Worst Landlords in Park Slope Named in Annual List

Many people complain about their landlord, a seemingly difficult breed, but did your landlord make the list?

Public Advocate Bill de Blasio released his annual 2011 Worst Landlord Watch List on Tuesday.

Park Slope, a tony, historic brownstone and brick-building neighborhood, which is speckled with Victorian mansions built in the 1800s on Prospect Park West, one of the largest historically landmarked districts in NYC, rent-controlled buildings and new luxury condos.

With its beautiful apartment buildings, fancy restaurants, bars and Prospect Park, the neighborhood was named number one by New York Magazine’s article “The Most Livable Neighborhoods in New York” in 2010.

The author, Nate Silver, wrote, “Park Slope is the very definition of a well-rounded neighborhood.”

He said that out of 12 categories, Park Slope only fell below average in affordability and diversity.

But the rest of the categories, Silver wrote, the neighborhood is “somewhere between above grade and superlative” with a low crime rate, great public schools, awesome greenspace, top-notch restaurants and bars, sundry retail stores and a population that has more creative-types and artists than Williamsburg.

But, four buildings in Park Slope were named in de Blasio’s list of worst landlords, which contained a total of 157 names.

In order to land your name on the list, a landlord must own a building with fewer than 35 units but an average of at least three pending, serious violations: vermin, no electricity, et cetera.

Larger buildings must have an average of at least two open, serious violations per unit.

According to de Blasio’s category, the worst offenders in Park Slope were:

• Number 15 is Nicholas Gordon, who owns 304 Tenth Street, between Fourth and Fifth avenues. It is a brick building with 25 units and was built in 1913. It has 222 violations, which is 32 more since April 5, 2011.
• Number 83 is Anahid Hatzigeorgiou, who owns 294 Fifth Avenue, between First and Second streets. It is a four-story brick building with seven units, which was built in 1920. It has 83 violations, which is 50 less than reported in June 21, 2011.  
• Number 152 is Isaac Rabinovich, who owns 597 Fourth Avenue, between Prospect Avenue and 17th Street. It is a five-unit, four-story brick building, which was built in 1905 and has 20 violations.

De Blasio says he launched the list in an effort to pressure landlords to improve their buildings and living quarters for tenants. To submit a housing complaint with the City's Citizen Service Center, call 311.

Do you have a bad landlord? Tell us your story. Submit landlord horror stories to Will Yakowicz: will.yakowicz@patch.com.

This story was updated on June 27 to remove a landlord's name from the list. The infractions were dismissed and the owner is no longer on de Blasio's list of worst landlords.