Three local landlords have earned a very dubious honor—they made the cut for the Public Advocate’s annual list of the worst offenders in the city.
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams unveiled this list this week, which is calculated from the average number of open housing violations per month from December 2024 to November 2025.
Steven Kashanian made a repeat appearance on the list, previously appearing in 2023. Kashanian owns 220 Franklin Street and 219 Kingsland Avenue. Attorney General Letitia James recently won a settlement against him and his company BlueSky Management NY, LLC, for violating building codes and creating unsafe living conditions for tenants, forcing them to pay $672,578 in civil penalties.
You might remember Kaskel as one of the key players in a scheme to deregulate at least 159 rent-stabilized units across Brooklyn and Queens, including a few in Greenpoint (Peak Capital Advisors, LLC, of which Kaskel is a member, technically owns those buildings). AG James also sued Peak Capital for this alleged deregulation. Kaskel owns 814 Manhattan Avenue and 251-253 North 8th Street.
Rounding out the local representation is Colleen McEntee, who owns 331 South 5th Street.
For the full list, check here.
Do they have a list for the “Most Useless Politicians” within New York ? When does that list come out?
Good one. That list would be easy. Finding out good pols. would be very difficult if at all possible.
Leave the landlords alone
I half agree with you. Although the list is useful and informative, tenants can be just as bad as landlords. I know, I have been on both ends.
Also, with good lawyers, these slum lords (and bad tenants) can usually escape with appeals with a slap on the wrist.