A sweeping financial crisis is closing in on Steven Croman, the landlord long branded “the Bernie Madoff of landlords,” as newly filed cases reveal he has stopped paying nearly $170 million in debts and is now staring down foreclosure on dozens of Manhattan buildings, the NY Post reports.
The notorious real estate operator — infamous for his Rikers Island jail term and his long trail of legal troubles — is now caught in a fresh storm, this time in civil court, where a fast-growing stack of lawsuits claims he stopped paying an enormous slate of loans.
According to filings in Manhattan Supreme Court, Croman has allegedly fallen behind on a staggering $168 million in property loans, a sum spread across about 35 buildings scattered throughout the city.
Flagstar Bank, which inherited Croman’s mortgages after acquiring New York Community Bank in 2022, says the landlord has gone months without making required payments on multiple assets. In several cases, the bank claims the arrears have ballooned into the millions.
Before this latest mess, Croman already had a reputation for aggressive and dishonest tactics. Prosecutors noted that he controlled a vast portfolio of 140 buildings when he was charged in 2016 with submitting falsified documents to secure tens of millions in illegal loans.
It was then–Attorney General Eric Schneiderman who famously labeled him “the Bernie Madoff of landlords,” alleging that Croman even relied on an ex-NYPD officer to intimidate tenants into vacating their apartments so rents could be hiked for unsuspecting newcomers.
Croman admitted guilt in a mortgage fraud case the following year and ultimately spent a year incarcerated on Rikers Island.
Only last week, Crain’s revealed that Flagstar had taken him to court over what was then described as $71.5 million in unpaid loans attached to five buildings.
But the situation has deteriorated sharply since then. Court records now show approximately $100 million more in alleged defaults, bringing the total to about $168 million across 20 separate foreclosure suits filed in recent weeks.
Among the properties in trouble is 209 E. 25th St., a Kips Bay building with 44 apartments where rent can approach $5,500 a month. On that loan alone — $12.4 million — the bank says Croman is two months behind, owing $493,845, much of it late fees and penalties.
Flagstar is also seeking repayment of the full $10.37 million loan attached to 346 E. 18th St. in Gramercy Park, where units fetch between $7,500 and $10,000 monthly. Records say the October payment wasn’t made, leaving him owing $362,332 with fees.
The biggest chunk of the alleged defaults involves two buildings on Christopher Street in the West Village, where the outstanding debt totals $21.4 million. In that case, filings say payments stopped in August, leaving $1.2 million overdue by the end of October.
Crain’s also noted earlier this year that Croman was already fighting several other foreclosure efforts, representing another $45.5 million in alleged unpaid loans.
Attorneys for Croman and for Flagstar — which is pursuing these actions through an LLC known as Orange Owner — did not return requests for comment.
{Matzav.com}
[COMMUNICATED]
The anticipation is palpable across the olam haTorah. In batei medrash from Lakewood to London, Bnei Brak to Brooklyn, lomdim are counting down the final blatt of Maseches Chagigah, the culmination of an unprecedented six-year journey. The dream that began with a single amud is now reaching its magnificent climax: the historic Oraysa Siyum on Seder Mo’ed.
This is your chance to take part in a maamad kavod haTorah that will go down in history — a celebration of perseverance, of hasmadah, and of the eternal message that Yisroel v’Oraysa v’Kudsha Brich Hu chad hu.
A Revolution in Limud HaTorah
When Oraysa was founded just six years ago, it immediately transformed the way thousands approach limud haTorah. Its unique amud-v’chazara structure — learning one amud a day, reviewing consistently, and mastering masechtos in their entirety — brought clarity, retention, and excitement back into countless daily sedorim.
The results have been nothing short of revolutionary. Today, tens of thousands of lomdim across the globe participate in the Oraysa cycle, uniting baalei batim, yungerleit, and talmidei yeshivos in a single melody.
