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De Blasio Launches New Slumlord Watch List Online
By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 30, 2010
Modified Aug 30, 2010
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Aug 30, 2010
Modified Aug 30, 2010
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Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched a new slumlord watch list today, with 153 wastrel landlords included to begin with. "We want these landlords to feel like they're being watched," de Blasio said. "We need to shine a light on these folks to shame them into action."
The site, which offers tenant resources and lets them nominate landlords for scrutiny, will regularly update names based on tenant information, media reports and data on the worst health and safety violations from Department of Housing Preservation and Development inspectors. "Tenants and would-be tenants have a right to know what the overall conditions are in any building they either live in or are considering moving into," said HPD spokesman Eric Bederman. From the map, the majority of the complaints seem to come from the Bronx and Brooklyn.
The Daily News has more anecdotes about some of the tenants' woes, such as Lakisha Haywood, 35, who was attacked by a giant rat inside her toilet bowl, and Belita Delgarde, 61, whose kitchen ceiling came crashing down due to water damage. Earlier this year, the Voice compiled a similar list of sleazy, exploitative landlords (most of whom appear on this list as well).
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bill de blasio
housing
Slumlord
watch list
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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