Stunner: GZM Developer With Criminal and Deadbeat Tax History Also Has Shoddy Building Record

Every day it's another revelation with this guy. He's been arrested at least seven times that we know of, owes nearly a quarter million dollars in back taxes and today we learn buildings he already owns have shoddy safety and construction records. Yet still the majority of the media blithely ignores his dubious history and presents him as some peaceful guy just looking to build bridges.

The developer behind the planned Ground Zero mosque already has a lousy record with the city Buildings Department -- racking up $24,650 in fines for safety and construction violations at a Washington Heights apartment building that his firm owns.

The violations involve some of the department's more serious charges, from cracks running the height of the six-story, brick walk-up to blocked exits and fire escapes, falling mortar and an unstable chimney, city records show.

"Every time it rains, I set a pan on my bed and another one on the floor," said Don McCants, 61, a truck driver and longtime tenant of the building owned by mosque developer Sharif El-Gamal and his firm, Soho Properties.

"It's no drip, drip, drip, either," he lamented. "It comes down fast."

Since 2008, there have been 21 code violations at the building at 504 W. 159th St., which El-Gamal and Soho Properties purchased the previous year. Of these, nine violations are still open, and $19,500 in fines are unpaid.

El-Gamal did not respond to a call for comment. A receptionist at his firm suggested writing an e-mail with questions to the Web site for the proposed mosque and community center, called Park51. There was no response to the e-mail, either.

Buildings Department records show that El-Gamal has been renovating apartments in the 21-unit, rent-stabilized building. On five occasions, inspectors ordered him to stop work because of hazardous conditions for tenants and neighbors or a failure to get city approvals.

In December 2008, inspectors ordered all work at the building stopped due to "a failure to safeguard all persons and property affected by construction operations." El-Gamal was cited later that month for ignoring the stop-work order.

The most recent violation was handed out June 24, when inspectors found blocked fire escapes and passageways.

The city Department of Housing, Preservation and Development also has issues with the property, slapping it with 47 violations involving health and maintenance issues.

The violations, all of which are still open, range from unabated lead paint to plumbing malfunctions to problems with falling plaster and missing floorboards.