USA, NY: Landlords, beware! Manhattan landlord who forced out rent-stabilized tenants gets jail time

LOWER EAST SIDE, Manhattan — Mega manhattan landlord Steve Croman will soon have a new island home: the Rikers Island jail.

Croman will spend a year in jail and pay a $5 million tax settlement after entering a guilty plea Tuesday to various fraud charges. The state attorney general said Croman made his money by displacing rent stabilized New Yorkers

His tenants are not happy.

“Croman is a predator,” said Francis Didonato, a resident of one of Croman’s buildings on the Lower East Side.

Living conditions have been tough, Didonato said. The building was infested with rats. Half of the people who lived there were pushed out by construction, vermin and squatters.

“I had people showing up to my door who looked like mafia henchmen,” Didonato said. “It’s just creepy living with that as your neighbor.”

Didonato lives in just one of 140 buildings owned by Croman across Manhattan. Croman made the public advocate’s worst landlord list. Didonato hopes the bust is a wake up call for abusive landlords.

“We needed someone who was going to step in and say to him ‘no, the laws are not beneath you,'” he said.

Published: PIX (6 Junce 2017)
Written by: Ayana Harry

Learn More

Personal Data Protection Policy

International Union of Tenants (IUT) will use the information you provide on this form to provide you updates on policies, events, publications and research related to our activities. This data is also used to customize your experience of our website and to improve our services.

At any time you have the right to access, correct and delete your personal information and object to the processing of your personal information. You can use these rights by sending an e-mail to the following address info@iut.nu.

International Union of Tenants (IUT) undertakes to respect and protect your personal information and personal integrity in accordance with applicable laws, industry rules and other relevant standards. We never disclose your personal information to third parties without your consent.

Accept