Mamdani Administration Transfers 3 Crown Heights Buildings Away from Negligent Owners

Mayor Zohran Mamdani celebrated on Thursday the transfer of three long-neglected, rent-stabilized apartment buildings in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, putting 88 homes on a path toward greater stability, investment and improved conditions.

Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani celebrated on Thursday the transfer of three long-neglected, rent-stabilized apartment buildings in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, putting 88 homes on a path toward greater stability, investment and improved conditions.

The buildings, previously owned by Rubin Dukler, who routinely ranked among New York City’s worst landlords, were sold Wednesday to Mark Schwartz. Following the sale, the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) will work with tenants and the new owner to ensure the buildings receive the repairs and maintenance they have been denied for years.

“The tenants of the Dukler Tenant Union have suffered from neglect and disinvestment for years. Today, a new chapter begins for these buildings. We will work alongside tenants and the new owner to put these 88 homes on a path toward stability and make clear that every New Yorker deserves a safe, well-maintained and stable place to call home,” said Mayor Mamdani.

“Every New Yorker has the right to a safe and stable home. This sale can mark the beginning of a new chapter for the tenants who call these three buildings home and help make that vision a reality. We will continue to support them as they fight for the repairs that they have long deserved – one small piece of our work to improve housing quality across the five boroughs,” said Leila Bozorg, Deputy Mayor for Housing and Planning.

“These tenants have suffered long enough living under the Duklers, who routinely neglected and underinvested in their buildings. Thanks to HPD’s AEP enforcement, alongside organizing by UHAB and the tenants, this has finally come to an end. Congratulations to the tenants on the transfer of their buildings away from these predatory owners,” said HPD Commissioner Dina Levy.

“Fighting for tenants means fighting for safe, high-quality housing. We are proud to stand with the members of the Dukler Tenant Union – and with tenants across the city – as they organize for the repairs and investment that every New Yorker deserves,” said Cea Weaver, Director of the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.

The three buildings – 1018 Eastern Parkway, 1074 Eastern Parkway and 1392 Sterling Place – are part of HPD’s Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP), which targets buildings with the most severe uncorrected violations. Together, the buildings have nearly 1,000 open code violations, and HPD has been required to make emergency repairs at each property. HPD and the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants (MOPT) have supported tenants in their fight for better conditions, including through Housing Court litigation seeking to compel the previous owners to make repairs.

Following the sale, HPD and MOPT will continue working with tenants and Schwartz to ensure the new ownership adequately invests in repairs and maintenance.

Tenants at the three buildings began organizing in 2018 for repairs and investment with support from Housing Organizers for People Empowerment (HOPE), a member-led tenant organizing project of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board (UHAB), and Brooklyn Legal Services. They formed the Dukler Tenant Union in 2025 to organize for resident ownership and the transfer of ownership away from the Dukler family. The tenant union has reached an agreement with Schwartz that commits to rehabilitating the three buildings with tenant oversight and moving toward resident ownership.

The transfer is part of the Mamdani administration’s broader effort to hold the city’s most negligent landlords accountable and improve conditions for tenants across the New York City. The administration is using the enforcement and litigation tools available to the City to stand up for tenants, pursue repairs and work toward transferring buildings to more responsible ownership.

This work is part of the Mamdani administration’s commitment to addressing New York City’s housing crisis with the scale and urgency New Yorkers deserve. In Mayor Mamdani’s first budget, the administration invested $22 billion over five years in affordable housing capital, including $2.6 billion over the next two fiscal years specifically for affordable housing preservation.

Block by Block: The Housing Plan for a New Era further details the City’s plan to build 200,000 new affordable homes and preserve an additional 200,000 over the next decade. The plan also outlines the administration’s efforts to empower tenants, secure NYCHA’s future, expand and stabilize homeownership, invest in good jobs and deliver public excellence in housing, from permitting through lease-up.

Following more than 2,400 conversations with New Yorkers, the Mamdani administration also released the Rental Ripoff Report, which included 23 policy priorities to improve compliance, strengthen tenant organizing and make New York City’s housing market fairer.

“I’m feeling relieved and hopeful. It’s been a long fight, and I’m happy that the buildings may finally be out of the hands of the Dukler family. I’m ready for a fresh start and for us tenants to finally have a real voice in what happens with our homes,” said Desra Lawrence, tenant leader at 1018 Eastern Parkway. “Living here hasn’t been easy. I’ve dealt with molds, leaks, plumbing problems and pests. I even had to buy my own refrigerator and stove and replace my kitchen cupboards because things weren’t being taken care of. We shouldn’t have had to fight this hard just to have a decent place to live. I’m proud that we stood together, I’m hopeful this will be a new beginning of something much better for all of us.”

“There will be progress because now we’re moving toward getting most of what we need, a better way of life, a better existence. We can now look forward to a safe environment. We can look forward to healthier buildings. Mr. Schwartz has committed to us that we are moving toward ownership. It means progress overall,” said Michelle Stamp, tenant leader at 1392 Sterling Place.

“This sale marks a huge milestone for tenants after nearly a decade of organizing for dignity, stability, and control of their homes,” said Arielle Hersh, Director of Policy at UHAB. “We are excited to see tenants move closer toward their goals, and know that we need tools like COPA and the SAFER Homes Act to make this possible for so many more tenants. With COPA and SAFER Homes, the negligent Dukler family could have been removed when the building was sold in 2018, or after multiple years in the AEP program with hundreds of HPD violations and unpaid property taxes.”

“This sale would not be happening today if it were not for the tenacious organizing of the tenants,” said Samar Katnani, a deputy director of the Tenant Rights Coalition at Brooklyn Legal Services’ Tenant Rights Coalition. “We have supported their organizing for nearly a decade, and, throughout, the tenants have refused to accept nothing less than the quality repairs needed to provide them safe and habitable housing and have been firm on their long-term goal of owning their buildings. Today brings them one step closer to that goal, and we are committed to continuing to provide them with legal support to help them achieve that.”

“Nine years ago as a tenant organizer in Crown Heights,  I knocked on doors in this portfolio for the first time. Since then, I’ve seen the Dukler Tenant Union get organized and take action. Now, those same tenants have removed a notorious slumlord and are on the path to full rehabilitation and control of their homes. The DTU has proven that when tenants organize, we can and will transform our housing and the entire city,” said Sumathy Kumar, Executive Director, New York State Tenant Bloc.

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