Landlord of partially collapsed Brooklyn building has racked up violations

Mousa Khalil, the owner of a Bay Ridge, Brooklyn building that yesterday had its second partial collapse in one month also owns a group of other buildings in the neighborhood that have accumulated a list of violations over the years, DNAinfo reported. Local residents and Councilman Vincent Gentile told DNAinfo that Khalil has over the years acquired some 30 buildings around Bay Ridge and many of them are in poor condition.

For example, located down the block from the 552 Ovington Avenue site of yesterday’s collapse is 562 Ovington Avenue, which in 2007 the Department of Buildings found a “sagging and pulling away” roof.  Khalil also got cited in 2010 for failure to maintain a garage at 7701 Ridge Boulevard, which was in disrepair. Neighbors also complained that cinder blocks had been thrown into neighboring yards.

As previously reported, Khalil previously faced foreclosure on 19 abandoned properties. According to DNAinfo, seven of Khalil’s properties went into foreclosure with over $2 million in liens. According to city public records, Khalil paid $700,000 to acquire 552 Ovington Avenue in August 2004. PropertyShark shows that the building was originally built around 1910.

At the scene of yesterday’s collapse, Khalil expressed his remorse to DNAinfo.

“Honestly, if I had known that, I would’ve done something a long time ago,” Khalil said of the building’s instability and problems.

However, according to the Brooklyn Daily, neighborhood residents say that Khalil is letting his Bay Ridge buildings portfolio fall apart on purpose. One local resident, Peter Pellicani, told the Brooklyn Daily that his late father spent almost 10 years complaining about the state of 552 Ovington Avenue, but Khalil did nothing to remedy the situation.

Neighbors have also said that the state of his buildings are damaging neighborhood property values. [DNAinfo] and [Brooklyn Daily]