Blighted Park Slope Construction Site Is Owned By NYC 'Slumlord'

PARK SLOPE, BROOKLYN — Local businesses and nearby neighbors aren't sure what's going on with the tall, brick building at 390 Fifth Ave. between Sixth and Seventh streets.

Ever since the gay bar Excelsior moved out of the ground floor in 2014, there hasn't been much in the way of progress at the construction site, but there's been plenty for neighbors to gripe about — including after-hours work and "small pieces of concrete falling and a barrier that extends well into the sidewalk."

And the four-story, mixed-use building has racked up an impressive list of Department of Building complaints and Environmental Control Board violations.

Turns out, the building is one of around 20 owned by Mendel Gold, who along with his brother Chananya has perfected the art of buying rent-stabilized buildings, harassing tenants to drive them out and "flipping" their apartments for a massive profit, according to government records and tenant interviews. Mendel checks in at No. 95 on the city’s annual "100 Worst Landlords" list, otherwise known as the slumlord hall of shame.

A Patch investigation revealed the scope of the Gold brothers' dealings in New York City and how landlords like them are able to get away with such tactics.

Their Park Slope building appears to be void of tenants — but neighbors are still annoyed.

"They've been working on this place, I don't know how long," a woman who lives a block away and asked to be identified as Michelle, told Patch. "And they're constantly not working more than they're not working."

Reached at his office about the Fifth Avenue building, Chananya Gold said he would pass our concerns along and have someone call us back. We will update this story if we hear anything.

All but one of the many DOB complaints lodged against the building have been resolved except for one: construction beyond current plans and permits. The site has received several stop work orders.

And the barrier around the site juts out so far into the sidewalk, one complainant said, that "elderly pedestrians and people in wheelchairs have to go out into the street."

Construction work has also disrupted nearby businesses with constant noise and even some minor damage, owners complained.

"All it is is sheet rock," Michelle, the neighbor, told us. "They've been shut down quite a few times by the city for fines. How long does it take to do a building? They've got money."

Below is an interactive map of all the buildings we could link to the Golds, including the one on Fifth. You can click the map markers to learn more about the city violations and fines issued at each property.

Photos by Marc Torrence, Patch Staff