#Slumlord Podolsky brothers score NYC hotel business from homelessness crisis

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Jay Podolsky and The Bentley Hotel
Getty Images; G.N. Miller/New York Post

Two notorious slumlord brothers — Jay and Stuart Podolsky — are cashing in on the city’s emergency relocation of thousands of homeless New Yorkers to hotel rooms after coronavirus outbreaks in city shelters.

The pair own The Bentley, a luxury hotel on the Upper East Side, which has hosted down-on-their-luck New Yorkers since May as officials worked to empty congregate housing facilities where social distancing was virtually impossible.

It’s one of roughly 60 hotels hired by the Department of Homeless Service through a $78 million contract with the Hotel Association of New York City to provide rooms during the pandemic.

Officials say that the Hotel Association helped match shelters that needed more space with empty hotels. However, DHS has refused to provide the contract or the details of the arrangement with the Podolskys, including the average room rate or the total amount that’s been paid by the brothers.

“Our city is facing a homelessness and economic crisis and we must ensure that every dollar we invest delivers services for our most vulnerable,” said City Comptroller Scott Stringer. “The city must demonstrate the transparency and accountability that New Yorkers deserve, especially when doing business with known bad actors.”

The Podolskys are among the most notorious landlords in the city.

The brothers and their father, Zenek, pleaded guilty in 1986 to dozens of felonies for allegedly installing hookers and drug dealers in three Upper West Side buildings they owned to push out tenants.

They were sentenced to five years probation, while Zenek spent 90 days behind bars.

Real estate records show that limited liability company, Plaza Hotel East, bought the building in January 1997. Both Jay and Stuart Podolsky were listed as “members” of the shell on mortgage documents linked to the transaction.

In subsequent years, much of the paperwork has been signed by Stuart.

It’s the most recent score for the two brothers, who netted $173 million from taxpayers when they sold city officials 21 decrepit apartment buildings at prices that both internal city appraisals and Stringer declared to be above-market.

The pair were represented in that deal by Brooklyn Democratic Party insider Frank Carone, an attorney with extensive ties to City Hall who was once law partners with the Kings County party’s then-chairman, Frank Seddio.

They had previously leased units in the buildings to non-profits funded by DHS as part of the much-maligned ‘cluster’ shelter program — which netted them nearly $49 million in rents over five years before the sale.


Additionally, they made another $140 million over that same time period providing traditional shelter space.


The city defended the decision.

“In the City’s time of need, at the height of the pandemic, the Hotel Association of New York City stepped up with this life-saving solution, helping to quickly identify hotels that could accommodate the case by case capacity needs of the shelters we were relocating,” said DHS spokesman Isaac McGinn in a statement.

“Through this continued partnership and their efforts, we have been able to effectively protect our clients and flatten the curve, providing social distancing and isolation to New Yorkers experiencing homelessness, with nearly all of the cases experienced over the past four months now recovered,” he added.

Reps for the Podolskys did not immediately provide a comment. Carone had no involvement in the Bentley deal, a rep said.