As sparkling new luxury dwellings sprout around the city, buildings slapped with the honor of being listed on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s Alternative Enforcement Program’s “worst” list are also increasing.
A total of 2,700 units in 187 buildings were added to the AEP’s 2014 list of the city’s worst — continuing a cycle of adding around 200 buildings to the list every year since it began in 2007. Recipients of the dubious honor have four months to get cracking with repairs, after which point they are slapped with fines. Should things get so bad that the HPD steps in and performs emergency repairs itself, it can also place a lien on the property if all else fails to move the owner to action.
The units on the list have racked up a total of 26,000 open housing code violations, and this year the number of larger buildings, with 20 or more units, increased, the New York Observer reported.
“AEP is one of the most effective enforcement programs the City of New York has [in] our fight to protect tenants and hold landlords accountable for the conditions of their buildings,” HPD Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas said in a statement cited by the Observer. “A severely distressed building puts the wellbeing of its tenants at risk and can act as a catalyst for destabilization with a community, and we are resolute in ensuring that does not happen.”
The bulk of the properties on this year’s list were located in Brooklyn, which had 103 total buildings. The Bronx had 55 offenders, while Manhattan had 19 and Queens 10. None on the list were located in Staten Island.