NYC's 'Worst Landlord' Faces Arrest Warrant For Not Making Fixes
NEW YORK CITY — New York City’s “worst landlord” could be headed to the city’s worst jail.
A judge ordered the arrest of Daniel Ohebshalom after he found the accused slumlord failed to make hundreds of fixes in two Manhattan apartment buildings.
Ohebshalom — who topped the most recent 100 Worst Landlords in NYC list — must be jailed in Rikers Island for 60 days, or until he makes the fixes, according to the arrest order by Judge Jack Stoller.
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Stoller noted Ohebshalom has technically been in contempt since February 2023 for not fixing conditions in a pair of Washington Heights buildings.
“Moreover, the sheer volume of extant hazardous and immediately hazardous violations bespeaks the extent of Respondents’ contempt,” the order states.
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Ohebshalom’s attorney didn’t respond to Patch’s request for comment. The landlord himself is believed to be in California, according to the arrest warrant.
The arrest and contempt order — first reported by Gothamist — stem from nearly 700 of violations in 705 and 709 West 170th St. that range from lead paint to rodent infestations, documents state and records show.
And those are just a drop in the bucket of housing violations active against Ohebshalom.
Records show Ohebshalom and his head officer Johnathan Santana shared a record for average open violations — nearly 3,300 — for the “worst landlords” list compiled by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams’ office.
Ohebshalom has long faces official scrutiny based on longstanding tenant clams that his buildings are filled with rodents, burst pipes and even mushrooms growing out of walls. City officials last year won $4 million in three lawsuits against him.
Williams said the pending arrest is long-awaited accountability that shouldn’t stop at just Ohebshalom.
“Ohebshalom is an example, not an outlier,” Williams said in a statement. “Hopefully today’s escalation is a sign of a renewed commitment by the city to holding bad actors accountable – and a signal to the worst landlords around our city that severe negligence will lead to severe consequences. We can’t stop at one building or owner – we need to change the systems that have permitted putting profit over people for too long.”
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