Harlem Landlord Is Worst In City, New Watchlist Says

HARLEM, NY — A real estate company that owns nine properties around Harlem earned the undesirable top spot on this year's "Worst Landlord Watchlist" — and dozens of other neighborhood buildings also cracked the list.

The Public Advocate's office compiled the annual report between December 2020 and November 2021 by sampling the average number of serious, unresolved violations of the city's housing code at buildings around the city each month. Managing agents were then ranked by their average number of open violations, according to THE CITY, which first reported on this year's study.

It found that the worst offender in the five boroughs was David Schorr, a director at Sugar Hill Capital Partners. The 17 buildings citywide where Schorr was listed as the manager had an average of 1,442 violations combined.

That includes nine properties in Harlem. One such building, 372 West 127th St., currently has 62 open violations, according to city records. Dating back to 2014, the most recently issued violations include reports of mice infestations, broken faucets and dishwashers, water leaking from a ceiling and hot water outages.

Schorr did not immediately respond to Patch's request for comment, and declined to comment when reached by THE CITY. According to his LinkedIn, Schorr left Sugar Hill in September for a new role at the real estate company Fairstead.

In a statement, Sugar Hill Capital Partners said that "We respect the work of the Public Advocate but our inclusion on this watchlist is misleading."

"The list does not take into account poor conditions created by prior ownership or ongoing work and progress already made to improve those conditions," the statement read.

According to its website, the company first made inroads in Harlem in late 2018, when it acquired 53 buildings in Upper Manhattan whose prior ownership had "failed to maintain and improve the properties, affording Sugar Hill a significant value-add opportunity."

54 Harlem properties

All told, 54 properties across Harlem were included on the 2021 landlord watchlist.

Spanning across the neighborhood, between 110th and 155th Streets, they include buildings like 60 St. Nicholas Ave., where recent violations include mold, hot water outages and broken cabinets; or 2890 Frederick Douglass Boulevard, where reports include roaches, broken smoke detectors and mice.

Here's the full list of Harlem properties included in this year's "Worst Landlord Watchlist":

• 143 West 111th St.
• 126 West 112th St.
• 245 West 116th St.
• 257 West 116th St.
• 271 West 119th St.
• 262 West 122nd St.
• 244 West 122nd St.
• 242 West 122nd St.
• 234 West 122nd St.
• 372 West 127th St.
• 162 West 132nd St.
• 210 West 140th St.
• 603 West 140th St.
• 613 West 140th St.
• 572 West 141st St.
• 620 West 141st St.
• 602 West 141st St.
• 522 West 142nd St.
• 203 West 144th St.
• 133 West 145th St.
• 223 West 145th St.
• 247 West 145th St.
• 271 West 146th St.
• 269 West 146th St.
• 267 West 146th St.
• 506 West 146th St.
• 510 West 146th St.
• 304 West 147th St.
• 460 West 149th St.
• 161 Morningside Ave.
• 175 Morningside Ave.
• 63 Morningside Dr.
• 254 Manhattan Ave.
• 260 Convent Ave.
• 41 St. Nicholas Terr.
• 17 St. Nicholas Ave.
• 60 St. Nicholas Ave.
• 222 St. Nicholas Ave.
• 66 St. Nicholas Place
• 76 St. Nicholas Place
• 161 Lenox Ave.
• 191 Lenox Ave.
• 2035 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. Blvd.
• 2400 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.
• 2445 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2500 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2819 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2853 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2866 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 2890 Frederick Douglass Blvd.
• 1467 Amsterdam Ave.
• 11 Mount Morris Park West
• 145 Edgecombe Ave.
• 409 Edgecombe Ave.

See the Public Advocate's full report, including landlords' names and a map of buildings, here.