Landlords Tied to Inwood Fire Amassed Violations Across NYC

The owners of the Upper Manhattan apartment building where three tenants died in a fire last week racked up more than 1,300 open housing violations across their New York portfolio, raising new scrutiny over the city’s enforcement of repeat-offender landlords.

An investigation by The City found landlords Jack Bick, Chaim Schweid and affiliated entities tied to 207 Dyckman Street accumulated 1,343 open violations at 10 buildings across Manhattan, Brooklyn and Queens, including 406 classified as “immediately hazardous.” The tally includes fire safety issues involving non-functioning self-closing apartment doors, the same condition inspectors cited at the Inwood property just days before the May 4 blaze.

The six-story walkup at 207 Dyckman Street had received a dozen violations three days before the fire, including one for a broken self-closing apartment door. FDNY officials later said open apartment doors helped the fire spread rapidly through the building, while units with closed doors sustained minimal damage.

Three people died in the blaze, including People magazine journalist Yolaine Diaz and her mother.

The Department of Housing Preservation and Development has sued Bick, Schweid and their companies 16 times since 2020 over alleged failures to correct dangerous conditions, according to The City. The cases span properties in Inwood, Far Rockaway and Kensington; complaints range from blocked exits and missing smoke detectors to accusations of tenant harassment and deferred maintenance.

The Dyckman Street building had already been placed into HPD’s Alternate Enforcement Program, a designation reserved for buildings with persistently high levels of hazardous violations.

The neighboring property at 209 Dyckman Street was sued by HPD just one week before the fire over conditions that included a blocked means of egress and missing smoke detectors.

Together, the two buildings carried roughly 336 open violations as of last week.

Bick also landed at No. 80 on Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ annual “worst landlords” list.

At one Queens property, HPD alleged in a recent lawsuit that ownership neglected unsafe conditions as part of an “intentional and aggressive campaign” to push out rent-stabilized tenants.

The controversy lands as Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration pledges tougher housing enforcement amid mounting pressure over aging multifamily stock and fire safety compliance. HPD said it would continue using “every tool in its toolbox” against landlords who fail to correct hazardous conditions.

— Holden Walter-Warner