No SlumLord

New York City has launched a watch list for its worst landlords. The parable in today's text is not about an absentee landlord, but wicked tenants.

You can hear the rats rummaging through your cupboards. You wake up to cockroaches crawling across your bed. The faucet leaks. The door sticks. Water damage has left a hole in your ceiling with light peering through from the apartment above. Several questionable characters have begun sleeping and selling dope out of the unlocked basement below. The toilet? Well, let's just say it isn't pretty. The radiator turns all 600 square feet into a sauna in the winter and the lackluster A/C unit strapped precariously inside your only window ensures it stays just as toasty during summer. You've complained to the owner. When he actually picks up your call -- which is about once every 2 to 3 years -- he simply chuckles and reminds you that "Hey, $3,500 a month is a steal for a New York studio!"

He's right. You're stuck.

For many New York residents, living in a dangerous and disgusting apartment is a tough reality. With housing so scarce and affordable rent almost nonexistent, a good number of New...