New York City Public Advocate Jumaane Williams unveiled the 2025 Worst Landlord Watchlist on Wednesday, spotlighting the city’s most negligent property owners and exposing a record number of unresolved housing violations that threaten the health and safety of tenants across the five boroughs. The annual list — now in its seventh year — is designed to shine a spotlight on landlords who repeatedly fail to maintain safe and habitable living conditions and to give tenants a tool for accountability.

Six of the landlords listed in the top 10 own properties in the Bronx. Many of their names might sound familiar: they have appeared in the news frequently as the targets of lawsuits, investigations and tenant rallies. Their inclusion on the Public Advocates Worst Landlord Watchlist is based on publicly available data for open violations issued by the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD). If you live in a building owned by these landlords (or if you landlord isn’t making repairs), check out some of our resources on how to enforce your rights as a tenant.

See below for the worst landlords in the Bronx, according to the Public Advocate.

1. Barry Singer

Barry Singer is no stranger to notoriety. He made headlines in 2005 for the multi-million dollar sale of 104 properties to Pinnacle Group — the landlord currently involved in a controversial bankruptcy case in which the city is trying to intervene. Singer’s tenants have complained about poor conditions in his properties and an unwillingness to make repairs. This year, he landed on the Public Advocate’s Worst Landlord Watchlist due to 2,885 open HPD violations at 15 of his properties. Thirteen of those buildings are located in the Bronx, concentrated primarily in Kingsbridge and Allerton.

2. Joseph Cafiero

Joseph Cafiero is on this year’s Worst Landlord Watchlist because he is listed as the owner of 19 buildings with 2,871 open HPD violations. (14 of those buildings are located in the Bronx.) However, Cafiero denies being a landlord. He told CBS News that he is a contractor hired by banks to make repairs on properties in foreclosure. “We’re not on a bad landlord list,” he told CBS. “We’re coming in and repairing the work that the bad landlords just didn’t make.”

3. Peter Fine

Bronxites might be familiar with Peter Fine. The city banned him from participating in its affordable housing programs after an investigation revealed he arranged free architectural work for former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. Since then, the real estate developer has been the target of numerous investigations and lawsuits. He lands on this year’s Worst Landlord Watchlist because of 2,206 open HPD violations at seven properties, all of which are located in the Bronx.

4. Yonatan Bahumi

Yonatan Bahumi owns the most expansive collection of Bronx properties on the list. He is listed on the Worst Landlord Watchlist due to 1801 open HPD violations at 34 different buildings, all of which are located in the Bronx. His properties are scattered throughout the borough.

5. Joseph Pistilli

Joseph Pistilli is on this year’s Worst Landlord Watchlist due to owning eight properties with 1,656 open HPD violations. Five of those properties are located in the Bronx, mostly clustered around Grand Concourse and the Cross Bronx Expressway.

6. David Tennenbaum

David Tennenbaum is on this year’s Worst Landlord Watchlist due to 1,549 open HPD violations at 14 different properties. Eleven of those properties are located in the Bronx. His spot on the list is fitting: tenants at several of his properties have held rallies to protest hazardous conditions and failures to make repairs.

There you have it. The worst landlords in the Bronx, according the the Public Advocate.