Edited by: TJVNews.com
If the year 2020 can aptly be described as one for the proverbial record books in terms of societal challenges, here’s yet another one for you.
WPIX News in New York City reported on Tuesday that Jumaane Williams, who holds the position of public advocate for the Big Apple has released his annual “worst landlord” list.
If more bad news is the last thing that we needed, then brace yourself for the list that includes the top 100 worst private landlords in the city. Not to be outdone, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) which provides housing to low-income families in its high rise buildings that are scattered around the city has also been found to provide adequate services to its tenants.
According to the WPIX report, Williams determines what makes a landlord one of the worst in the city based on “widespread, repeated, and unaddressed violations in buildings on the list.”
As we are ending a year that will be solidified in our collective consciences because of the COVID-19 pandemic that caused the deaths of over 300,000 Americans, Williams says that black and brown communities throughout the city who were hit the hardest by the deleterious effects of the virus were also victimized by some of the worst landlords in city history.
The WPIX report indicated that the worst individual landlord in the city remains the same in 2020 as he did in 2019. His name is Jason Korn and Korn has amassed an average of 1,822 violations across 10 buildings on the list in 2020, according to the report.
For the third consecutive year NYCHA also takes its place on the ignominious list of egregious landlords.
“In a moment when New Yorkers are largely confined to their homes, facing a deadly pandemic and an economic crisis, the worst landlords in New York City continue to take advantage of New Yorkers in need, neglecting emergency repairs and allowing dangerous conditions to go unchecked while continuing to cash rent checks,” said Williams.
On the web site called: landlordwatchlist.com, Williams profiles a number of New York City residents who are encountering problems with landlords that are directly effecting their quality of life and their health.
One such person is George Brown, a resident at Holmes-Towers, 405 East 92nd Street in Manhattan. The site says that “Mr. Brown has been a NYCHA resident for 12 years. When it rains, water enters under the window sill of his living room and bedroom, He has a cracked toilet bowl. There is water damage, mold, and mildew on the walls and ceiling in his bathroom due to constant leaks. His requests for repairs during the pandemic have been ignored.”
Other profiles include those of Mrs. Alyssa Bonilla-Buczko and Mr. Tony Buczko. They are tenants at 1868 Putnam Avenue in Ridgewood, according to the site. “The Buczkos are an elderly couple who have had to live through a nightmare of a toxic mold problem in their apartment for five years. Whenever it rained, water would leak into the apartment through the bricks causing terrible mold. Things got so bad that the entire ceiling and all the cabinets in their kitchen had to be replaced. It took a year for the landlord to complete the repairs.”