Kehillos across Lakewood, Monsey, and Chicago to Yerushalayim, London, and Antwerp now have established Oraysa chaburos. Each day, the same amud reverberates across continents, connecting Yidden of every background through the timeless words of the Gemara.
Now, for the first time in history, these lomdim will complete an entire Seder of Shas together — Seder Mo’ed — marking a monumental milestone for Torah v’lomdeha the world over.
A Siyum Like No Other
This will not merely be a siyum. It will be a majestic maamad kavod haTorah and a celebration of the power of hasmadah and the unbreakable bond between Klal Yisroel and the Torah.
Gedolei Yisroel and Roshei Yeshiva from across the Torah world will grace the event with their presence, including Rav Dovid Cohen shlit”a, Rav Shraga Shteinman shlit”a, Rav Noach Isaac Oelbaum shlit”a, Rav Avrohom Gurwicz shlit”a, Rav Malkiel Kotler shlit”a, Rav Aharon Dovid Goldberg shlit”a, Rav Yosef Elefant shlit”a, and Rav Dovid Ozeri shlit”a — along with many other prominent Rabbanim, Roshei Chaburos, and of course, thousands of lomdei Oraysa from around the world.
Under this one roof, talmidei chachomim, baalei batim, and families will gather to celebrate this momentous siyum, embodying Klal Yisroel’s achdus through Torah.
And as one Seder concludes, another begins: Seder Nashim. The simcha of the siyum will flow directly into the start of a new phase of learning and growth, inviting even more participants to join the Oraysa revolution.
Your Invitation to Be Part of History
If you’re reading this, you’re invited to join and be a part of history !
The asifa will take place in Cure Arena, located at 81 Hamilton Avenue in Trenton, New Jersey on 3 Kislev/November 23, 2025. Doors open at 5:30 p.m., with the program beginning promptly at 6:30 p.m.
The evening will feature stirring divrei chizuk, uplifting niggunim, and heartfelt shiros v’sishbachos led by Hershy Weinberger and Shloime Daskal.
With groups flying in from across the globe to be part of this unforgettable maamad, the window to secure your spot at this unparalleled maamad kavod haTorah is closing fast.
Don’t Miss This Once-in-a-Generation Maamad!
Every amud, every daf, every line of Gemara learned by thousands around the world has led to this moment. The Oraysa Siyum on Seder Mo’ed will be a living testament to what can be achieved when Klal Yisroel learns together, chazers together, and grows together.
Now, it’s your chance to be part of it.
And as Oraysa turns the page from Seder Mo’ed to Seder Nashim, now is the perfect time to join the movement that has transformed the landscape of being koveia ittim l’Torah.
Experience the simcha and sippuk that come from clarity, mastery, and consistency at a pace that works. Because with Oraysa, every amud is not just another page. It’s another step in a lifelong journey of aliyah, another layer of understanding, and another connection to Torah that will uplift your day and transform your life.
Be part of the simcha. Be part of the legacy. Be part of Oraysa.
Visit OraysaSiyum.org or email Siyum@Oraysa.org
Oraysa will begin Seder Nashim this coming Wednesday November 26th. For more information, or to set up or join a shiur or chaburah in your neighborhood, please contact Oraysa at 914.8.ORAYSA or email info@oraysa.org.
With just weeks before he steps into office, NYC Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has launched an online push urging New Yorkers to chip in toward the cost of his upcoming transition. He explained that, while the campaign period brought in sufficient funds, the transition itself is not eligible for the city’s matching program, leaving a significant financial gap.
In a video message to supporters, Mamdani noted that his team has brought in $1 million thus far but must reach a total of $4 million to cover the full scope of transition operations. “We have less than 50 days until we take office, and we have a lot to do. We have to vet the 50,000 resumes we’ve received,” Mamdani begs. “We have to keep paying our incredible team … and we have to plan not just our inauguration, but our policy implementation.”
