The worst lords of Queens land have been crowned.
Public Advocate Bill de Blasio released his Watch List of the worst landlords in New York City last year – including the most subpar supers from each borough.
In order to aid prospective renters, the list, which features 317 landlords who have received a minimum of two hazardous housing code violations per unit, tracks violations to keep residents informed as to whether issues are on the rise or being repaired. The catalog has also been placed on Craigslist.org to assist apartment hunters in avoiding the lackadaisical landlords.
“Since first launching the Watch List, we’ve helped to successfully pressure landlords to improve the safety and living conditions for thousands of New Yorkers,” said de Blasio, who initiated the list in 2010. “There is more work to be done, so we’re building on this progress by launching new features that will increase pressure on landlords who refuse to address violations, supply even more helpful information to apartment hunters and continue to provide residents an outlet to report landlords who fail to follow the law.”
According to the Watch List, the worst landlord in Queens is Allen Affordable Housing Development, which owns the two buildings with the most violations in the borough – 107-04 150th Street in Jamaica, which has 209 violations, and 89-06 138th Street, which has 135.
“We have no heat, no water and no lights in our hallways,” said Fred Jones, who lives at 107-04 150th Street. “There is a broken pipe in the basement that’s been leaking for a while now, and it could flood the building.”
Other residents say they have attempted to contact Allen Affordable to complain about their living situations, but the company has been unhelpful and unresponsive.
“The conditions are deplorable,” said Derrick Roberson, a tenant at 89-06 138th Street. “We’ve been living here for seven years with no heat. There is an apartment that has bed bugs crawling out of it and a terrible smell, and they do nothing about it. When we complain, they don’t listen and we don’t have access to their supervisors. The city is saying that it’s Allen Affordable Housing’s fault but they’re to blame too for being negligent.”
Repeated attempts to contact Allen Affordable went unreturned.
Roseman, Beerman & Beerman LLP ranks third on the Queens list due to their property at 1821 Cornelia Street in Ridgewood, where 101 violations have been issued. Alen Beerman, a partner at the law practice, says his company has no business being included on this list.
“We are one of the good guys. The company is a receiver, meaning we were appointed by the court to clear the violations, and we are clearing them,” said Beerman, who claims he was appointed to the building three years ago after Ridgewood Reality of L.I., Inc. could not fulfill its responsibilities. “Most of these violations predate my receivership.”
The fourth and fifth worst landlords in the borough are Gowrie Seegulam, who is responsible for the 92 violations issued at 307 Beach 70 Street in Far Rockaway, and Diana Alleyne, who owns 106-19 177th Street in Jamaica, which has received 91 violations.
Upon investigation, The Courier observed the building on 177th Street boarded up and apparently empty.
The Watch List can be found by visiting www.landlordwatchlist.com.
With additional reporting by David Beltran
