NYC’s top 2 worst landlords of 2025 hold most violations in city history
One of A&E’s buildings included in the settlement. Streetview of 340 Fort Washington Avenue © 2022 Google
New York City released its 2025 list of the worst landlords, with the top violator holding more building-code violations than any landlord on record. On Wednesday, NYC Public Advocate Jumaane D. Williams released the 2025 “Worst Landlords Watchlist,” the annual list that exposes the city’s 100 most negligent property owners and ranks them according to the number of housing violations in their buildings. Margaret Brunn of A&E Real Estate topped the list with 4,872 open violations across 24 buildings, and last week the company reached a $12 million settlement with the Mamdani administration to resolve thousands of them.
Together, Margaret Brunn and Donald Hastings—who ranks second with 3,889 open violations across 36 buildings and is also linked to A&E—now hold more violations than anyone in the list’s history, marking the first time the top two landlords have represented the same entity, Williams said.
“Each hazardous violation on the Worst Landlord Watchlist, each building in disrepair, each landlord putting profit over people, represents New Yorkers suffering in their homes.” Williams said. “Our top two worst landlords have more violations than anyone in the list’s history – and both represent the same company taking advantage of tenants across the city.”
While Brunn and Hastings far outpaced the rest, every other landlord in the top five still had more than 2,000 open violations with the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). The next three worst landlords of 2025 are:
- Barry Singer, with 2,885 open violations at 15 buildings
- Joseph Cafiero, with 2,871 open violations at 19 buildings
- Peter Fine, with 2,206 open violations at 7 buildings
The watchlist draws on HPD violation data from December 2024 through November 2025, covering issues such as heat and hot water outages, rodent infestations, and deteriorating infrastructure.
Less than a week before the list’s release, A&E agreed to pay a $2.1 million settlement to resolve more than 4,000 building-code violations across 14 properties. The deal followed a year-and-a-half legal battle that began under former Mayor Eric Adams and is the largest in the history of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (HPD) Anti-Harassment Unit, according to Gothamist.
This is the seventh Worst Landlord Watchlist released by Williams. He said holding the city’s worst landlords accountable requires collaboration across government and emphasized an “increased focus” on targeting the worst offenders under Mayor Zohran Mamdani. He praised Mamdani for revitalizing the Office to Protect Tenants on his first day in office, as well as for the settlement reached with A&E.
The public advocate also noted that long-term improvements in housing conditions will require consistent enforcement and increased funding for the city agencies responsible for housing safety.
“Long-term success in improving housing conditions will require sustained investment in enforcement, including reversing the cuts to staffing from the previous administration at HPD and the Department of Buildings,” Williams said.
He added, “It is virtually impossible to meet the scope of necessary repairs without substantially increasing staffing, and in particular, adding HPD code enforcement inspectors to manage the workload.”
Another landlord recently in the headlines also made the list. David Tennenbaum, associated with Summit Properties, ranked 10th with 1,549 open violations across 14 buildings.
Last week, Summit acquired thousands of rent-stabilized apartments in a bankruptcy sale from Pinnacle Realty, despite Mayor Mamdani’s efforts to delay the sale and prevent the units from falling to another negligent owner. Although the mayor noted that the city is a major creditor—Pinnacle owes millions in unpaid fines—the judge rejected the request.
View the full list of 2025 Worst Landlords here, as well as the worst buildings in each borough here.
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