Real estate mogul Daniel Brodsky, also the board chairman for the Metropolitan Museum of Art, oversees several properties that have a hundred unsettled violations, as shown by city records.
According to the New York Post, Brodsky - who serves as director of The Brodsky Organization - owns and operates several buildings in Manhattan, whereas majority of all "45 primes sites identified by The Post" have incurred violations from agencies including the Buildings Department.
"He's a slumlord," exclaimed Peggy Wiltrout, who was a resident since 1976 in one of Brodsky's Upper West Side buildings. "He's not going to do anything if he doesn't have to."
As it turns out, many of Brodsky's tenants, including Wiltrout, have said that there are "regular inconveniences" in the buildings - such as faulty elevators, collapsing walls and constant renovations - which are part of a much bigger effort to urge "rent-stabilized residents" to move out.
On the other hand, Brodsky is denying all the allegations, claiming that no rent-regulated tenant will be at risk of displacement.
Another Brodsky property found in Midtown, 360 W. 43rd Street, already has 27 outstanding violations, in addition to a stop-work order.
One of the violations is said to be the building owner's failure to maintain a crumbling façade, while another was due to illegal hotel conversion.
A building on 160 W. 71st Street also received a stop-work order on November 3. According to the city's Department of Environmental Protection, the order was issued due to "an asbestos project," which "poses a threat to human safety."
The order was lifted after the contractor accounted for materials that could have contained asbestos.
"There are rent-stabilized tenants and market-rate tenants in the [71st Street] building, and that will remain the same going forward," said Brodsky spokeswoman Maya Kremen.
"As in any nearly century-old building, management is making improvements and upgrades to ensure that the building is a pleasant living environment and functions for many years to come," Kremen noted.
