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May 9, 2016- BatteryPark.TV has reported on the political winds that have been changing in New York since Mayor de Blasio was elected. The landlords, who used to get away with egregious violations of rent-stabilization law, are now being prosecuted. Today, one of the biggest slumlords was arrested at the First Precinct and charged with numerous felonies.
The NYT reports, “For decades, Steven Croman was a successful landlord in New York City. His companies bought up more than 140 Manhattan apartment buildings, often filled with rent-regulated tenants. And then, methodically, he pushed them to leave, buying them out of their leases for relatively modest sums or, if that didn’t work, harassing them until they left, tenants said. He was a regular on “worst landlords” lists. His tenants even created a website against him.
Mr. Croman’s business came to embody in many ways how rent regulations have eroded in the city, putting housing out of reach for more and more New Yorkers. He was able to deregulate most of his rent-stabilized apartments within just a few years of buying the buildings, enabling him to reap much higher rents.
On Monday morning, though, his fortunes took a different turn. Mr. Croman, 49, turned himself in around 7 a.m. at the First Precinct in Lower Manhattan. He was charged with 20 felonies, including grand larceny, criminal tax fraud, falsifying business records and a scheme to defraud, relating to accusations he inflated his rental income to secure more than $45 million in bank loans. He faces up to 25 years in prison. His mortgage broker, Barry Swartz, 53, was charged with 15 felonies.”
Note, Mr. Croman’s son went viral (see video above) when an Uber driver captured him on film spewing “faggot” and other words, in a tirade because the driver kicked him out.