UPDATE: Wednesday, October 1 at noon: The day after West Side Rag published our story on alleged malpractice by the Chetrit Group connected to rent payments from senior residents at Park West Village on the Upper West Side, the real estate group was indicted on Tuesday by the Manhattan District Attorney’s office for “harassing two older, rent-regulated tenants” at a different one of their properties in Chelsea.
“As alleged, Meyer Chetrit waged a campaign of harassment against two rent-regulated tenants in their 70s in hopes they would move out, and the building could be sold,” said District Attorney Bragg, in a news release. “From winters without heat and unrepaired roofs causing leaks and ceiling collapses, these New Yorkers were forced to live in uninhabitable conditions.”
New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal wrote in a statement on Tuesday that “This indictment is consistent with mounting evidence of mismanagement and harassment at other Chetrit-affiliated properties, including Park West Village (PWV), a sprawling seven-building complex from West 97th to West 100th Streets on the Upper West Side.”
You can read the full release from the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office — HERE.
By Gus Saltonstall
A major Upper West Side landlord allegedly overcharged at least three tenants, all senior citizens, by failing to properly credit public housing subsidies meant to help with their rent. The landlord also pursued wrongful evictions against the tenants, according to allegations shared exclusively with West Side Rag on Monday by three politicians who represent the Upper West Side area where Park West Village is located.
The three tenants live in the Park West Village complex, a collection of seven residential buildings from West 97th to 100th streets on Columbus Avenue and Central Park West. The buildings are owned by the Chetrit Group. PWV Management manages the building, including handling correspondence with tenants.
The allegations against Chetrit were made public in a joint release by New York State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal, New York State Assemblymember Micah Lasher, and New York City Councilmember Shaun Abreu. According to Hoylman-Sigal’s office, the problem was first revealed after a resident of Park West Village received a letter from the building owner demanding thousands of dollars. Hoylman-Sigal’s office was able to confirm that rent assistance payments had been issued for the tenant and received by the landlord of Park West Village, but the tenant’s account showed no credit for the assistance money.
Following this initial discovery, at least two more Park West Village tenants were found with similar discrepancies.
The payments made to help defray some of the tenants’ rent come from New York state’s Emergency Rental Assistance Program (ERAP) and from a city program, the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE).
“It’s outrageous that a landlord would cash public subsidies meant to keep vulnerable seniors in their homes and at the same time threaten these tenants with eviction,” Hoylman-Sigal said in the joint news release.
By email, the Rag was put in contact one of the tenants, who requested anonymity to speak about the case.
“It’s inhumane for a landlord to harass seniors and disabled tenants, take public rent money, and still threaten us with eviction. It happened to me, and I know I’m not alone,” the tenant wrote.
The Chetrit Group did not respond to numerous phone calls from the Rag, and multiple employees of PWV Management also failed to respond to emailed requests for comment.
Pat Loftman, the Park West Village tenant association president, called the alleged actions of the landlord “unconscionable.”
“It is unconscionable and immoral for landlords to deny seniors who qualify for SCRIE the opportunity to remain in homes they have occupied for more than forty or fifty years, or threaten seniors with eviction while at the same time pocketing taxpayer subsidies whose sole purpose is to avoid making seniors homeless,” Loftman said in a release.
Park West Village has around 2,500 apartments between its seven buildings. Four have Central Park West addresses, and three have Columbus Avenue addresses. Over the years, the majority of the units in the four buildings along Central Park West have been converted to market-rate condominiums, but the three addresses on Columbus Avenue are still made up mostly of rent-stabilized units.
The three alleged examples of the landlord’s failure to properly credit the housing subsidies all came from the three Columbus Avenue buildings.
“We will not allow landlords to pocket taxpayer-funded subsidies intended to keep New Yorkers in their homes. ERAP and SCRIE are critical tools used to combat rising housing prices across our city,” Lasher, who represents Park West Village, wrote in a press release. “Any abuse of these programs should be thoroughly investigated.”
Abreu, who represents Park West Village residents in the city council, added: “Any tenants intentionally or unintentionally misled about rental costs must be made whole, and management must take steps to ensure these errors do not occur in the future. Accountability and transparency must rule the day.”
If you are a Park West Village tenant, Hoylman-Sigal’s office created a confidential survey to see how widespread the rent-payment-related issue stretches, which you can fill out — HERE.
If the survey uncovers more examples of the landlord failing to credit appropriate rent subsidies, Hoylman-Sigal’s office said the matter would be referred to the Manhattan District Attorney.
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Shocking. /s
A landlord wouldn’t cheat a tenant, probably just a clerical error. /S
Once, I had a $1500 credit on my rent bill, and it wasn’t my payment. I called my landlord, they worked it out without issue.
Well hopefully you’re right
Pollyanna,
Joey was being sarcastic.
Sorry to burst your bubble.
Be good and trust no one.
Be trustworthy even if the other guy isn’t.
Maybe your landlord… no error!
Can we link to the release? Vouchers tend not to cover the entirety of rent. Is the issue that the vouchers aren’t credited but the residents are still in arrears on the portion they owe?
