The head of New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development said he is committed to taking legal action against one of the city’s worst landlords.

“It's time for this game to stop,” Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. said during an appearance on “Mornings On 1” Tuesday. “We need to send a very clear message to property owners out there, residential property owners out there that we will use every tool in the toolbox to ensure the safety the security of New York City tenants, and this particular owner was topping the list of the city's worst landlords for a number of years.”

An arrest warrant was issued for Daniel Ohebshalon this week after he racked up more than 700 violations at two different properties in Washington Heights. Some of those violations include lead paint, roach and mice infestations and mold.

What You Need To Know

  • An arrest warrant was issued for Daniel Ohebshalon this week after he racked up more than 700 violations at two different properties in Washington Heights

  • New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Adolfo Carrión Jr. said he wished it could be easier to charge those who do abuse their residents

  • Carrión noted that tenants play a pivotal role in holding landlords accountable and advised residents to issue complaints about their apartments to 311

While Ohebshalon has yet to respond publicly to the accusations, Jay Martin, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program—a group representing owners of rent-stabilized properties in New York City—issued a statement praising the pursuit of bad landlords.

“Bad property owners are a threat to good property owners, and we fully support efforts to crack down on those who exploit their tenants,” Martin said.

Meanwhile, Carrión said he wished it could be easier to charge those who do abuse their residents.

“It doesn't take 700 violations, but it takes a lot of time because it's a legal process. And one of the things I said at the City Council hearing yesterday is that these folks —they lawyer up and they tie the system in knots, they challenge, they defy the court, they know how to buy time for themselves. The jig is up,” Carrión said.

Regarding the city's response to tenants' suffering, Carrión said there will be a multifaceted approach.

“In addition to the fact that he enters into the enforcement program that we execute—where we hire a contractor, we go in and do emergency work under extreme conditions like this—he has a penalty of $3 million related with these two buildings. He also has to fix, according to the court order, the problems that these people are facing,” he said.

Carrión noted that tenants play a pivotal role in holding landlords accountable and advised residents to issue complaints about their apartments to 311 so the department can continue to keep thorough records.

He noted that many landlords in New York City responsibly maintain their properties, but Carrión vowed the department is committed to pursuing “these bums, these clowns, these slumlords.”