City targets Parkoff, Weinberger, Miller in its largest housing suits in years

By Adam Pincus

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. These are 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 past 24 months.

The city accused the landlords of allowing the buildings to deteriorate rather than repair them. The city sues many individual buildings for nuisance violations nearly every month, but has not filed a large suit such as this, in at least the past two years, the PincusCo analysis found.

The city is targeting these landlords during the pandemic which has generally reduced landlords’ collection rates. For example the New York City Housing Authority’s collection rate has declined from 86 percent in July 2020 to 77 percent in July 2021. At the same time, the number of days it takes NYCHA to complete repairs has risen from 199 days in July 2020 to 280 days in July 2021. NYCHA was not targeted in these lawsuits.

The landlords have not yet responded in court filings. The allegations made by one party in a lawsuit are not necessarily accurate or complete.

The city claims Weinberger and Miller have accumulated nearly a thousand uncorrected violations from “numerous city agencies over many years” in 10 buildings and that Parkoff has accumulated about 800 violations in nine buildings. An example of a Weinberger building is 1070 Elder Avenue in the Bronx, while an example of a Parkoff building is 2131 Wallace Avenue, also in the Bronx.

Tenants held a rally at a Weinberger building in Borough Park in March 2021, which News12 covered. 

A representative for Weinberger, in a statement to News12 at the time, said, “The landlord has been working diligently to inspect and repair conditions alleged by tenants. When notice of a condition is provided, access is arranged, and repairs are completed as quickly as possible. The landlord stands ready, willing and able to make all repairs as required by law. However, some tenants have failed to provide access.”

The city alleges the individuals, as well as the banks, violated nuisance abatement laws which allow for fines up to $1,000 per day.

The alleged nuisances include working without a permit, illegal subdivision, tenant harassment by “making false statements about a building’s current occupancy or rent-stabilization status,” interrupting services, and other alleged violations.

The suit seeks a judgment confirming that the owners have not corrected the alleged violations, that they must then correct them, that the landlords must get a DOB permit for required work, and that the judges should impose penalties as warranted.