It is not a voucher!!!
It is a. Scre tax credit that the landlord gets and uses to pay nyc
Real estate tax.
This is double billing: use Scre credits
To pay nyc real estate tax.
Then bill the tenants same amount.
Is ny da or AG or Us atty interested
In cases like this???? Probably not
No. The tenants are current with their full rent minus the amount covered by the voucher
So the property owners are filing actual eviction cases because of this processing error?
This isn’t an error it’s not 1 tenant it’s 3 tenants. If it was in error why didn’t someone attend to the phone calls or emails. We as a whole should welcome change and exposure remember we too will b Seniors at one point in our lives this can happen to us a parent your relatives your friends. We all have a voice use it and expose more landlords
yes
“Error” should be in quotes.
It’s probably not a processing error. It’s most likely someone in the employment of the real estate company who thought he/she could get away with stealing the subsidies, and that the government wouldn’t notice, and the elderly/disabled tenants wouldn’t know what happened.
You hit right on the head
Typical American capitalism or thievery 🤔
Lol. Language matters. Words matter.
In this is going around also in nj there stealing n been doing it for years now that the government has finally doing there job they want to blame the tenants like it’s there fault everyone get together in sign a petition in fight for what your apts.they cannot evicted you for there mistakes.
Steve Croman screwed over a bank and that’s how he got in trouble.
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/06/06/nyregion/steven-croman-landlord-pleads-guilty-to-fraud.html
You mean their criminal acts we all have a voice make it public they can’t evict u until u go to court then that’s where tweet like a bird and expose them to the judge it will b investigated
Sounds like a good faith mistake, an accounting error, no seniors were out money.
https://therealdeal.com/new-york/2025/09/30/meyer-chetrit-indicted-on-felony-tenant-harassment-charges/
Had it been a mistake in good faith, those contacted by the USW would have responded to clarify or explain what happen. I don’t think it was a mistake, it was more on purpose than a careless, mistake. LL’s try or do it all the time.
I just posted the same thing .
I hope for your sake and soul that this is sarcasm…
That is a joke, right?
Then why did the owner and the management company not say, oh sorry, our mistake we’ll fix that right away. Your naivete is overwhelming. They tried to evict them!
Agreed and didn’t bat an 👁️
This should lead to -prison sentences. That’s the only way to stop landlord fraud. This was a physical assault on the elderly.
Amen
Good luck wid dat
Im sure not just 3 tenants and might have been collecting these subsidies for years across numerous tenants (and buildings?). The stolen funds could be a huge total amt depending on how widespread and long this has been going on. Got to crush this landlord and quickly so the tenants dont suffer if they go into distress and need to sell the property.
So what’s stopping the politicians from filing a criminal complaint with tge DAs office?
That’s my same sentiment they didn’t attend to the phone calls nor emails y give them a chance to clean up their malicious act
Da never go after landlords
People Always let the NYt pick the pro landlord da candidate
Evidence of accusation.
Evidence.
3 sides to every story.
Criminal charges for the landlord would be appropriate here
It is upsetting that this happened and I’m glad it is being resolved. Thank you to our representatives for handling it.
My question is why did it require three politicians to resolve it? There are so many problems in this city and it took all three of them to handle it? Or is this typical politicians putting their names on things so they can claim credit for it?
I mean I’m sorry this happened and it is a problem but it isn’t like the three of them cured cancer or impeached Trump or something similarly important. Between the three of them having their names attached and WSR writing an epic story about it one would think this was of that magnitude.
It took three politicians because the issue involves both state and city subsidy programs, spans different areas of government oversight, and affects a large, politically significant group of vulnerable tenants. Their joint effort maximizes pressure on the landlord and ensures no jurisdictional gaps.
The landlord’s behavior is atrocious but why are people living in rent stabilized apartments (in an upscale complex) for “forty or fifty years” and receiving government subsidies to offset their already low rent?
This just underscores the dysfunction in NYC’s rent regulation regime. When a system is rife with corruption and unfairness it will inevitably lead to unsavory characters taking advantage.
PWV was built around 1960 and was not an “upscale complex”… the same crooked landlords buy the property and pretend it is “upscale” by changing the facade, turning rental property to Condo and trying to run seniors who have been living in the building for 50+ years out. Not applying payments makes it easier to start eviction cases. Losing checks is another. The issue is taking tenants to court and trying to evict them.
Hi, Murray great rhetorical question!
ERAP was a one-time payment to cover owed rent related to job loss during COVID, but the article states they are also on SCRIE, an ongoing rent subsidy, which is quite stringent on eligibility.
To qualify for SCRIE, the person (including household members) must be making below $50,000 per year, be 62 or over, and also already be paying more than 1/3rd of their income on rent at time of application. SCRIE will then freeze the rent for the tenant and cover future rent guidelines board increases so the landlord can still get the benefit of them without financial strain on the tenant.
This program is important for our elders because they often live on a fixed income such as social security, and have limited ability to work, which makes annual rent increases particularly burdensome.
