Brooklyn’s ‘Worst Landlord’ Jailed For $450K Bribery And Threats
Herman Epstein, a notorious Brooklyn slumlord, was sentenced to up to six years in prison after being found guilty of bribing city officials to avoid making necessary repairs — and threatening tenants to force them to move.
He even told one tenant he would spread rumors about her engaging in incest if she didn’t get out of her apartment.
“Move out or I will start a rumor that you slept with your daughter,” he threatened one tenant in recorded call, according to court papers. “I am gonna screw you.”
Epstein, prosecutors demonstrated, paid out more than $500,000 in bribes to building inspectors so they would ignore violations of the city’s safe housing code in their check-ins.
Epstein left cash in paper bags for housing inspectors to ignore violations and plied them with gifts like a Nissan SUV and a Royal Caribbean Cruise.
He also tried to illegally evict tenants at some of his 100 properties spread throughout the city.
Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning journalism this Passover.
In this age of misinformation, our work is needed like never before. We report on the news that matters most to American Jews, driven by truth, not ideology.
At a time when newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall. That means for the first time in our 126-year history, Forward journalism is free to everyone, everywhere. With an ongoing war, rising antisemitism, and a flood of disinformation that may affect the upcoming election, we believe that free and open access to Jewish journalism is imperative.
Readers like you make it all possible. Right now, we’re in the middle of our Passover Pledge Drive and we need 500 people to step up and make a gift to sustain our trustworthy, independent journalism.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
Our Goal: 500 gifts during our Passover Pledge Drive!