Antonio and Jaime Reyes are the “poster boys” for Peekskill’s ongoing, dangerous problem of landlords illegally cramming dozens of boarders into single-family or multi-family houses.
The brothers have left behind a trail of foreclosed properties throughout Westchester, defaulting on paying their mortgages to numerous banks. Both have convictions for criminal possession of drugs.
One of their illegal Peekskill boarding houses caught fire a year ago November, driving 30 residents into the street. Fortunately, no one was seriously hurt.
Now the city of Peekskill has shut down another of their properties, heading off a potentially life-threatening danger the 32 people living there faced due to unsafe conditions.
Fire on Fremont Street in November 2023
A fire broke out on Nov. 28, 2023 at 152 Fremont St., a three-family house owned by Jaime Reyes. Peekskill Fire Department personnel responded on the frigid, wind-whipped evening and were assisted by the Mohegan, Buchanan, Yorktown and Montrose Veteran’s Administration fire departments to evacuate the residents and put out the flames.
According to court documents, 30 people were living in the home illegally in a boarding house, with make-shift walls and seven kitchens in violation of the property’s certificate of occupancy.
The displaced residents were assisted by the Red Cross and taken by a bus, loaned by the Buchanan Fire Department, to Peekskill’s Central Firehouse where they filled out paperwork and received vouchers to stay at the Inn on the Hudson.
The next day, on Nov. 29, Peekskill officials issued a notice of violation to Reyes, alleging that the electrical system in the house created a hazardous condition that made the house unsafe for occupancy. Four days later police responded to a report of people continuing to live at 152 Fremont St. and removed them from the building.
Reyes was charged with violations that carry penalties of not more than $1,000 per day for the electrical system and $5,000 to $10,000 for the first day and up to $5,000 per day after that for operating a rooming house illegally. Those potential fines are still pending. The cause of the fire was believed to be electrical.
While Reyes did obtain a permit in July of this year to do electrical work, a building inspector determined in August that he did more work than the permit allowed. Reyes was ordered to remove the walls and re-apply for a permit and inspection.
Reyes appeared in City Court as required on Dec. 15, 2023 and again on these charges on Sept. 21 of this year, according to court papers. The city is seeking a judgment against Reyes for all the fines incurred and for reimbursement of the city’s costs.
Reyes’ attorney filed a letter in court papers in late October claiming that Reyes is now cooperating with the city’s Building Department in the renovation work.
Boarding house on Paulding Street closed by city
A red flag was raised on another Reyes property this October and city officials acted quickly to remove the residents and head off another potentially dangerous situation.
On Oct. 8, Con Edison was notified of an active gas leak by a sensor on the gas meter at 958 Paulding St., a single-family house owned by Antonio Reyes. The house was deemed unsafe for use and the gas service was disconnected, the tenants evacuated, and signage was posted warning against entry, according to court papers.
A city building inspector also went to the house that day and issued three code violations. He determined the property was being operated as a rooming house for 30 people.
The violation for operating a rooming house illegally carries a possible fine of $5,000 to $10,000 per day. A second violation for construction of a parking lot in the rear yard without a permit could bring fines of $50 per day to a maximum of $1,000 per violation. The third violation was issued for a hazardous condition in the electrical system, which carries a penalty of $25 to $1,000 per day.
The house was closed by order of the Building Inspector and remains empty. “Antonio Reyes failure … to address the immediate need to obtain an electrical permit and install an electrical service – upon proper inspection – and based upon the certificate of occupancy to operate the rental, use or lease as a one-family property has resulted in the risk of imminent catastrophic property and personal injury,” the attorney for Peekskill wrote in court papers. The city wants all the violations repaired and all the fines paid.
Paul Svensson, an attorney with White Plains-based law firm Hodges Walsh & Burke LLP is representing Peekskill as outside counsel in the court actions against Jaime Reyes and Antonio Reyes. Svensson did not return an email requesting comment.
Foreclosures throughout Westchester
Both Jaime Reyes and Antonio Reyes have left a trail of unpaid mortgages and court actions of foreclosure on properties they owned in several Westchester County locations.
According to court documents and land records in the County Clerk’s office, HSBC Bank foreclosed a $553,000 mortgage held by Antonio Reyes on a house at 138 Fremont St. (down the street from the house with the fire in November of 2023) in December of 2007. The bank sold that property in July of 2013 for $260,299.
A house at 936 Diven St. owned by Antonio Reyes and Jaime Reyes was also sold following the foreclosure of $124,000 mortgage given to them by American Home Mortgage Acceptance Inc. The court referee sold the property in August 2018 for $402,000.
Jaime Reyes also lost a house at 413 Union Ave. in August of 2010 through a foreclosure action against him filed by Deutsche Bank for a $354,000 mortgage taken in 2006.
A referee in a different foreclosure case sold a property at 16 Odell Ave. in White Plains for $442,667 in April of 2017 after PNC Bank foreclosed on a mortgage given to Jaime Reyes in November of 2005.
A house at 67-69 Ferris Ave. in White Plains owned by Jaime and Antonio Reyes was sold by a referee in June 2016 following a foreclosure action by PNC Bank on a July 2005 mortgage. Another lender, Windward Bora LLC, foreclosed against the two Reyes for another White Plains property at 7 Charles St.
Antonio Reyes owns a second house in Peekskill at 613 Maplewood Ave. according to county land records.
James Timko, an attorney representing Jaime Reyes, did not return a phone message asking for comment. Antonio Reyes could not be reached by the Herald.
Drug convictions in the past
A Peekskill police report from 2010 details the drug arrest of Antonio Reyes at his house at 958 Paulding St. According to court papers, Reyes was caught in possession of eight ziploc baggies of powdered cocaine “packaged in a manner which is commonly used for the purposes of sale.”
During the execution of a search warrant, police found the drugs in a bathroom sink drain which Reyes ran to while the warrant was being executed. He pled guilty to fifth-degree possession of a controlled substance and was sentenced to one year of probation.
In 1990 Jaime Reyes pled guilty to second-degree criminal possession of a controlled substance and was ordered to serve a prison term at the Downstate Correctional Facility in Fishkill according to court documents.
City acts to stop illegal boarding houses
At its Aug. 12 meeting the Peekskill Common Council unanimously passed a resolution to retain outside counsel to represent the city in certain dangerous building and property matters.
The outside law firm hired by the city is charged with taking legal action against properties that “continuously interfere with the interest of the public and the quality of life.”
A city official at the August meeting said the city identified three properties that have become repeat offenders with multiple violations and planned to take action against those properties. The litigation was expected to fund itself, with monies granted to the city by a court will cover the costs of the outside counsel.
“The city intends to take action to put a stop to issues surrounding quality of life problems,” City Manager Matt Alexander said at the council meeting.
In his 2025 budget message Alexander pointed to his focus on public safety, overcrowding and poorly-maintained properties.
“In November 2023, a fire forced out over 30 people who were living in an overcrowded three-family structure. The Quality of Life committee has looked at the City’s existing nuisance legislation and begun to identify situations where properties overburden taxpayers with the cost of responding to overcrowding, or other over-use of police, building department or public works attention.
“This will work with the City’s 2022 fire inspection legislation to allow for the inspection of certain properties in the City. Last month, a full-time fire inspector was hired to boost the City building department’s fire inspection program with staff and policies aimed at bringing more buildings under regular inspection for code compliance,” Alexander wrote. The new fire inspector hired by the city has increased the number of inspections, seeking to uncover and correct violations.
Alexander did not return an email this week from the Herald requesting comment.
