NYC's worst landlord 'is punched in the face after arriving at Rikers Island to begin 60 day sentence for making tenants live in rat and roach-infested hellhole apartments

A man infamous for being one New York City's worst landlords was punched in the face shortly after beginning his 60-day sentence at Rikers Island. 

Daniel Ohebshalom, known as a 'slumlord,' for forcing his tenants to live in appalling squalor, was hospitalized after the attack and might have broken facial bones.

The assault happened in the intake area of the Eric M. Taylor Center around 12:15 p.m. on Friday.

On the previous day, Ohebshalom had turned himself in to authorities after they had issued a warrant for his arrest.

Ohebshalom had reportedly failed to perform hundreds of court-mandated repairs on his Manhattan properties.

Daniel Ohebshalom was assaulted by another Rikers Island inmate shortly after starting his 60-day sentence

Ohebshalom was hospitalized after the attack and might have broken facial bones

After years of vainly trying to slap the slumlord with fines, the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development decided to ratchet up the pressure and secured an arrest warrant for Ohebshalom.

The warrant said that Ohebshalom and 'his buildings have repeatedly appeared on lists of the worst landlords in New York City.'

The warrant continued that the 'violations cited in the arrest warrant are extensive and include serious, immediately hazardous conditions that threaten not only the residents’ quality of life but their health and safety.'

The squalid conditions included 'visible peeling lead paint, roach and mice infestations, inadequate electricity supply, and mold.'

Officials hoped to use Ohebshalom as an example, a way to warn other callous landlords that their nefarious business practices won't go unpunished.

Ohebshalom was consistently ranked as one of the worst landlords in New York City

His properties featured peeling lead pain, roach-and-mice infestations, inadequate electricity supply, and mold

'The arrest warrant serves as a strong message to landlords that New York City will not tolerate housing violations or tenants forced to live in unsafe conditions.'

In his two buildings along West 170th Street, the city claimed that Ohebshalom and his company, Belmont Ventures LLC, had incurred 700 violations related to the health and safety of the buildings' tenants. 

'We caught up with him. He's facing $3 million in fines and penalties, and he's going to jail for 60 days,' said Adolfo Carrion Jr., commissioner of the department of HPD.

Carrion called Ohebshalom 'the worst landlord in New York City.' He's not the only one who thinks so. In December, Public Advocate Jumaane Williams dubbed Ohebshalom, who had 3,293 open violations at the time, as the worst landlord in New York City. 

'The reason we're after this guy and his practices is because of the life of the people have been living there- it's horrible,' Carrion said.

In addition to his 60-day prison sentence, the landlord has been assessed with $3 million-worth of fines and penalties

The city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development decided to take the unusual step of securing a warrant for the landlord's arrest in the hopes of bringing him to justice

'People are dealing with mold, leaks, pests- rats and roaches- peeling paint, lead paint. Their children are exposed, seniors are exposed. It's time to stop this nonsense,' Carrion continued.

After the warrant for his arrest was issued on March 8, Ohebshalom turned himself in to the New York City Sherriff's Office.

The landlord was then taken to Rikers Island to begin his sentence, but his visit was interrupted when he was assaulted by another inmate.

Sources close to NBC don't believe that Ohebshalom was targeted in the attack, as the assailant had threatened various other prisoners.