HPD targets 200 multi-family landlords for building code violations

Approximately 200 of the city’s most distressed multi-family residential buildings have been placed into the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development’s fifth round of the Alternative Enforcement Program, which aims to put pressure on landlords to bring their properties up to code, the agency announced today.

Among the 200 properties (see list below) — 21 of which are in Manhattan — there are more than 26,700 open housing code violations. About 5,484 are non-hazardous violations, 16,701 are hazardous violations and 4,525 are immediately hazardous violations, the department said.

The buildings landlords owe a combined $1.3 million in emergency repair charges.

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“AEP has proven to be an effective way to corral these bad buildings and deal with them in a comprehensive manner,” said HPD Commissioner Matthew Wambua. “Since the new amendments to AEP were adopted last year we’ve seen a rise in the rate at which buildings are discharged from the program, as well as a substantial uptick in the repayment of Emergency and other repair costs. It is unfortunate that some owners will only respond when punitive measures are brought to bear.” — Katherine Clarke