Syracuse, N.Y. -- The New York Attorney General’s Office will keep $250,000 from Tim and Troy Green after a company owned by the pair failed to fix issues at Skyline Apartments.
An independent monitor will also be installed by the office to oversee fixes made to the building over the next year.
“While some changes have been made, there are still serious issues that must be addressed,” Attorney General Letitia James said in a Thursday news release. “Green National is not off the hook, and we will continue our oversight until the remaining violations are resolved to ensure tenants have the dignified housing they deserve.”
Green National, Skyline’s owners, and James’ office had agreed that Green National had to fix all code violations at the four properties it owns in Syracuse in 60 days or pay a fine.
While the Greens have fixed some issues, including installing surveillance cameras in the stairwells of the Skyline, they have yet to fix others. The building still has inadequate security and a broken elevator, the attorney general’s office said.
Troy Green is the son of Tim Green, a former NFL football star. Together, they own Green National. At its peak, Green National owned 1,273 housing units in Syracuse.
Green National now owns four apartment buildings, including Skyline Apartments, The Vincent Apartments, The James Apartments and Chestnut Crossing Apartments.
Troy Green and a Green National spokesman have said Skyline Apartments is under contract to be sold but have not publicly stated a timeline for the sale. They have started selling other properties they own.
The agreement between Green and the attorney general’s office was brokered to preempt a lawsuit by the attorney general’s office against Green National. A lawsuit could’ve hampered Green National’s ability to sell properties. James’ office began investigating properties held by the Greens in March 2021 and found the properties have numerous code violations.
The Greens had already put the $250,000 in an escrow account.
Issues have persisted at Green-owned properties for years, including at Skyline Apartments.
Residents first talked about their concerns at the building in a 2019 report by Syracuse.com | The Post-Standard. In March 2021, Connie Tuori, 93, was murdered on the 12th floor of the apartment building at 753 James St.
In the six months before Tuori’s murder, police were called nearly three times a day, with an additional 293 ambulance calls in that same time period.
The 12th floor of the building, where Tuori was murdered, had become a hot spot for drugs and crime. An apartment occupied by a disabled man on that floor had been taken over by people selling drugs.
Green National tried to make fixes after the city used its nuisance abatement law against the building. The company evicted or did not renew the leases for 34 “problematic apartments,” according to a Green National spokesman.
Two security guards were added to Skyline, and a key fob system was installed. Syracuse police officers and Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office deputies have been stationed at the building as off-duty security over the last year.
In January, however, a woman was shot in the stomach outside the ninth-floor elevator.
On Jan. 24, Mayor Ben Walsh said Skyline needs new ownership to improve. Officials from the city’s Division of Code Enforcement inspected Skyline later that same day and deemed Skyline’s common areas unfit for occupation for a third time.
In March, Skyline’s common areas were deemed unfit for occupation for a fourth time.
The city has 15 pending lawsuits against companies used by the Greens to own various properties, including two against Green Skyline LLC.
More on Syracuse.com about the Skyline Apartments and Green-owned properties
Not just the Skyline: While tenants suffer across Syracuse, the Greens have a bigger plan
Inside Tim Green’s Skyline Apartments: Murder, drugs and filth. Tenants, cops say enough is enough
Family IDs 93-year-old woman murdered in Skyline Apartments
Woman pleads guilty to brutal killing of Connie Tuori, escapes mandatory life sentence
Walsh says he’s exploring legal action against Skyline owners: ‘It’s public nuisance No. 1′
Got a tip, comment or story idea? Contact Chris Libonati by phone at 585-290-0718 or by email at clibonati@syracuse.com.