Monthly Archives: February 2026

Bragg Indicts Serial Uptown Arsonist

Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg, Jr., recently indicted Michael Patterson, 38, for allegedly committing a total of seven arsons across the Upper East Side and Upper West Side in 2025. Patterson has been charged with eight counts of arson. “In Manhattan, we take extremely seriously conduct that endangers our communities–whether to people or to property,” said Bragg.

Will Threat of Prison Make One of New York’s ‘Worst Landlords’ Change?

A five-story brick building on West 170th Street has been known to go months without heat or hot water during the winter. On one occasion, the boiler erupted, filling the basement with a thick black plume of dust that crept up and down the stairways and infiltrated the apartments. When the residents blew their noses, they would stain the tissues black.