New York City Mayor Unveils Housing Plan Targeting Ten Worst Landlords

Mayor Zohran Mamdani presented the 'Block By Block' housing plan on May 26. The plan calls for building 200,000 new affordable homes over ten years, preserving 200,000 existing units, and converting commercial buildings into housing. The mayor said the city would increase enforcement against landlords with large numbers of unresolved violations.

He stated that the city would investigate at least ten housing portfolios this year that have the highest concentration of violations.

Mamdani said the city would launch a program called 'Fix the City' to pursue legal action against landlords who repeatedly fail to make repairs. He added that the city would improve the handling of tenant complaints filed through 311. 6 billion in investment for the New York City Housing Authority.

The NYC Public Advocate publishes an annual 'Worst Landlord Watchlist' based on open Housing Preservation and Development violations. In 2025 the ten landlords with the highest number of violations per unit were Margaret Brunn, Donald Hastings, Barry Singer, Joseph Cafiero, Peter Fine, Robyn Lucas, Yonatan Bahumi, Claudette Henry, Joseph Pistilli, and David Tennenbaum.

A&E Real Estate Holdings, linked to Brunn and Hastings, told CBS News it had invested more than $800 million in repairs and cleared 35,000 violations. Joseph Cafiero told CBS News he works as a contractor repairing foreclosed properties rather than as a landlord.

Mamdani said the city would explore transferring ownership of properties from the worst landlords to nonprofits, community land trusts, or tenants. The administration has not yet named specific landlords targeted for action.