Mamdani Claims Credit for Crown Heights Building Transfer, but Records Tell a Different Story

NEW YORK (VINnews) — New York City officials are taking credit for the transfer of three troubled Crown Heights apartment buildings to new ownership, but a detailed account of the transaction shows that the city did not actually carry out the transfer.

The Mamdani administration announced Thursday that three long-neglected, rent-stabilized buildings at 1018 Eastern Parkway, 1074 Eastern Parkway and 1392 Sterling Place had been transferred to investor Mark Schwartz, describing the move as a major step in addressing years of neglect.

A celebration that is long overdue.

We will continue to address New York City's housing crisis with the scale and urgency New Yorkers deserve. https://t.co/UPesmE58lX

— Mayor Zohran Kwame Mamdani (@NYCMayor) September 6, 2026

But The Real Deal reports that the ownership change resulted from a long-running private legal dispute, a $2.2 million lead-poisoning judgment and a subsequent auction and series of financial transactions — not from a city seizure or direct city transfer of the properties.

The properties had been tied up in a complicated dispute involving their former owners, Rikud Realty and the Dukler family. A plaintiff in a 2010 lead-poisoning case won a $2.2 million judgment against Rikud in 2017. An investor connected to Iris Holdings eventually acquired that judgment, which became central to the subsequent transactions involving the buildings.

On Wednesday, the investor auctioned the three properties and won them through a credit bid. Iris Holdings then decided not to take ownership. Schwartz and his firm, Brooklyn Affordable Housing Associates, stepped in and paid approximately $7.6 million in total consideration, including the judgment, municipal fines, civil penalties and a defaulted mortgage, according to The Real Deal.

In other words, the city did not take the buildings from their former owners and transfer them to Schwartz. The transaction was driven by the private legal and financial process that ultimately resulted in Schwartz becoming the new owner.

City Hall’s role was primarily connected to the buildings’ housing-code violations and its efforts to address the properties through existing enforcement programs. The city says the three buildings have nearly 1,000 open code violations and that HPD has been required to make emergency repairs.

The Mamdani administration nevertheless presented the ownership change as part of its efforts to hold negligent landlords accountable and preserve the city’s rent-stabilized housing stock.

The 88 households living in the buildings have spent years organizing over poor conditions, including mold, leaks, plumbing problems and pests. Tenant groups, with support from housing organizations, have pushed for repairs and ultimately for residents to gain ownership of their homes.

Schwartz has agreed to work with the tenants on rehabilitating the buildings, with tenant oversight and a longer-term goal of resident ownership. He said his firm owns about 20 affordable housing properties in New York.

The ownership change is significant for the tenants, but the circumstances surrounding it are considerably different from the impression created by the city’s announcement.

City Hall can point to its enforcement involvement and its work with the tenants, but the actual transfer of ownership came through a private judgment, auction and financial transaction — not a city takeover.