A notorious Manhattan landlord who failed to fix a pair of crumbling apartment buildings in Washington Heights returned to jail on Wednesday after a housing court judge rejected his last-ditch effort to stop the arrest.
Daniel Ohebshalom, who took the top spot on the public advocate’s “worst landlord” list, turned himself in to the city sheriff’s office to serve a 60-day sentence for missing court-ordered repairs at two properties on West 170th Street.
It’s Ohebshalom’s second jail sentence this year. He also faces related criminal charges from Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg for endangering the welfare of a child and harassing rent-stabilized tenants.
He was assaulted by another detainee shortly after arriving at Rikers Island in March.
Judge Jack Stoller ordered the latest arrest last month, but Ohebshalom’s attorney filed a motion to keep him out of custody. Attorney Vladimir Mironenko argued that Ohebshalom had hired managers to make “significant repairs” to the properties.
Bird feces covered a sink in an empty unit in a building owned by Daniel Ohebshalom
David Brand
“Work is being done every single day,” Mironenko told Stoller at a hearing Aug. 5. “Someone’s freedom is at stake, someone who has already served 60 days in jail.”
Stoller rejected the motion Monday. Mironenko did not respond to an email or phone message seeking comment.
Ohebshalom, who lives in southern California, is being held at the Eric M. Taylor Center on Rikers Island, according to Department of Correction records. He is scheduled to be released on Nov. 23.
Property owners rarely face jail time for letting their apartments deteriorate and endangering tenants, but residents and their advocates have long demanded that Ohebshalom be held accountable.
“This is going to get him to make the repairs,” longtime tenant Gilbert Butcher told Gothamist in court last month.
Loyda Irizarry, who has lived on the third floor of 709 West 170th St. since the late 1990s, says the ceiling collapsed onto a child’s bed.
Photo courtesy of Loyda Irizarry
Tenants and elected officials organized an event to showcase conditions in the buildings at 705 and 709 West 170th St. last weekend. They have complained of chronic leaks, lengthy heat outages, and a ceiling that collapsed onto a child’s bed.
When Gothamist visited in June, an empty apartment was covered in bird feces due to an open window. Other units had holes in the ceilings or garbage strewn across the floor.
Councilmember Carmen De La Rosa represents tenants living in the building and said she hopes the city seizes the properties — a maneuver that may require new city legislation — while forcing Ohebshalom to pay the fines and other penalties he owes.
“Ohebshalom is an example far too common of a landlord warehousing, harassing and price-gouging while ignoring repairs and maintenance that puts our tenants at risk for their safety and health,” she said
