Guest post by Joel Gilbert
New York Attorney General Letitia James, champion of the poor and wretched, is now facing criticism for her conduct as a landlord.
Records from the New York City Department of Buildings and the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) indicate a troubling pattern of neglect at her five-unit apartment building at 296 Lafayette Avenue in Brooklyn.
In the past 20 months alone, there have been 17 complaints against James with the New York City Department of Buildings.
These include unauthorized construction work without proper permits, the alteration of a load-bearing wall without permits, illegal use of apartments as hotel rooms, illegal conversion, a fence over the height limit, and a failure to notify authorities of scaffold work.
More alarming still, all four of Letitia James’s tenants are listed as having bedbug infestations and re-infestations.
Additionally, two tenants have recently complained of peeling paint. These are both clear violations of housing maintenance codes designed to safeguard tenant health.
Bedbugs and peeling paint in residential settings pose serious health and safety risks to tenants.
Bedbugs are parasitic insects that feed on human blood, often at night, leaving behind itchy welts, allergic reactions, and excessive scratching.
Infestations can spread quickly through walls, floors, and shared spaces, causing widespread discomfort, anxiety, and sleep disruption.
Peeling paint, especially in older buildings, presents another danger – particularly if it contains lead, which is common in buildings like James’s which were constructed before 1978.
Lead-based paint can flake or create dust that, when ingested or inhaled, is toxic – especially to young children and pregnant women.
Together, these hazards reflect a failure by Letitia James to maintain safe and healthy living conditions and can indicate landlord negligence or even systemic housing code violations.
These conditions paint a picture of James not so much as a landlord, but as a slumlord – a landlord who shirks basic responsibilities while residents suffer in substandard living environments.
Slumlords are known to neglect the maintenance and safety of their rental properties, often to maximize profit at the expense of tenants’ health and well-being. Slumlords are often associated with exploiting low-income or vulnerable tenants who may have limited housing options or fear retaliation if they complain.
On February 18, 2025, James posted on Twitter, “All New Yorkers deserve fair, stable housing, and I will always take on landlords who try to evade our laws for their own financial gain”.
Ironically, James built her political brand on her professed commitment to tenant advocacy and housing justice. Throughout her career, she has spoken out forcefully against negligent landlords, supported sweeping enforcement actions, and emphasized the need to maintain safe and decent housing for all New Yorkers.
James, in fact, has consistently positioned herself as a defender of the city’s most vulnerable residents. Her public statements often stress that no one is above the law and that those who exploit or endanger tenants should be held accountable.
As New York Attorney General, James has taken significant actions to prosecute landlords for code violations. Recently, for instance, in December 2024, James secured a $6.5 million settlement with Lilmor Management for subjecting tenants to hazardous living conditions.
All of James’s lofty principles are now clashing with a troubling reality. The hypocrisy is difficult to ignore. While publicly condemning landlords who allow their properties to deteriorate, James has failed to uphold those very standards in her own building.
At this stage, addressing the code violations at her property is a necessary first step. A necessary second step is to acknowledge her failure to live up to her own standards. Anything less erodes public trust and diminishes the legitimacy of the tenant advocacy she has long championed.
Joel Gilbert, is a Los Angeles-based film producer, and president of Highway 61 Entertainment. He is on Twitter: @JoelSGilbert.
