and Development Department.

The worst building in the two Upper Manhattan neighborhoods based on that metric?

It's 2461 Amsterdam Avenue, near West 182nd Street, a 24-unit building with 448 open violations this year. The figure is the second-highest number of violations any building in Manhattan received during the time.

In an online news conference Tuesday, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said the pandemic had exacerbated already-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.

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 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.

Here are all 25 of the Washington Heights buildings and the eight Inwood buildings featured on the list, and the number of violations recorded this year:

• 765 Riverside Drive: 277 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 504 West 157th Street: 113 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 655 West 160th Street: 263 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 638 West 160th Street: 219 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 574 West 161st Street: 170 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 3856 Broadway: 180 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 452 West 164th Street: 68 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 548 West 164th Street: 277 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 59 Audubon Avenue: 127 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 561 West 169th Street: 259 average violations, 70.24 percent non-white
• 565 West 175th Street: 113 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 82 Wadsworth Avenue: 81 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 84 Wadsworth Avenue: 92 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 5 Cabrini Boulevard: 224 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 1 Cabrini Boulevard: 194 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 9 Cabrini Boulevard: 133 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 711 West 180th Street: 132 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 90 Pinehurst Avenue: 299 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 605 West 182nd Street: 103 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white
• 550 West 183rd Street: 72 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white residents
• 2461 Amsterdam Avenue: average 448 violations, 59.50 percent non-white residents (24 units)
• 495 West 186th Street: 286 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white residents
• 490 West 187th Street: 146 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white residents
• 1520 St. Nicholas Avenue: 96 average violations, 59.50 percent non-white residents
• 390 Wadsworth Avenue: 100 average violations, 63.90 percent non-white resident

Inwood

• 192 Nagle Avenue: 126 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 200 Nagle Avenue: 282 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 26 Post Avenue: 138 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 133 Sherman Avenue: 105 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 231 Sherman Avenue: 138 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 549 Isham Street: 137 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 4925 Broadway: 96 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents
• 89 Seaman Avenue: 176 average violations, 61.63 percent non-white residents

Nick Garber and Anna Quinn contributed to this report.