Be grateful for your four-bed railroad flex: on October 1, a vacate order appeared for one unit at 190 Wilson Ave. off the Central M in Bushwick, and the Department of Buildings confirmed it is operating as an illegal SRO.

The vacate order dates back to 2012, when the owner was cited for illegally converting the apartment into four SROs, “2 of them in [an] illegal attic [without] proper egress.” SROs—single-room occupancies—are a cheap, cramped form of housing that was prevalent in the early 20th century, but has since declined in popularity.

Since the 2012 citation, the DOB said the building’s owner “never corrected the violating conditions,” which include “new walls and an attic structure” that were completed without proper permitting. Per DOB inspections, “occupants could not easily evacuate the building in the event of an emergency.” The vacate placard had been “illegally removed” after being placed on the building on September 21. (Wake up among five roommates, and be glad you have an in-unit toxic living situation.)

Rental agent Release NY listed the apartment in May and offered no specifics beyond “hardwood floors” in the listing for the unit, which the DOB confirmed is still operating as a set of illegal SROs. Release NY did not return a request for comment.

Public records confirm the building is owned by Herman Epstein, who spent approximately four years in prison for bribing DOB officials to remove stop work orders, part of a larger bribery racket that racked up nearly half a million dollars in payoffs. That was per The Real Deal, which later detailed that Epstein’s lender repossessed one of his properties (the lender refused to restructure his loan) right after he left prison. (Even McKibbin is more dignified than this.)

This places him among Bushwick’s less competent slumlords, who include Deodat Lowtan, whose buildings are notable for lead citations and burning down.

At the building itself, no one answered the door, and there was a photocopy of the vacate order taped to the wall. Epstein did not return a request for comment. 

Update Oct. 3: After publication, one former tenant—who asked for anonymity—spoke to me about their experience.

“He was just doing shady shit,” they said, referring to Herman Epstein, who they were told was called Isaac to possibly obfuscate his criminal record. They lived in unit 3L from June 2024 to May 2026. “Start to finish, it was like breaking law after law.”

They used the additional rooms as home offices and guest rooms and verified they lacked proper fire escapes. “One morning, [DOB] inspectors showed up at our door,” they said. The inspectors told them to vacate the apartment.

“Then the landlord [Epstein] came to our apartment,” they continued, before recounting what Epstein told them: “‘You guys have to make it look like you moved out… so when the inspectors come next time, they’ll think you don’t live here and get rid of the violations.’”

They said that relations with Epstein moved beyond the coercive and into the sexually aggressive. “That day, he came onto me, and was really touchy and weird,” they recalled.

They said there was another unit—not yet inspected by the DOB—that was illegally subdivided the same way as their unit. They also alleged that Epstein was building a shed in the backyard with the intention of renting units within it. “I used to wake up and hear the bricklayers at nine in the morning on Sundays.” After complaints, building inspectors halted construction.

But living in 3L wasn’t always so bad. “The apartment itself was fine. It was charming.” They rented it for $3,850 a month.