It’s All Fun and Games Being an ‘Egregiously Negligent’ Landlord Until You Get Punched in the Face at Rikers

Last Thursday, notorious New York City landlord Daniel Ohebshalom turned himself in to the New York City Sheriff's Office, after the City took the rare step of asking a judge to issue a warrant for his arrest, for repeatedly refusing to fix the appalling conditions in two buildings on 170th Street that he owns. 

Ohebshalom, who has been described by the Public Advocate as one of the city's "most egregiously negligent" landlords, began his 60-day sentence at Rikers on Friday—and immediately got punched in the face. 

Via NBC New York:

A source close to Ohebshalom said the landlord may have broken facial bones Friday afternoon after being punched in the face by another person in custody. The assault occurred at the intake area of the Eric M. Taylor Center around 12:15 p.m., a spokesperson for the Department of Correction said.

Ohebshalom's injuries were said to be non-life threatening, and he was taken back to Rikers late Friday.

NBC News noted that "sources don't believe Ohebshalom was targeted because the assailant threatened a number of other people in custody as well."

Rikers is a violent hellhole that needs to be closed. Still, understandably, many of Ohebshalom's tenants in Washington Heights were pleased that the landlord who has forced them to live in appalling conditions for years was punched in the face. 

Via the New York Post: 

"I had to pay out of my pocket for the kitchen to be fixed because the rats were chewing their way in," Nelly, a 37-year-old nurse who lives on the first floor of Ohebshalom's building at 709 170th Street, told The Post on Sunday.

"Him getting punched is karma…God forgive me for laughing!"

"He's not a good person—he's not nice, he's a very crazy person," added Yovanny Marte Lopez, 66, a 30-year resident of the same building.

"It's good that this happened to him."

Two other tenants—neither of whom spoke English—smiled broadly when a third resident explained in Spanish what happened to him. One even gave a thumbs-up.

According to Ashley Viruet, the Manhattan Legal Services attorney who has been representing tenants in those two buildings, it appears that the threat of jail time appeared to spur Ohebshalom to begin making some repairs. Via Curbed: 

"What I can say is that before the threat of this was on the table, repairs were not being done at all." Once the possibility of jail time became a "real discussion," she said, management started to paint and make plaster repairs: "It's not the deeper, substantive work we would like to see, but they are in there and doing things for the first time in years."

And now some links that won't get you punched in the face:

• Governor Hochul is allowing REBNY to kill any sort of housing compromise plan. Via Gothamist: "Hochul punted a critical part of the negotiations to the Real Estate Board of New York—the industry's biggest lobbying group—and labor unions in January, leaving it up to them to jointly devise a plan for determining the minimum amount workers must be paid on construction jobs that qualify for the tax break. REBNY and the unions are still negotiating two months later. With one exception, they haven't been able to reach a deal, throwing a wrench into the broader budget talks and casting significant doubt on whether the governor and lawmakers will be able to pass a spending plan ahead of the beginning of the state's fiscal year on April 1."
• Eric Adams said he was going to go to the U.S. border with Mexico this weekend, then canceled at the last minute. 
• "Adams' double donors: A look at the New York City mayor's most loyal backers"
• Tammy Murphy has finally realized no one wants her to run for Senate.
• The collection agency (New York Attorney General Letitia James) is about to come for Donald Trump. And so is his imminent trial over hush money payments to Stormy Daniels. 
• Someone just get this dog some training, please. 
• Early voting for New York's presidential primary (a real thing, apparently) has begun. 
• "Retired NYPD sergeant accusing mayoral aide of sexual harassment met repeatedly with investigators"
• There are still heroes among us. 
• Maybe make your cheesecake not suck first!
• And finally: