NYC’s “Worst Landlord” Ordered Back to Jail

A New York City housing judge recently signed an arrest warrant for New York City landlord Daniel Ohebshalom to spend 60 days at Rikers Island over the ongoing hazardous conditions in his buildings. This is the second time he has been ordered back to jail this year.

One level deeper: The landlord was ranked as the city’s worst landlord by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams last year after he racked up more than 3,000 alleged housing code violations across his portfolio. In March, he was ordered to go to jail for a 60-day jail stay. The judge said in the court order, “The ongoing conditions that the tenants of the subject premises have had to endure, have remained uncorrected since November of 2022, at least sixteen months before this writing, and often longer.”

And in May, the landlord was indicted in a separate criminal case for tenant harassment. The Manhattan District Attorney’s Tenant Protection Unit indicted him for harassing rent-regulated tenants with horrific living conditions to induce them to vacate their apartments and enable him to sell the buildings for significant profit. He had also filed false documents with city agencies to conceal his ownership of those buildings and evade responsibility for harassing his tenants.

This time, the city’s housing department said Mr. Ohebshalom had flouted court orders by failing to address violations for leaks, cockroach infestations, and mold in two Washington Heights buildings for more than a year. The judge has said the landlord could be released early if he fixes the problems before his jail term is over.

The bottom line: The landlord’s failure to comply with court orders has led to his repeated arrests. However, he has said in court papers that in some cases, he has actually fixed many of the problems. And in other instances, he said he was not able to get into the apartments.