Mayor Zohran Mamdani said New York City could seize properties from the city’s 10 worst landlords under a sweeping new housing plan aimed at tackling both soaring rents and deteriorating living conditions.
“The crisis in New York City is not just the cost of housing, but also the conditions of housing,” the 34-year-old Democratic Socialist told a crowd of young renters Thursday at a students’ “Rental Ripoff” hearing event in the Bronx. It was organized by More Perfect University (MPU), a progressive youth advocacy.
Mamdani’s newly unveiled “Block By Block” housing plan seeks to address affordability and tenant conditions as New Yorkers continue grappling with high rents, aging apartments and persistent maintenance complaints.
The plan would significantly expand enforcement against negligent landlords while also pushing for major new affordable housing construction across the city.
“Part of what this housing plan puts forward is specifically funding to ensure that we can hold these kinds of landlords accountable, and especially the top 10 worst landlords in New York City,” Mamdani said, “that we can actually start to explore all of the tools we need to transfer ownership of those properties to those who will actually safely steward them—whether they are nonprofit, a community land-trust, or the tenants themselves.”
“Frankly, this is the law,” he added. “And for too long, housing code has been treated like a suggestion, not a requirement.”
Who Are New York City’s Bad Landlords?
The city already tracks landlords with large numbers of unresolved housing violations, including complaints involving heat outages, leaks, pest infestations and hazardous living conditions.
Every year, the NYC Public Advocate releases a “Worst Landlord Watchlist” that ranks the property owners with the highest number of open Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) violations per unit.
In 2025, the 10 worst landlords in New York City, according to NYC Public Advocate, were:
- Margaret Brunn, executive at A&E Real Estate Holdings, ranked highest with 4,872 open HPD violations across 24 buildings.
- Donald Hastings, also tied to A&E Real Estate Holdings, had 3,889 violations across 36 buildings.
- Barry Singer was listed with 2,885 violations across 15 buildings.
- Joseph Cafiero was listed with 2,871 violations across 19 buildings.
- Peter Fine had 2,206 violations across seven buildings.
- Robyn Lucas had 2,101 violations across 14 buildings.
- Yonatan Bahumi had 1,801 violations across 34 buildings.
- Claudette Henry had 1,738 violations across 25 buildings.
- Joseph Pistilli had 1,656 violations across eight buildings.
- David Tennenbaum had 1,549 violations across 14 buildings.
Newsweek contacted A&E Real Estate Holdings, Singer, Cafiero, Fine, and Pistilli for comment by email on Friday morning, as well as Mamdani’s press team. Lucas, Bahumi, Henry, and Tennenbaum could not be reached.
Mamdani’s administration has not yet publicly identified exactly which landlords could face legal action under the new proposal.
Earlier this year, A&E Real Estate disputed its inclusion on the list, telling CBS News it had invested more than $800 million into building repairs and improvements across its portfolio.
“To label over $800 million in repairs as ‘neglect’ is misleading and unrealistic,” the company said, adding that it had cleared 35,000 violations while continuing to address long-standing issues.
Cafiero separately told CBS News he is not a landlord but a contractor hired by banks to repair foreclosed properties with existing violations.
“We’re on the opposite end,” Cafiero said. “We’re coming in and repairing the work that the bad landlords just didn’t make.”
Mamdani Promises Faster Enforcement
Mamdani said Thursday he will not only strengthen enforcement against bad landlords, but he will also try to improve response from the city to tenants’ complaints.
“We’ve heard from tenants after tenants how their complaints have been ignored. So we’re now going to improve the process through 311 investigates and follow up on complaints,” the mayor added.
Housing issues in New York City can be reported by calling 311, which routes maintenance complaints such as heat/hot water outages, leaks, and pest infestations, directly to the HPD for enforcement.
“We heard from tenants who told us how bad landlords are allowed to act with impunity in our city. So we’re rolling out a new program called ‘Fix the City’, allowing us to take legal actions against those who are neglecting and mistreating their tenants,” the mayor added.
Under Mamdani’s plan, the “Fix the City” code enforcement initiative will target landlords “who speculate on buildings, persistently disregard repairs, and refuse to improve or change their business practices.”
The city plans to investigate at least 10 housing portfolios this year with what it describes as the highest concentration of “egregious violations.”
Inside Mamdani’s ‘Block By Block’ Housing Plan
Mamdani unveiled the broader “Block By Block” plan on May 26 as a sweeping affordability agenda focused on both increasing housing supply and preserving existing affordable units.
“We’re using every tool we have to fix our housing crisis,” Mamdani wrote on X announcing the plan.
“Block by Block is the boldest housing plan our City has seen this century. It is what New Yorkers have been demanding for decades.”
These are the key ways Mamdani plans to make New York City more affordable:
- Building 200,000 affordable homes over the next decade
- Preserving another 200,000 existing affordable units
- Converting commercial buildings into residential housing
- Expanding accessory dwelling units (ADUs)
- Expanding code enforcement against negligent landlords
- Expanding affordable co-op programs for working- and middle-class residents
- Establishing a $40-per-hour wage standard on city-financed projects
- Investing $5.6 billion in the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and expanding its authority to develop new housing and generate additional revenue.
“For working New Yorkers, housing is the heaviest financial burden that they carry, the largest source of stress in a life that frankly is already too stressful,” Mamdani told the audience at the “Rental Ripoff” hearing on Thursday.
“Too many have looked at their rent bill and utility bill at the end of the month and wondered how they could possibly afford both.”
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