{"id":39879,"date":"2026-03-13T12:11:27","date_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:11:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/?p=39879"},"modified":"2026-03-13T12:11:27","modified_gmt":"2026-03-13T12:11:27","slug":"mayor-mamdani-announces-historic-2-1m-court-judgment-against-bronx-landlord-requiring-repairs-and-financial-penalties","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/archives\/39879","title":{"rendered":"Mayor Mamdani announces historic $2.1M court judgment against Bronx landlord, requiring repairs and financial penalties"},"content":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks announced a first-of-its-kind ruling\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0case that the\u00a0city\u00a0brought against the owners of 919 Prospect Avenue in\u00a0the South Bronx.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The ruling, the first to\u00a0impose\u00a0the maximum penalties available under New York City\u2019s Nuisance Abatement Law,\u00a0will require\u00a0the landlord to address\u00a0the\u00a0most severe of the\u00a0building\u2019s\u00a0noncompliant\u00a0conditions\u00a0within two weeks, all noncompliant conditions within one month,\u00a0and pay $1,000 for each day that\u00a0a public nuisance has persisted\u00a0\u2014 including\u00a0a full retroactive penalty of $2,174,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis judgment is a landmark victory not only for those who call 919 Prospect Ave home, but for tenants across the five boroughs who must contend with the daily misery,\u00a0mistreatment\u00a0and neglect of a bad landlord. Let the scale of this penalty show how seriously we take the threat of building mismanagement that put residents\u2019 and neighbors\u2019 health at risk,\u201d said\u00a0Mayor Mamdani.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will continue to use every tool at our disposal to protect tenants across New York.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery New Yorker has the right to a safe and well-maintained home. For far too long, the residents of 919 Prospect Avenue have been denied that right \u2013 and this judgment will finally turn the tide. The City\u2019s actions in this case show how we can, and will, ensure that building owners are upholding their legal obligations, whether through building or housing code enforcement or legal action,\u201d said\u00a0Leila\u00a0Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the Mamdani administration, the Mayor of New York City is on tenants\u2019 side. The tenants of 919 Prospect Avenue have fought for a livable home for more than a decade, and this victory is a turning point in that fight. We will leave no stone unturned in our work to create a city where every tenant can live in comfort and dignity,\u201d said\u00a0Cea Weaver, Director of the Mayor\u2019s Office to Protect Tenants.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe\u00a0City\u00a0will use every tool available to ensure tenants are protected and building owners comply with the law,\u201d said\u00a0New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis court ruling not only helps us hold this one landlord accountable,\u00a0it\u00a0will also enhance our efforts to safeguard building residents in numerous other cases.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThis court decision is an important step towards finally compelling the owners of 919 Prospect Avenue to live up to their legal responsibilities and make the building repairs needed to provide their tenants with a safe place to call home,” said\u00a0Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani.<\/p>\n

“This major ruling sends a strong message that putting our fellow New Yorkers in harm\u2019s way in their own homes is not acceptable. We are thankful to the Law Department for their dogged pursuit in this case.”<\/p>\n

\u201cTenants should not have to live for years with conditions like unsafe electrical equipment, pests, or broken building systems because an owner refuses to make basic repairs,\u201d said\u00a0Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Dina Levy.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt HPD, we\u2019re going to keep using every enforcement tool we have to make sure landlords meet their obligation to keep their buildings safe and livable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHousing maintenance issues like peeling lead-paint and pest infestations aren\u2019t just a public nuisance, but a threat to public health,\u201d said\u00a0NYC Health Commissioner Dr. Alister Martin.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe applaud Mayor Mamdani and Corporation Counsel Banks for their steadfast leadership in protecting the health and safety of New Yorkers and holding those responsible accountable.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cFolks should have a community that they can be proud of and also need a home they can be proud of too. 919 Prospect Ave is an example of how bad things can get and it\u2019s an unfortunate reality that many other buildings in my district are on the same track.\u00a0\u00a0We need to continue to hold bad landlords accountable and I\u2019m proud to be working with an administration that is putting tenants first,\u201d said\u00a0Councilmember Justin Sanchez.<\/p>\n

\u201cTakeRoot\u00a0Justice has been fighting alongside the tenants from 919 Prospect Ave since 2016 for the right to safe, dignified living conditions. This judgement is a sign of progress, and the tenants are hopeful, but it is important to highlight that this new administration has much work to do to enforce housing codes and hold slumlords accountable,\u201d said\u00a0Claribel Morales, Staff Attorney, and\u00a0Nova Rivera, Advocacy Coordinator,\u00a0TakeRoot\u00a0Justice.<\/p>\n

919 Prospect Avenue\u00a0is\u00a0an occupied, rent-stabilized building owned\u00a0by\u00a0Seth Miller, who\u00a0has consistently been placed on the Public Advocate\u2019s \u201cWorst Landlords Watchlist,\u201d and the associated building is currently part of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) Alternative Enforcement Program.<\/p>\n

At 919 Prospect Avenue,\u00a0there are violations for\u00a0a deteriorated facade, unsafe electrical equipment, obstructed fire escapes, an unsafe elevator, inoperable boiler, a\u00a0partial vacate order, peeling lead-based paint,\u00a0lack of self-closing doors, mice and roach infestations, and the\u00a0failure\u00a0to erect a necessary sidewalk shed.<\/p>\n

After the City sought an injunction, a New York State Supreme Court Judge issued a Decision and Order granting the City\u2019s motion to order the correction of code violations and abatement of all public nuisances at the premises, and the imposition of Nuisance Abatement Law penalties in the amount of $1,000 per day for each day the building had an open violation that rendered it a public nuisance \u2013 including full retroactive penalty of $2,174,000. The City\u2019s motion was supported by building tenants represented by TakeRoot Justice who joined the City\u2019s case.<\/p>\n

This judgment resulted from the city\u2019s ramped-up, comprehensive enforcement against building owners who put tenants at risk, led by the Law Department in\u00a0close cooperation with the Mayor\u2019s Office to Protect Tenants and\u00a0numerous\u00a0city agencies.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

NEWYORK: Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani and New York City Corporation Counsel Steve Banks announced a first-of-its-kind ruling\u00a0in\u00a0a\u00a0case that the\u00a0city\u00a0brought against the owners of 919 Prospect Avenue in\u00a0the South Bronx. The ruling, the first to\u00a0impose\u00a0the maximum penalties available under New York City\u2019s Nuisance Abatement Law,\u00a0will require\u00a0the landlord to address\u00a0the\u00a0most severe of the\u00a0building\u2019s\u00a0noncompliant\u00a0conditions\u00a0within two weeks, all noncompliant […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":39875,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1469,31,1378],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-39879","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-new-york","category-news","category-us"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39879","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=39879"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39879\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":39880,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/39879\/revisions\/39880"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/39875"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=39879"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=39879"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.vosa.tv\/eng\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=39879"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}