“Worst Landlord” Begins Second Stay at Rikers

Notorious New York City landlord Daniel Ohebshalom finds himself in a familiar spot: a jail cell at Rikers Island.

The landlord turned himself into the city sheriff’s office on Wednesday to serve a 60-day sentence, Gothamist reported. The arrest warrant was issued over a month ago, but his attorney worked to keep him out of jail by arguing that Ohebshalom had hired people to fix the numerous issues at his properties.

The housing judge signed a warrant for Ohebshalom’s arrest in August over his failure to remediate chronic problems at his rental buildings. The judge, however, said the landlord could be released early if he fixes the problems before the end of his jail stint.

Ohebshalom has been in and out of court for years over claims from the Department of Housing that he failed to maintain his multifamily properties and ignored court orders to remedy problems including leaks, infestations and mold that formed due to unreliable heat and hot water and peeling lead paint.

This is his second arrest order this year. The city said this year that it has brought more than 10 motions against the landlord in the past year, resulting in civil penalties of more than $4 million. He’s also facing criminal charges for endangering the welfare of a child and harassing rent-stabilized tenants.

The properties involved in this arrest warrant are related to 705 and 709 170th Street in Washington Heights, where the city reported 700 violations. The landlord served a sentence at Rikers earlier this year pertaining to the same properties, which scored him a spot on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlords Watchlist in 2022.

The last time Ohebshalom was at Rikers, another detainee assaulted the landlord shortly after his arrival to the facility. If he doesn’t actually follow through on the required repairs, Ohebshalom will spend nearly a third of this year in jail, as he’s not due to be released from Rikers until Nov. 23.

The repeated jailing of Ohebshalom marks a rare bout with accountability for landlords who flaunt unsafe or deteriorating conditions at their properties. While civil penalties and public shaming happen, a stint behind the slammers is almost unheard of in such cases.

— Holden Walter-Warner