410-412 West 46th Street, Manhattan. Two of Ohebshalom’s properties where the City sued for illegal short-term rentals and tenant harassment. Image Credit: Google Maps.
On October 26, 2023, Mayor Eric Adams announced that the city has now won around $4.2 million in three lawsuits against Daniel Ohebshalom, a/k/a Daniel Shalom, and his affiliates. This week, the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement (OSE) won $1.1 million in payments of penalties and fines from a settlement agreement. The city had sued Ohebshalom alleging that he was engaging in tenant harassment and illegal short-term rentals in three buildings in Midtown and Hell’s Kitchen.
This settlement was not the first of Ohebshalom’s legal run-ins with the city. In addition to the settlement detailed above, the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development had obtained over $3 million from Ohebshalom and his affiliates in relation to civil penalties in judgments and finding of civil and criminal contempt over the last three months. These matters pertained to two lawsuits involving buildings in Washington Heights where it was found that Ohebshalom and affiliates ignored court orders, failed to correct unsafe living conditions, and violated hundreds of housing codes. HPD’s Anti-Harassment Unit and tenant attorneys are continuing to pursue legal action in regard to Ohebshalom’s other properties in Manhattan and Queens. A trial set for November is expected to determine remedies for the court’s contempt findings.
Over the last year, HPD has brought more than ten motions for contempt and civil penalties against Ohebshalom and his affiliates for failing to comply with court orders to correct housing code violations at seven buildings. Several properties of Ohebshalom’s in Manhattan, 452 West 36th Street, 410 West 46th Street, and 412 West 46th Street, were found to have over 100 administrative violations. Ohebshalom permitted multiple apartments to be converted into illegal short term rentals which led to abandonment of law permanent rent-stabilized tenants due to deficient conditions in the building including but not limited to trespassing, urinating, and using narratives in the building. The lawsuit received a settlement of $1,115,000. Additionally, in HPD lawsuits, courts found the landlords in criminal and civil contempt of multiple court orders and consent orders among other violations and held that the city was entitled to $3,057,620 in civil penalties.
In November, litigation for two more apartment buildings, 705 and 709 West 170th Street, will continue. HPD’s Anti-Harassment Unit is also at trial with Ohebshalom over his 104 West 83rd Street property. There are six other trials or hearings involving Ohebshalom in the coming months.
Mayor Adams said, “Our administration has a clear message to those who harass tenants: You are breaking the law, and we will hold you accountable. We can and will go after landlords who neglect dilapidated housing conditions and deprive New Yorkers of much-needed homes by permitting illegal short-term rentals to proliferate. And we will continue to deliver safe, high-quality, and affordable homes for New Yorkers however possible.”
HPD Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. said, “There are zero excuses for building owners repeatedly ignoring court orders and agreements to address conditions in their buildings. We assist owners who cannot afford necessary improvements but refusing to do the work as tenants are struggling is unacceptable. We will continue to hold the owners and management companies accountable until conditions drastically improve.”
By: Meg Beauregard (Meg is the CityLaw intern, and a New York Law School student, Class of 2024).
New York City Mayor’s Office: “Mayor Adams Announces City Has Won More Than $4 Million From Lawsuits Against One Of NYC’S Worst Landlords” (Oct. 26, 2023).