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Elmhurst Home Tops Public Advocate’s Top Watchlist Buildings in Queens

40-26 Benham St in Elmhurst takes the number one spot on the top 10 Watchlist buildings in Queens (Google Maps)

Dec. 17, 2019 By Allie Griffin

An Elmhurst home takes the crown for the building with the most housing violations in Queens, according to a new list released by Public Advocate Jumaane Williams on Monday.

The modest 3-unit building at 40-26 Benham St racked up 435 open violations from the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) in 2019 — the most issued to a building in the entire borough.

The list, titled the top 10 watchlist buildings in Queens, ranks the buildings with the highest number of HPD violations from December 2018 to November 2019. The violations can include reports of vermin and rodents inside apartments; peeling lead-based paint; and a lack of heat, hot water, electricity or gas.

All 10 buildings on the watchlist list have upwards of 200 open HPD violations and span numerous neighborhoods throughout the borough.

Second on the list is a 4-unit building in Woodhaven located at 88-42 85th St. It has 332 HPD violations and is closely followed by a 71-unit Rego Park building at 63-50 Wetherole St with 329 HPD violations, as well as eight Department of Buildings (DOB) violations.

The Rego Park building’s landlord also makes an appearance on Williams’ list of the 100 worst landlords across the city. Adam Pokrzywa, who owns several buildings across the city in addition to the Wetherole Street property, came in at number 17 on the list.

In Woodside, a three-unit building at 37-45 59th St comes in at fourth place with 269 open HPD violations and one DOB violation.

Fifth on the watchlist is a Murray Hill 61-unit building located at 35-30 153rd St. It racked in 266 HPD violations and three DOB violations in 2019.

Next is a 79-unit building at 143-30 Sanford Ave. in Flushing. It has 253 open HPD violations, 13 DOB violations and 2 reported evictions.

Seventh on the list — 39-30 59th St, a 78-unit building in Woodside, has 235 open HPD violations and 3 DOB violations this year. Its landlord, Eric Silverstein, was named the third worst private landlord in New York City.

A 88-unit building at 43-15 46th St in Sunnyside takes eighth place on the Queens watchlist. It has 234 HPD violations and three DOB violations, according to the list.

A 49-unit building at 144-03 Barclay Ave in Murray Hill comes next with 204 HPD violations and five DOB violations. It’s also owned by Pokrzywa, the 17th worst landlord in the city, according to Williams’ watchlist.

Last on the top 10 list is 114-05 170th St, a 77-unit building in St. Albans. It has 200 open HPD violations and seven DOB violations this year.

Williams named the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) the worst landlord in all of the city for the second year in a row. It has 290,857 open work orders among its 326 developments. It would cost more than $45 billion to make all the necessary repairs, according to Williams’ landlord watchlist site.