A New York State Supreme Court Judge has ordered one of the city's “Worst Landlords” to cough up more than $2.1M in fines and follow a strict timeline to make repairs — or risk even harsher penalties.
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The city sued South Bronx property owner Seth Miller in 2022 under former Mayor Eric Adams. Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated the ruling Thursday as the “first-of-its-kind” under the city’s Nuisance Abatement Law, his office said in a press release.
The rent-stabilized building at 919 Prospect Ave. is at the center of the judgment. The property’s violations include unsafe electrical equipment, obstructed fire escapes, an inoperable boiler, peeling lead-based paint, rodent and roach infestations, and the failure to erect a necessary sidewalk shed. It is also subject to a partial vacate order.
Advocacy group TakeRoot Justice, which joined the city in its case, said it has supported tenants' demands of Miller to make repairs to 919 Prospect since 2016.
The building is on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development's Alternative Enforcement Program list. The program isolates the residential properties with the most violations, allowing the city to increase inspection frequency or make emergency repairs and bill the landlord for them.
In addition to a $2.1M payment, covering retroactive penalties, Miller now has two weeks to resolve the most severe violations and one month to address all other noncompliant conditions. He will have to pay $1,000 for each day the violations persist.
Miller is president of Midtown-based Aegis Realty, which didn't immediately respond to Bisnow’s request for comment.
During a press conference on Thursday, Mamdani said the ruling serves as a warning for other bad actors.
“For far too long, New Yorkers have been abandoned to a living nightmare when bad landlords are able to operate with impunity. And now we are working together to bring that time of living nightmares to an end,” Mamdani said. “So, let today not only set a legal precedent; let it also set a precedent for what the future of renting in our city will look like.”
The mayor highlighted that his administration has allocated more than $85M in its preliminary budget to add 200 new attorneys and 100 support staff to the city’s law department, “so we can take on more cases just like this one.”
Miller has long been on the city’s radar.
In 2016, then-Public Advocate Letitia James dubbed 919 Prospect Ave. the worst building in the Bronx after it was cited for city housing violations 525 times in one year.
At the time, Miller was No. 36 on the public advocate's 2016 list of the city's worst landlords. Last year, he held the 40th spot on the list with 643 open HPD violations.
In 2017, tenants sued Miller for hazardous conditions. Two weeks later, he put the building's ownership into bankruptcy. A federal judge stripped the landlord of management rights for the building and chastised him for using the bankruptcy process to avoid his responsibilities.
Miller was reinstated in 2019 as the property manager. Tenants sued him again shortly after.
He's the latest apartment building owner to be held up by the mayor as an example of the new regime of accountability.
In January, the Mamdani administration announced a $2.1M settlement with A&E Real Estate, ordering the prolific landlord to correct more than 4,000 building condition violations across 14 buildings. The city struck the deal with A&E in the final days of the Adams administration.
The city has also been hosting Rental Ripoff hearings to better pinpoint landlords with portfolio-wide issues. Following the hearings, city officials will submit a public report of common problems raised and policy proposals to address the concerns.
CORRECTION, MARCH 16, 4:25 P.M. ET: A previous version of this story stated that the Mamdani administration struck a settlement with A&E Real Estate. The settlement deal was finalized on Dec. 31, under the Adams administration.
