Mayor wants to remove Parkash as landlord of allegedly rat-infested Bronx building

Mayor Bill de Blasio is seeking to remove Bronx landlord Ved Parkash from running his building at the the center of an outbreak of a rat-borne disease.

The city has accused Ved Parkash of creating illegal apartments at 750 Grand Concourse and allowing it to become a breeding ground for rats. The Department of Buildings said it uncovered eight illegal apartments in the basement of the building. Over the past two months, three people within a one-block radius of the apartment have developed leptospirosis, a rare disease spread by rat urine. One has since died. One of the survivors said he lived in the basement of 750 Concourse.

Late Wednesday, the mayor said his administration would take action to remove Parkash from running the building, the New York Post reported.

“We stand with the tenants. After deploying numerous tools to address persistent problems at this building, we are working with housing advocates and tenants to lodge an action against the landlord to take over operations,” de Blasio said, according to the Post. “We will not rest until we’ve exhausted every measure to ensure the health and safety of these residents.”

The City Will Ask A Housing Court judge to remove Parkash and appoint an administrator to manage the building.

Last year, 38 tenants at the building filed lawsuits against Parkash, claiming the building was plagued by rats, peeling ceilings and weeks-long gas outages.

In 2015, Parkash was listed as the worst landlord in the city by Public Advocate Letitia James. [NYP] — Miriam Hall