NYC’s ‘worst landlord’ wanted for arrest over 700 open violations including mold, roaches and lead paint

Peeling lead paint. Roach infestations. Blinking electricity. Mold.

These are just some of the dangerous conditions that Daniel Ohebshalom, the Big Apple’s “worst landlord,” has allegedly ignored in two of his Washington Heights apartment buildings, city housing officials said Monday.

The nearly 700 open violations between the buildings at 705 and 709 170th Street earned Ohebshalom an open arrest warrant, a two-month vacation at Rikers Island and fines of more than $3 million, the officials said.

“The worst landlord in New York City is Daniel Ohebshalom,” Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. of the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development said at a press conference in front of City Hall.

“The reason we’re after this guy and his practices is because of the life people have been living there — it’s horrible,” he continued.

“People are dealing with mold, leaks, pests — rats and roaches — peeling paint, lead paint. Their children are exposed, seniors are exposed. It’s time to stop this nonsense,” Carrión added.

The violations cited in Ohebshalom’s warrant are “extensive and include serious, immediately hazardous conditions that threaten not only the residents’ quality of life but their health and safety,” HPD said in a press release.

The warrant lets the NYC Sheriff’s Department cooperate with California enforcement teams that operate in the Golden State, where Ohebshalom lives.

“We’re drop-dead serious about this work. If you abuse New Yorkers in the places where they live, and you don’t take care of their homes, as a property owner, we’re coming after you,” Carrión vowed.

The housing agency first took action in 2021 after its anti-harassment unit inspected and investigated the Washington Heights buildings, the statement said.

Last January, the HPD moved both buildings to its Alternative Enforcement Program — which helps it enforce rules and hold owners accountable — so it could make emergency repairs and address longstanding issues, according to the release.

It assessed more than $48,000 in fees against the property as the AEP did emergency work to fix leaks, remove mold and install self-closing doors.

But Ohebshalom failed to comply, leading to more litigation that included the housing agency’s request for contempt, jail time and civil penalties.

A housing court agreed, saying the landlord was in criminal and civil contempt of several court orders, consent orders and interim agreements.

It also signed off on the more than $3 million in penalties, saying the “sheer volume of extant hazardous and immediately hazardous violations bespeaks the extent of [Ohebshalom’s] contempt.”

“We’re using Ohebshalom as an example,” Carrión told reporters, noting the city has a long list of alleged slumlords. “We’re coming after other folks … We’re not going to let you get away with this nonsense.”

While a judge first held Ohebshalom — who defied court orders for more than a year — in civil contempt back in January 2023, he hails from a well-known family of slumlords who have invited legal trouble with their savage practices.

“This is very unfortunate that a family like this — that’s doing residential real estate in New York City — is abusing New Yorkers,” Carrión said. “And now the second generation does this? Obviously, this family doesn’t care about fellow New Yorkers.”

“We are all responsible for our neighbors,” he continued. “Sadly these clowns don’t care about their neighbors.”

Carrión said it’s relatively rare for a landlord to go to jail — but every few years, the city catches up with an exceptionally bad one.

HPD is also pursuing legal action against Ohebshalom for squalid conditions in several other buildings, the release said.

“This is the worst guy,” Carrión said. “I mean, he’s got a giant portfolio of residential developments around the city, and he has abused these residents consistently.”

City officials have gone after the landlord for alleged crimes including tenant harassment and illegal short-term rentals in three buildings in Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen, the release said.

Last October, the city locked down more than $1.1 million in penalties and outstanding fines regarding those properties.

The HPD has also brought nearly a dozen motions for contempt and civil penalties for Ohebshalom’s failure to comply with court orders to fix conditions in seven other buildings he owns, the release said.