Man on New York City "worst landlord" list tied to collapsed Bronx building
NEW YORK -- The New York City public advocate's office released its annual list of the 100 worst landlords in the city Wednesday, and one of the landlords on the list has ties to the building that partially collapsed in the Bronx on Monday.
The building is owned by a shell company -- 1915 Realty LLC -- but the same engineer who warned in early 2020 that the facade was unsafe also listed the names of people from the company in his paperwork, and one of those names is very familiar to the city's public advocate.
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In the 2020 report, which included photos of cracks on the building, that engineer listed the owner as a Jay Zanger of 1915 Realty LLC. That same name was listed as the 81st worst landlord in the city by the public advocate last year, and this year, Jacob Zanger was listed as 50th worst. The public advocate says it's likely the same person and the two lists connected the names to several of the same properties.
"I really hope this is a wake-up call for us so that we don't have the absolute, absolute worst case scenario next time," Public Advocate Jumaane Williams said.
Those lists don't mention the Bronx building, but they do say Zanger is the landlord of several other Bronx buildings with hundreds of combined housing violations.
One property from last year's list was a building at East 168th and Sheridan. City records show someone filed a complaint there in 2012 about "cracks in the middle of the building."
CBS New York investigative reporter Tim McNicholas visited the apartment Wednesday and found cracks in the hallway on floors one through four.
"How does that make you feel?" McNicholas asked a tenant.
"Unsafe, you know," said the tenant, who did not want to show her face because she doesn't want to upset the landlord. "I try to do everything. I call 311, but it's like you do what you can, but it's like your voice is not heard."
City inspectors noted "no structural defects" when they investigated that complaint. When CBS New York asked the Buildings Department about the concerns Wednesday, they said they'd send an inspector to the property.
Elio Valerio says he's been trying to get management to fix a hole in his ceiling at the property for two years. He says part of the ceiling fell down and hit his wife.
McNicholas visited another property connected to Zanger on the worst landlord list and found people painting the hallways.
Two residents told CBS New York that work just started Wednesday.
- Related story: Bronx building collapse raises questions about what New Yorkers can do to make sure their buildings are safe
We've tried to reach Zanger for an interview, but we have not heard back.
Another filing from that same engineer, a year later in 2021, listed the owner of the Bronx building that partially collapsed as Charlie Clarke with 1915 Realty, so we don't know whether Zanger is still associated with the building.