City alleges many housing violations at Alma Realty, Empire Management buildings

In two separate court filings Friday, the city alleges that Alma Realty owner Efstathios Valiotis and Empire Management’s Fred Ohebshalom were operating portfolios of buildings with poor conditions, and the city is seeking to compel the owners to make repairs and pay fines. The suits identify the landlords by name, and also include a series of banks as defendants.
The court filings represent the allegations of the city, and are not necessarily accurate or complete. The landlords have not yet responded in court.

These actions are similar to other filings the city made over the past several years. In September 2021, the city accused landlords Yechiel Weinberger, Eric Miller, and the Parkoff Organization along with five multifamily-lending banks of a raft of housing and health violations. That was the the largest such lawsuits filed by the city in at least two years, according to a review by PincusCo Media of court records over the prior 24 months.

In the action against Valiotis, the city alleges, “These violations include lead-based paint hazards, infestations of vermin, impermissible occupancy of basement areas and apartments partitioned without a permit, unabated visible mold, unsafe wiring, and missing or defective fire doors, among numerous other hazards. Many of the buildings also have serious facade defects, which threaten both tenants and nearby pedestrians…” The 13 residential properties at issue in this case, which collectively contain more than 750 residential units, are, 477 West 140th Street, 1635 Amsterdam Avenue, 563 West 148th Street, 601 West 139th Street, 969 St. Nicholas Avenue, 559 West 164th Street, 600 West 161st Street, 1548 St. Nicholas Avenue, 4465 Broadway, 241 Taaffe Place, 225 Taaffe Place, 39-30 59th Street, 38-25 Parsons Boulevard.

In the action against Ohebshalom, the city alleges, “The New York City Department of Buildings (“DOB”) has issued nearly 300 violations for failure to maintain the buildings in code compliance, work without a permit, failure to maintain the buildings’ façades, and other Administrative Code violations…Defendants’ flagrantly illegal conduct already has resulted in partial vacate orders at two of the buildings.” The buildings are 515 Cathedral Parkway, 509 Cathedral Parkway, 664 West 163rd Street, 652 West 163rd Street, 268 Cabrini Boulevard, 603 West 140th Street, 640 Fort Washington Avenue and 660 Fort Washington Avenue.

Empire Management LINK

Alma Realty LINK