NYC Public Advocate Reveals 2020 List of City’s Worst Landlords

Public Advocate Jumaane Williams recently released the annual Worst Landlord Watchlist, which catalogues the 100 most egregiously negligent landlords in New York City as determined by widespread, repeated, and unaddressed violations in buildings on the list. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) tops the list for the third year in a row, while Williams also added Mayor Bill de Blasio himself, citing what he called mismanagement of NYCHA and a failure to take sufficient action against individual landlords in 2020 and throughout his term.

According to the Public Advocate’s office, with de Blasio set to begin his final year in office, the number of NYCHA work orders has skyrocketed, the safety of NYCHA buildings has deteriorated, and lead exposure for children living in NYCHA units across the city is at previously unknown and devastating levels.

The Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist is an information-sharing tool intended to allow tenants, public officials, advocates, and other concerned individuals to identify which residential property owners consistently flout the city’s laws intended to protect the rights and safety of tenants. The list was first introduced in 2010 by then Public Advocate Bill de Blasio.