Making below 50k annually puts someone in either the “very low income” or “extremely low income” category for NYC cost of living, and their “already low rent” was enough to eat up more than 1/3rd of their income already. It’s a great way to avoid grandma becoming homeless without denying a landlord rent increases.
Hope this helps!
Just because a senior is earning less than $50K per year it does not mean they are destitute.
If a person has been living “forty or fifty years” in a rent stabilized apartment chances are they were able to save a lot of money over the years because their housing expenses have been so low (even if they were modest wage earners).
In other words, these seniors likely have a lot of wealth accumulated but they are living in rent stabilized apartments and the government is further subsidizing their apartments thru these payment schemes.
As my post stated this is proof of a corrupt and unfair system.
Thank you for your great explanation, Elly.
No I’m going through the same thing right now. I’m 67 years old.And what my landlord use is a computer that allows her to put any information or amount of money so that senior citizen can be harassed and abused.My disabled daughter wants to kill her self. Because now we are being evicted after 4 months of harassment. I’m paying base rent and I am in a subsidies program. Do any body know who the. Owner of Villa Victoria 133 7th avenue Newark New Jersey 07104 Need help!
You’re sensationalizing a good faith error that should definitely be corrected. But these kinds of things happen all the time unfortunately. These landlords are no criminals.
Yes, they are criminals…
Hi, landlord!
This does not shock me. Because this owner has left scaffolding at the three buildings for close to 3 years. And maintenance workers do absolutely nothing. The buildings
inside and out are a pigsty.
There is no maintenance what so ever. Rugs are never cleaned in corridors. Elevators
are never cleaned.
The grounds are not maintained.
You see the maintenance workers at 9 am for 20 minutes and then they hide in the
basement in rooms where they sleep 😴.
Oh the laundry is filthy and the machines never work.
Total disgrace.
I live in the bronx 10459 and my rent is two thousand eight hundred dollars per month and it’s affordable housing we need help
New mayor must tend to the problem of rats. They are everywhere and it’s very hard to not see them and if one has guests, they feel very uncomfortable and when they leave. Everybody talks about the rats of New York City. We need all the help we can get Regarding the problem of rats in New York City. I guess they were fishing. People are paying very high rents in these buildings of Park West Village. They should not have to deal with rats.
I live here and they are doing this to me as a DRIE recipient as well…
The Disabled as well as the Seniors/Elders.
I thought it was just me until one of my neighbors mentioned the others in our complex and told me that our tenant’s association president was attending to helping with this and contacting our assembly member(s).
Our tenant’s association is the only reason so many of us have stayed protected from horrible things this company has tried to get away with.
When you get your scre tax credit award letter. Save the letter!!!
If landlord tried to overcharge you.
Send him a copy of the award letter.
You can always lookup your tax Scre
Tax credit on the nyc dept of finance
Web site
PWV was a beautiful place to live before … now tenants have to beg, borrow and steal to live decently and safely. I realize how apartments turn into slums… poor management, cheap repairs, no repairs, lies and terror to steal your home. Still looking for a great tenant lawyer!!!!
There aren’t any.🥴
Imagine my shock.
This doesn’t surprise me at all. Thank you for exposing the criminal act against our seniors. It is very heart breaking to know that there are landlords out there out to mislead our elderly. They also have a voice. The only thing I don’t agree with is giving the landlord a chance to correct his malicious act. I would of token it straight to the district attorney what they did is despicable. Again thank you for exposing them.
This exact same thing is happening to an elderly person in my family. They don’t have children to help them so every so often i help them with paperwork, and they kept wondering why management was demanding more money from them when their subsidy was supposed to cover mostly everything, less their portion, which they pay religiously. Management even sent them a letter stating that they owed hundreds of dollars, and that they wouldn’t evict her if she agreed to some payment plan…and if I hadnt searched the bowels of the internet to get access to her paperwork, explicitly showing that her subsidies covered most of it and she didn’t owe them a damn thing, she would be left paying for these alleged costs.
And i think they do this to seniors because they know that seniors will most likely pay it even if they don’t understand why they owe it. It’s shameful, and these management companies acting as subsidy landlords should be audited randomly.
Chetrit just had a judgment imposed on him yesterday. Watch for his properties to go into receivership
Disgraceful! How does someone who does a thing like this live with themselves? How does anyone live with them?
Im going through some difficulties, the landlord offered a projec base section 8 and hands me an incomplete lease to sign without my share of rent .I tride to get clarity through the project base program manager, I was told if I didn’t agree not to sining and end up not sining the lease because it didn’t seam to be legal. Now the landlord wants me to pay 30% when I renew my lease in January 2026.How is this possible?
This issue has been going on for years and due to lack of oversight by the housing and persarvation also known as HCR nyc has lost thousands of rent stabilized Apts that have been illegally turned into market rate especially in surtian parts of nyc regent
When renting in NY do your homework contact HCR and get building history and apt history it will tell you what you need and if it was illegally deregulated and when.