In an effort to shame New York’s most egregious slumlords into action, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio launched an online registry that lets users look up the city’s worst landlords by name and address or search the worst buildings by neighborhood or borough. The website also lets tenants nominate their landlords for the list. But it’s going to take more than no hot water, a broken lock, or the occasional Fievel Mousekewitz to get yours on the list. Residents of Alan Fein’s buildings in the Bronx live with hallways soaked with urine and crackhead squatters, but what really put his candidacy over the top was a run-in tenant Lakisha Haywood had in her commode when a “giant rat lunged at her from inside the toilet bowl.” Says Haywood, “I screamed, slammed down the seat and flushed the toilet 10 times.” On that note, we’re just going to hold it for the rest of the day. New Website Aims to Shine Light on City’s Worst Slumlords [NYDN]
