The worst landlord in New York City, according to the Public Advocate’s office, is Harry Silverstein, who has more than 2,000 building violations across two city agencies.
Silverstein, who owns eight buildings in Queens, Brooklyn and the Bronx, racked up violations from the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development as well as the Department of Buildings, Crain’s reported. Public Advocate Letitia James’ office released its annual Worst Landlords Watchlist this week , which ranks 100 landlords by the number of violations they have with city agencies.
“Every New Yorker deserves a safe and decent place to live, and every apartment must meet basic standards of decency,” Public Advocate Letitia James said in a statement.
Allan Goldman, who owns 25 buildings, ranked second on the list with 1,193 violations from HPD and 15 from the DOB. Goldman, son of the late real estate mogul Sol Goldman, once helped his sister, Jane Goldman, run their company, Solil Management Corp. He developed Parkinson’s disease in recent years, however, and became less active in the company, as The Real Deal reported.
Bronx landlord Ved Parkash, who took the top spot last year, landed in No. 5 with 1,000 violations this time around.
The worst landlords list started in 2010 when Mayor Bill de Blasio was public advocate. Landlords have long taken issue with the list, as it doesn’t exclude buildings that had violations before they acquired them. [Crain’s] — Kathryn Brenzel