Two Answers, Both Right — 127 Buildings Owned, 135 in the Nexus
Who Owns What splits Steven Croman's 128 name-registered buildings across six portfolios. Watchline resolves this at two layers. The owner-identity layer reunites the fragments into one owner of 127 buildings — the figure the case file, map, and README use. The wider operational-nexus layer reaches 135, adding seven buildings registered to associates but tied to Croman by deed and LLC. Both are current and intentional; they answer different questions.
◆ The two layers, at a glance
I. Three counts, reconciled
The numbers that look like a discrepancy are really three different questions:
| Count | Question it answers | Grouping basis | Where it's used |
|---|---|---|---|
| 128 · Who Owns What | who is named on the registration | exact name + business address | the comparison target (6 portfolios) |
| 127 · owner identity | who owns the buildings | deed / LLC / name identity (OwnerGroup) | site headline — case file, map, README |
| 135 · operational nexus | what he controls, incl. via associates | + associate attribution (Portfolio) | this analysis's wider view |
Owner identity (127) and the name set (128) are essentially the same buildings — the owner-identity layer's whole job is to reunite the fragments Who Owns What scatters. The nexus (135) is the one that goes wider.
II. Layer 1 — owner identity (127)
Who Owns What files Croman under six portfolios — the 118-building portfolio at 20 Prince
St plus five strandees, split by business-address typos across his offices. Watchline's owner-identity layer
(OwnerGroup) reunites them into one owner of 127 buildings:
| WoW portfolio | Buildings | Landlord-name slots |
|---|---|---|
| #87259 main | 118 | 5 |
| #87260 | 5 | 3 |
| #46243 | 2 | 2 |
| #87395 | 1 | 1 |
| #87396 | 1 | 1 |
| #87397 | 1 | 1 |
| WoW total (by name) | 128 | — |
| Watchline owner identity | 127 | one owner |
This is the number the flagship case file, the interactive map, and the README report — one owner resolved across 115 differently-named LLCs into a 127-building portfolio.
III. Layer 2 — the operational nexus (135)
The nexus layer (Portfolio) keeps the 127 Croman owns and adds seven buildings
Who Owns What never files under Croman at all — registered to two associates, Jeremy
Tahari and Greg Bari. HPD lists the associate as head officer; Watchline's
APPARENT_CONTROL ties the building to Croman on the deed and LLC record. These
seven are in the nexus (135) but not the owner-identity group (127):
| Building | HPD head officer | Resolved controller | Evidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1886 Park Avenue | Jeremy Tahari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 1888 Park Avenue | Jeremy Tahari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 515 West 47 Street | Jeremy Tahari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 323 East 108 Street | Jeremy Tahari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 154 East 117 Street | Jeremy Tahari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 6 Avenue B | Greg Bari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
| 347 East 105 Street | Greg Bari | Steven Croman | ACRIS deed · registered LLC |
CONNECTED_BY_DEED (ACRIS) or
registered-llc link — the strongest identity signal in the graph, and a veil-pierce a name
search structurally cannot make. Strip out every manually-curated link and all 135 buildings remain, held by
automated deed / LLC / name / address evidence — the curation holds in no buildings on its
own.
IV. Which number, when
- 127 (owner identity) — use for “who owns Croman's buildings.” It's the precise, de-fragmented owner count, and the figure the public case file, map, and README carry.
- 135 (operational nexus) — use for “what does Croman control,” including buildings held through associate registrations that the deed/LLC record ties back to him.
- 128 (Who Owns What) — the name-based comparison point: the same operator, fractured across six portfolios by registration typos.
V. Method & provenance
- Owner identity (127): Croman's
OwnerGroup(IN_OWNER_GROUP) — the union of his resolved landlord nodes' buildings. - Nexus (135): the
Portfolioat 20 Prince St (IN_PORTFOLIO); it contains the owner-identity set plus the seven associate-registered buildings, whoseAPPARENT_CONTROLresolves to Croman via weight-100 deed/LLC edges. - Who Owns What (128):
wow_portfoliosfor every portfolio carrying a Croman name — six portfolios, 128 distinct BBLs. - Reference: whoownswhat.justfix.org — 20 Prince Street