It’s more than 12 months since beleaguered Hell’s Kitchen residents and local leaders gathered at 410-412 W46th Street to demand a permanent solution to the nightmare living conditions in the building owned by infamous slum landlord Daniel Ohebshalom — and little has been done, while conditions have got progressively worse.
On Saturday, tenants from 410-412 W46th Street, with residents from six other Daniel Ohebshalom (also known as Daniel Shalom) buildings gathered to once again make their voices heard. They were joined by Housing Conservation Coordinators, West Side Neighborhood Alliance, Cooper Square Committee, Met Council on Housing, Woodside on the Move and Assembly Member Tony Simone and State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, along with other local representatives.
The protestors called out owner Ohebshalom and property manager Robin Ignico as a dangerously negligent landlord and management who would rather warehouse apartments and drive residents out than make repairs.
Assembly Member Simone told the gathering: “Daniel Ohebshalom and his accomplice Robin Ignico are criminals. Without a doubt, they should be held accountable. They should never be allowed to own or run any property anywhere in this country again. It’s taken way too long. It should move way faster than it has. No human being, no New Yorker, should live like this.”
The previous rally held back in March of 2022 organized by Housing Conservation Coordinators was attended by Borough President Mark Levine, City Council Member Erik Bottcher and Paul Devlin, co-chair of the Land Use Committee at Manhattan Community Board 4. Tenants from Obeshalom’s buildings throughout New York have echoed similar issues in public protests over the past year — but it appears that their complaints have gone unresolved.
“I knew I wasn’t moving into a fancy doorman building, but I did expect basic safety and sanitation,” said former 412 resident, and now 410 W46th resident, John Reeds, who cataloged a range of issues, including trespassers living in unsecured vacant apartments and terrorizing the tenants; no locking doors; mold; cocaine use in the public halls; floors on the brink of caving in; ongoing and blatant prostitution; gas fumes from a broken boiler; and no water at all over this past Christmas.
“The only solution that anyone ever gave me for any of these incredibly serious and life-threatening problems was ‘Call 311’ or move,” said Reeds. “Well, we didn’t move, but we did call 311 — a lot! And I am here to tell you that calling 311 didn’t work. The system is as broken as our front door locks.”
Rent-stabilized residents of 410 W46th Street, like Marc McBarron Kessler and Reeds, have suffered years of deteriorating conditions in their homes, including crumbling ceilings, broken doors and windows, prolific trash and debris as well as a lack of heat and hot water over the coldest months — not to mention harassment and threats from managers at Highpoint Associates, part of Ohebshalom’s network of property LLCs.
“Last summer, as I fought to save this building and our right to occupy it, I also fought to hold onto my personal dignity as I was called everything from ‘unhinged’ to ‘shrill’ to ‘difficult’ for simply telling the truth of the hell we were living through,” said McBarron Kessler. “I am not difficult, my work is difficult. Making at least three to four 311 complaints a day is not why I moved to New York City. It is not my job to be a professional tenant. I just want a home with locking doors and a roof and a real building super that treats us with respect instead of harassing us.”
After 412 W46th Street was condemned by the city, the building, as well as its counterpart 410 W46th Street, were put into the 7A housing program, which relinquishes control to public administrators to manage their maintenance. In the midst of the 7A case, the properties were also listed by realtor Cushman Wakefield for $11,700,000 as an “investment opportunity”. A decision on the case is expected later this month.
The 7A case was not the first of Ohebshalom’s legal troubles. In 2019, the city sued him for illegally renting out rent stabilized apartments in the buildings as Airbnbs. In December, Johnathan Santana — one of Shalom’s agents and the head of the LLC that operates 410 and 412 W46th Street, as well as other properties in Hell’s Kitchen at 438-440 W45th Street and 452 W36th Street — was named the city’s Worst Landlord of 2022 by New York City public advocate Jumaane Williams.
His list named Santana as having the highest total number of Housing Preservation Department (HPD) and Department of Buildings (DOB) violations in the city, while Ohebsalom owns more than 15 buildings in New York City with an average of 2,980 open HPD violations, and 523 open HPD and DOB violations between 410 and 412 W46th Street alone. Most recently, four of Ohebshalom’s other properties have been foreclosed on (according to a report in The Real Deal), as Maguire Capital accused their lender of defaulting on loans at 438-440 W45th Street, 1587 3rd Avenue, and 331 E14th Street in Manhattan, as well as 84-53 Dana Court in Queens. An auction is set for June 7.
“Buildings can’t make speeches, but if they could, they might be angrier than I am. After all, what kind of speech would you make if you survived attempted murder over and over again as your perpetrators go free?” said McBarron Kessler. “And those perpetrators are New York City’s number one slumlords, The Shalom Brothers.”
Regardless of a lengthy legal procedure, tenants said that the time for accountability for Ohebshalom was long overdue.
Local activist Marisa Redanty shared the frustrations of many on the minimal effect that fines and violations have on bad landlords, saying: “The tactics this landlord uses are decades old. Slum lords…let’s call them what they are… let’s call them SCUM Lords, do not react to the hundreds of fines and violations piled up outside their doors. They do not care. It has no impact.”
Marc McBarron Kessler agreed: “Slumlords will never stop unless they are forced to stop. I want promises and results that benefit the tenants and not slumlords or potential buyers or the city. If 311 works, then why do 412 and 410 and all the other Shalom properties throughout the city look like they do? These crimes are not exclusive to 410 and 412. They are happening, right now, in broad daylight, to my brothers and sisters in Chelsea, in Harlem and all across New York City. Don’t make promises, make laws!”
Do these tenant honestly think Brad Hoylman, Tony Simone or HCC will do anything? All are in the pockets of landlords and developers.
