City Hall to Greens: Improve conditions at Skyline apartments or face criminal charges

Syracuse, N.Y. — Mayor Ben Walsh said today the city will take the owners of the Skyline Apartment complex to court to improve their building or else face a loss of public money, seizure of the building or even criminal charges.

Specifically, Walsh said the city served the owners with a nuisance abatement plan to seek a judgment in State Supreme Court against owner Green National for all outstanding code violations on the building. Code inspectors also declared the public portions of the building unfit for human occupancy, paving the way for the county to withhold public rent paid on behalf of tenants.

Green National is the firm of former NFL star Tim Green and his son, Troy Green.

The crackdown comes a week after 93-year-old Connie Tuori was found murdered inside her apartment at Skyline.

The nuisance abatement allows the city to force compliance with new policies and procedures like improving security and living conditions. If the owners willfully ignore the abatement, they can be criminally charged, according to Corporation Counsel Kristen Smith. The city could also take over management of the building, if issues aren’t addressed.

In the past, the city has used nuisance abatement laws to shut down notoriously problematic buildings. The city used it to bar anyone from living at a house on Grant Boulevard last year, which had become a magnet for drug activity and was the scene of an officer-involved shooting.

At Skyline, the abatement notice cites 12 arrests for drugs, weapons or assaults over the past two years. It requires Greenland to establish 24-hour security, install security cameras throughout the building and install new locks on the exterior doors.

As Walsh was outlining his plan, Onondaga County Executive Ryan McMahon announced the county would suspend all rent paid to the owners. The county pays nearly $150,000 to Green National to support 40 tenants.

Walsh said he accompanied code inspectors and police on an inspection Friday and found horrific conditions.

“What I saw and what I heard will stick with me forever,” he said. “I’m done with excuses. I’m done with second chances. Actions speak louder than words.”

“The track record of the owners is abysmal,” he added.

The new action is the latest in a series of efforts to force Green National to improve its deteriorating property. The Greens bought the building in 2016 and are currently trying to sell it.

Police, code inspectors and the county health department launched a surprise inspection of the building on Feb. 5. Walsh said the conditions were so rotten then that he called the owners himself to express his concerns on Feb. 9.

Walsh described the city’s efforts as a “relentless battle to hold Green National accountable.”

Reporters and photographers from syracuse.com have documented the declining conditions of the building over the last two years. Tenants began organizing and complaining of lax security and heightened drug activity and violence as early as 2018.

More recently, some have moved out and some health care workers say they won’t visit clients who live there for fear of their safety. Photos and videos of the building’s stairwell show needles, ample garbage and feces strewn about.

The Greens began building a real estate empire several years ago, including about a dozen apartment buildings in the Syracuse area as well as complexes in Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and other parts of New York.

The Skyline is their biggest building in Syracuse. It’s 13 floors with 365 apartments.

Walsh said he’s spoken with management and has asked his legal team to explore ways to either seize the building for neglect or shut it down as a nuisance. Either option would likely involve a court battle with the Greens, both of whom are lawyers.

After Tuori’s murder, Troy Green said his company would hire off-duty police officers to patrol the building.

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