Some buildings in Queens just don’t measure up to code.
On Tuesday, Nov. 14, Public Advocate Letitia James released the 2017 Worst Landlords Watchlist, a database of the worst landlords and worst buildings in New York City, including 10 of the worst buildings in Queens.
Buildings that meet the selection criteria are ranked according to the total number of open violations issued from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) to that building over a 12-month period (October 2016 – October 2017).
The worst building in Queens was listed as a Jamaica located at 87-40 165th St., which currently has 383 open HPD violations. Coming in second on the list is 150-15 Sanford Ave. in Flushing, which currently has 244 HPD violations.
Here is the complete list of the top 10 worst buildings in Queens:
- 87-40 165th St., Jamaica, 383 HPD violations
- 150-15 Sanford Ave., Flushing, 244 HPD violations
- 139-29 34th Rd., Flushing, 204 HPD violations
- 40-26 Benham St., Elmhurst, 201 HPD violations
- 34-01 28th Ave., Astoria, 157 HPD violations
- 39-06 114th St., Corona, 152 HPD violations
- 63-69 110th St., Forest Hills, 142 HPD violations
- 59-16 55th St., Maspeth, 139 HPD violations
- 116-01 14th Rd., College Point, 135 HPD violations
- 127-04 135th Ave., South Ozone Park, 128 HPD violations
In addition to listing the worst buildings throughout the five boroughs, the Worst Landlords Watchlist released the 100 worst landlords in New York City. This year, New York City’s worst landlord is Jonathan Cohen/Silvershore Properties with 1,090 HPD violations. Cohen/Silvershore Properties owns property in Ridgewood and in Brooklyn. Ranking in at number eight on the list was Meir Fried, who has 18 buildings on the list, including one in Ridgewood.
“No New Yorker should be subjected to live in a hazardous home, yet bad landlords in our city are forcing too many tenants to live in dangerous and indecent conditions,” said Public Advocate Letitia James. “The Worst Landlords Watchlist is a powerful tool to put these unscrupulous landlords on notice and gives tenants the tools to hold them accountable. We will continue to identify the worst abusers of tenants and take on practices that deny working families a chance to simply live in safe, decent housing.”
To see a full list, visit www.landlordwatchlist.com.