Saying that Brad Hoylman-Sigal is “in the pockets of landlords and developers” is just bizarre.
It was GREAT to see an impassioned turnout. Incredible how the vermin scum that call themselves landlords, and agents, get away with terrorism. That (these people who sometimes call themselves) “shalom” means “peace” makes their attitude seem even more sick, twisted, and inhuman, if that is even possible.
I spoke on Saturday. My address has been 331 East 14th street since 1979. My neighbors and I are in court requesting a 7 A administrator too. Daniel Shalom hired a NYC lawyer named Waxman.
The Santana Brothers were hired by Waxman as ” assistants” so HE could convince these BOYS to sign building related documents for many SHALOM buildings. These two BOYS, in their 20’s were at the 331 7A trial this week. They testified that they didn’t understand exactly what they were signing. Waxman told them to do it as a favor for his firm’s biggest clients. The younger of the two brothers actually said “they told me, the girls in the office used do it”. This SNAKE, DAN SHALOM will stop at nothing to HIDE behind phony/ fraudulent tricks.
That’s all great. No one is excusing Shalom or his cronies. Do you have an actual docket number for the trial of which you speak? Press conferences with pandering politicians mean nothing; we need to see the actual trail documents.
In what way were the elected officials there pandering? These are members of the legislative branch. It’s not like they can issue fines or send inspectors. But one thing they can do, for issues that affect their constituents, is bring attention to those issues. Having elected officials show up to a protest will nearly always get more attention from newspapers & executive branch agencies than a protest alone could get.
Patricia, the hearing (it’s a 7-A hearing) has been going on for months and tenants have been actually testifying. I’m not at court but John Reeds (featured with the glasses and red patterned shirt) who spoke at the event has testified. At this point, the trial/hearing has ended and closing arguments are scheduled for this week (possibly tomorrow if the schedule stands). So there is definitely a trial happening and it’s about to end. The judge has sole command to refer the building to a 7-A administrator which takes the building (buildings in this case I believe) away from the scum lord. I understand your skepticism, however, in this case there is a trial, with a judge and the building may be put into the hands of a 7-A administrator who will handle rents, repairs etc. The present owner will lose rights to supervise any longer. As was stated at the presser, Alvin Bragg’s office has a criminal investigation ongoing against these scummers. Hopefully that will hit soon.
I respectfully disagree about HCC. They have been stepping up in a big way. I’m not happy with any of our electeds these days especially after this horror show has dragged on for almost 2 years…and that’s just this latest go round. Where was Dick Gottfried? I’m told by the tenants he was a total no show. Nada. Zilch. Anyway, I think Hoylman and Simone have a task assigned by the voters and so does Levine. Let’s see when they start crafting laws that protect. Tenant ownership is great when appropriate. But tenants in all buildings shouldn’t have to put up with no heat, hot water, lights, and harassment by managers living in L.A.!!
No, the system is NOT broken, it’s working exactly as planned. Put in place a facade agency to appear responsive, but their job is actually to repel and obfuscate–in other words, use dense bureaucracy. Then when it operates by ensuring that the status quo is maintained, everybody sagely shakes their head, and says, oh, they tried, but the “system is broken… Whatever can we do?!?”.
And calling anyone who objects “unhinged/crazy”, “shrill”, “difficult”, etc., is simply a tactic in furtherance of silencing anyone who challenges their authority. Consider such attacks to be a badge of distinction, and a sign not only that you are annoying them, but to pursue complaint–loudly, and wherever it is necessary.
So, while this headline is entertainingly snappy, in a better way, please stop, everyone, using the phrase “the system [pick one] is broken…”, and recognize what is actually going on.
It’s how they maintain the system which, for them, is not a problem but the source of all their privilege and profits. Committees serve to delay; then their “report” determines that the aggrieved were just making it up, all along…. Or it simpers that some changes ought to be made, at some time in the future, should funding ever become available; which it will not.
It’s what Robert Moses did when he destroyed neighborhoods to put in the cross Bronx expressway. Displaced residents were told to apply to a special agency set up for the purpose if assistance with housing, etc. It was a false front. No one ever got anything more than bureaucratic runaround. It was very effective, from the city’s standpoint.
As noted in the article, the “system” has been in place for decades, and little has changed. Laws are not enough. Those laws must be promptly and strongly enforced, and criminal building owners need to go to jail for a lengthy period.
Here’s J. P. Morgan on the subject: “People without homes will not quarrel with their leaders. This is well known among our principle men now engaged in forming an imperialism of capitalism to govern the world. By dividing the people we can get them to expend their energies in fighting over questions of no importance to us except as teachers of the common herd.”
It’s not only lack of repairs for services, essential and otherwise–the goal of which is to force tenants out, as well as pinching the penny of profiteering–but a basic element of the wholesale process of evictions now in progress.
Furthermore, City/State agencies have the ability to make the necessary repairs and charge the building owner. Rather than picket in front of the building, sans owners, however lovely a photo op, action at HPD and DHCR–and City Hall–is in order.
Thanks again for the great coverage of the historic place called Hells kitchen….
Hello Everyone :I attended last weeks Protest and spoke due to my Connections from being Born & Raised in HK and Lived in 8453 Dana Ct for almost the last 2 Decades so Im very fimliar with Robin and the Merry Band of Criminals . They have been at this since 1979 from what I understand and have been the brunt of a phony Court Appearance ticket to many many threatening Phone Calls (On a Private Caller) Would love nothing more then to see Robin sporting a Orange Jumpsuit .
One last think, Id forgot to Thank the “2 Marks” along with everyone Else for your Tireless work . Sincerely Eddie Jakuboski