He stressed that many incoming administrations lean heavily on major donors at this stage, a route he insists does not reflect his campaign’s values. As he put it, “that’s not us.”
According to Mamdani, the people powering his transition so far number around 12,000, with an average contribution of $77. He pointed out the contrast with Mayor Eric Adams, who “received $1,219 in average donations from 884 donors to fund his transition.”
Mamdani argued that the additional funds are essential so that “January 1 can be the day we start to deliver, not start to prepare.”
{Matzav.com}President Donald Trump has signed an Executive Order that includes, among other items, an exemption to the reciprocal tariffs on “bread…used for religious purposes” (e.g., Matzah) and on the Arba Minim – the plant species used by Jews during the holiday of Sukkos.
As the overwhelming majority of these products come from Israel and other foreign countries, tariffs would have threatened access and increased costs of religious observance. This accommodation builds upon the precedent of other exemptions to the Harmonized Tariff Schedule for certain religious items and is consistent with the Trump administration’s focus on protecting religious freedom.
“Thank you to the Trump administration for once again accommodating religious practices by exempting the Arba Minim and Matzah from reciprocal tariffs and making it easier for Jewish families to celebrate their holidays,” said Rabbi A.D. Motzen, Agudath Israel’s national director of government affairs. “We appreciate that the White House took the matter seriously when we and others brought up these issues and worked with the relevant agencies to find a solution.”
{Matzav.com}
In a sweeping ruling, Israel’s High Court declared on Wednesday that the state must move immediately to put an aggressive enforcement system in place against those in the chareidi community who do not report for the draft.
The decision, issued by Deputy Supreme Court President Noam Sohlberg together with Justices Dafna Barak-Erez, David Mintz, Yael Wilner, and Ofer Grosskopf, insists that the government implement a plan that deploys both criminal sanctions and wide-ranging financial and civil penalties.
The ruling presents an uncompromising demand: the government must begin “real criminal proceedings” against chareidi draft-evaders and must do so “diligently and swiftly.”
In the court’s view, the rate of prosecution in the chareidi sector may no longer lag behind that of any other group, and the judges made clear that the state must reach that point “as soon as possible.”
In place of the current system, the court ordered the government to design a comprehensive enforcement policy within 45 days. The plan, it ruled, must include a full array of complementary measures—especially economic ones—and these steps, when taken together, must be reasonably expected “to be effective and produce real change.” The justices also stressed that the government must heed the guidance of expert officials and cannot sidestep proposals that professional bodies deem essential.
The verdict includes a stern warning: any enforcement plan that allows “bypass funding channels” will be rejected as noncompliant. In the same vein, the court wrote that benefits “tied directly or indirectly to draft-evasion—such as benefits for yeshiva students whose yeshiva attendance indicates draft-evasion—must not continue.”
The petition that led to this dramatic ruling was submitted about eighteen months ago. It challenged the government’s failure to carry out an earlier High Court directive and argued that, without new legislation explicitly granting an exemption, the state “has no authority to refrain from enforcing punitive legal measures on draft-evaders.” The petitioners maintained that the state is obligated to enforce the law without hesitation.
The justices built their decision on four assertions. First, that the obligation of military service applies equally to all citizens, including the chareidi sector. Second, the already-deep inequality in the realm of conscription has intensified in the wake of the Israel-Hamas War. Third, that the IDF now faces an urgent manpower shortage—an estimated need for 12,000 soldiers, more than half for combat positions—which, in the court’s view, heightens the need to recruit chareidim. And fourth, that equalizing the draft is not just a military objective but “a national mission of the highest importance,” requiring full cooperation from all branches of government.
In reviewing the state’s conduct until now, the court’s assessment was scathing. It found that the government’s approach amounts to “a complete abandonment” of criminal enforcement against chareidi draft-evaders. According to the ruling, this neglect “violates the duty of state authorities to enforce the law, undermines the draft obligation, empties the law of substance, and constitutes selective enforcement.”
{Matzav.com}
