Manhattan borough prez candidate tied to rodent-infested Maryland complex with over 1,600 violations – while being a tenant advocate
The family of a Manhattan borough president candidate owns a Maryland housing complex that has racked up 1,600 violations for rodent infestations, mold and other disturbing issues, records show.
Democrat Brad Hoylman-Sigal, an advocate for tenants rights endorsed by the Tenants political action committee, is tied by marriage to the 457-unit Windsor Court and Tower Apartments in Silver Spring, Maryland — whose management firm has filed hundreds of 'failure to pay' eviction notices.
Hoylman-Sigal, who is now serving in the state Senate, is facing East Side Councilman Keith Powers in a Democratic Party primary for borough president after opposing rent hikes and evictions.
The candidate's husband, David Sigal, has an ownership stake in three apartment complexes in Maryland and Virginia, including the troubled Windsor Court which has continually been cited by the Maryland of Department of Housing — with 246 violations in 2022 alone, according to the candidate's financial disclosures and a Post review of public records.
The figures include 202 entries for rat, mice rats bedbugs infestation, 67 for roach infestation and 128 for mold, records show.
Tenants have complained on Yelp about conditions
'The place is INFESTED with roaches and rats. It's worse than some parts of NY,' one tenant wrote in 2021.
'mice have been jumping all over our furniture and on my NEW BORN BABIES belongings. DISGUSTING!!! my daughter has been getting rashes and to find out that the mice crawls where i nap her is frustrating,' one resident wrote in 2023.
One reviewer in 2022 even joked that, 'Arguably, the rodent population are residents at Windsor apartments.'
Tenants complained about public safety issues, including the presence of 'vagrants' and 'thieves' in 2023 and 2024.
Lawyers for the manager of the properties also filed 700 'failure to pay notices' against tenants of Windsor Court over the past decade in Rockville, Maryland District Court — including 262 n 2024, 160 in 2023, and 113 in 2022. There have been 89 noticed filed in 2025 so far, records show.
David Sigal was listed as having a 25% ownership interest in the Windsor Court complex, according to the senator's 2024 financial statement filed with state Commision on Ethics and Lobbying in Government.
But Hoylman-Sigal said that was an error. It was actually a 2.5% ownership in the apartment complex, as it had been listed in prior years.
The filing included a 1.5% ownership in the Beacon Hill apartment complex in Alexandria, Virginia and a 1.97% ownership in an apartment building in Falls Church, Virginia.
Hoylman-Sigal reported income between $30,000 and $110,000 from the properties in 2023.
One veteran Big Apple tenant leader rapped Hoylman-Sigal, saying he should practice what he preaches.
'If you want my 2.5 cents as a longtime tenant leader, community advocate, and dedicated community liaison, I don't think anyone who's profiting from being a slumlord should be able to run for office where housing is the top issue facing middle and low income residents,' said Alicia Barksdale, a 3333 Broadway Tenants Association Leader.
A spokesperson for the candidate insisted he's no slumlord.
'Brad's husband has a passive, 2.5% ownership interest in a housing development in Maryland over which he has no involvement or control,' a campaign spokesperson said.
'Due to a typographical error, the ownership interest was listed as 25% on Brad's public financial disclosure that will be corrected.
'Brad has never wavered on his conviction that tenants' rights are important and must be protected — whether they're in New York or Maryland,' the spokesperson went on.
'He has proven that in the Senate, where he has championed the cause of tenant protection and affordable housing. And he will continue to do so as borough president.'
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