20 Cornelia Street, Manhattan, NY 10014

20 Cornelia Street is a 5-story, 16-unit Old Law Tenement building located in the West Village, constructed in 1871 and currently owned by Richard Mason. The building has experienced recurring rodent-related issues, with the most recent being a rat sighting in April 2025, though a subsequent July 2025 compliance inspection passed.

The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) has documented multiple food establishment violations since 2022, including rodent/insect concerns, garbage issues, and odor problems, all of which were addressed or administratively closed. The building has faced several heating and hot water complaints over the past four years, with emergency complaints in 2020-2022 regarding heating issues in the entire building or specific apartments; while some were resolved through tenant verification, a December 2022 HPD inspection could not gain access to verify heating conditions. Additional building history includes three significant Department of Buildings (DOB) complaints from 2019-2023: an illegal plumbing work complaint in 2023 where inspectors could not gain access, a certificate of occupancy complaint in 2022 that required no violations, and an unlicensed work complaint in 2019 that resulted in an Oath violation.

The building's environmental control board record shows a 2019 electrical permit violation related to temporary wiring with a resolved penalty of $1600. Notably, the building has maintained a clean record regarding bedbugs, with no reported infestations from 2020 to 2024. The permit history from 2019 shows multiple work permits were issued, primarily for plumbing and electrical work, suggesting ongoing maintenance and improvements to the building's systems.