In a city that doggedly tracks its “worst landlords,” offenders rarely face more than negligible penalties and bad press.
But Daniel Ohebshalom pushed his luck.
The city’s Civil Court issued an arrest warrant Friday for the Los Angeles-based owner, who in 2022 made the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlords Watchlist for his management of two Washington Heights buildings at 705 and 709 West 170th Street.
Ohebshalom, who also goes by Shalom, blew multiple deadlines and extensions offered by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to correct nearly 700 violations, court records show.
“He’s the worst landlord on this planet,” said William, a longtime tenant of Ohebshalom’s. “They should take these buildings away from him.”
Residents interviewed Monday said they complained for years of an interior entryway door made of plywood, unreliable heat and hot water, and exterior doors that encourage the homeless to inject drugs there because they do not latch shut. (The city eventually replaced the plywood with a metal door.)
The owner was held in contempt of court in February 2023, then again last summer for failing to remedy hazardous violations including roaches, mice, other rodents and numerous counts of lead paint, according to the decision.
The court slapped Ohebshalom with another order of contempt in January of this year that afforded him one more month to follow court orders, but again he failed to make the fixes.
Ohebshalom now faces up to 60 days in Rikers Island, the order reads. The landlord can shorten his stay if he cures the violations while behind bars.
Several generations of the Ohebshalom family have been involved in New York City real estate over the past 40-plus years. “The actions of Daniel Ohebshalom, a 50-year-old individual based in Los Angeles who is a distant relative to the New York City-based family, has caused distress among the family at large,” family members said in a statement. “His persistent negligence has concerned the Ohebshalom family for years. The family wishes him well and hopes he takes action to rectify the situation.”
Though neglectful landlords infrequently do jail time, it’s not unheard of. Often the court will order incarceration when nothing else has worked.
Aron Stark did eight days at Rikers last year after he failed to make court-ordered repairs at a Bushwick rental building. The owner was arrested in late 2022 for civil contempt after he repeatedly ignored court notices.
Stark managed an early release by setting aside over $200,000 for unpaid fines and booking contractors to make repairs.
Ohebshalom has spent the past three years dodging city orders to fix his buildings.
Windows facing West 170th Street are boarded up or left broken. “My freezer doesn’t work,” said Freddy, another longtime tenant. “Everything is a mess. There are rats everywhere. The building used to be much better.”
HPD first sued in 2021 and last year placed the Washington Heights buildings in the city’s Alternative Enforcement Program. The program demands that owners of severely distressed buildings correct most violations within four months or face fines.
HPD found Ohebshalom responsible for $48,000 in penalties. Still, the landlord allegedly failed to address building issues, including leaks, mold and self-closing doors. The city filed a second suit.
In September, HPD secured judgments that put Ohebshalom on the hook for more than $3 million in penalties. The next month, Ohebshalom settled with the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement for $1.1 million for displacing rent-stabilized tenants in Hell’s Kitchen and Midtown by turning their units into illegal short-term rentals.
“I think they’re trying to get everyone out of here,” said William, who asked that his last name be withheld, about the 170th Street buildings.
One resident complained that the superintendent in the building picks fights with tenants. “This is a dangerous situation,” the person said. “I think something bad is going to happen in this building.”
The landlord has failed to pay civil penalties agreed to in settlements, according to HPD.
“Before I die, I want to see this building in good condition,” said William. “It used to be the best building on the block.”
This article has been updated with a statement from New York City-based relatives of Daniel Ohebshalom.
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