City’s “worst” landlord now investigated for drug deals, tax evasion

A man who New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio dubbed “NYC’s worst,” has racked up 1,187 building and housing violations and is under investigation by city, state and federal officials for everything from tax fraud to selling narcotics, DNAinfo reported.

Josh Neustein, who owns eight buildings, four of which are in Upper Manhattan, is under investigation by the New York City Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service and other agencies, after a probe by the city’s Department of Investigation was concluded last month.

The DOI forwarded the Neustein matter to the Department of Housing Preservation & Development, the federal department of Housing and Urban Development and the New York State Department of Taxation and Finance, letters obtained by DNAinfo.com through a Freedom of Information Act request show.

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At one Neustein-owned building, at 620 West 182 Street, between Wadsworth and St. Nicholas avenues, there were “no locks on the front door to the run-down building with cracked floors and doors slathered with layer upon layer of paint,” according to DNAinfo. Numerous tenants have complained of drug sales in their buildings, DNAinfo said.

I would encourage all authorities who deal with housing to get involved in ensuring that Mr. Neustein brings his buildings up to code,” said local City Council member Ydanis Rodriguez. [DNAinfo]