36 West 40th Street, Manhattan, NY 10018

The 10-unit, 6-story residential building at 36 West 40th Street in Midtown, owned by Debbie Wong and constructed in 1930, has experienced several significant maintenance and safety events over the past five years. Most notably, there was a concerning gas piping and hookup issue in 2019 that resulted in multiple complaints and violations, including three separate violations issued by the Department of Buildings related to unpermitted gas work and defective installations, with penalties totaling over $10,000. The building underwent construction work in 2019-2020 that led to an Environmental Control Board violation regarding work that did not conform to approved construction documents, resulting in a $250 penalty.

Recent concerns have been relatively limited, though there was a food poisoning incident reported in April 2024 that the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene deemed isolated. The building has maintained a clean record in terms of bedbug infestations over the past three years, with all recent annual bedbug reports (2021-2024) showing zero infested or re-infested units. Housing Maintenance Code compliance has generally been met, with the most recent violation in 2021 regarding the annual bedbug report filing, which has since been resolved. The elevator system has been cited for defects in 2019, according to the Department of Buildings, though it's unclear from the available data whether this has been fully resolved.

Other recent health and safety inspections, including rodent inspections dating back to 2010-2015, have consistently shown passed results. The building's complaint history shows multiple inspections between 2018-2021 for various issues including construction work, gas piping, and COVID-19 compliance, though most resulted in no violations being warranted at the time of inspection. Two significant violations remain from 2019 concerning the failure to certify corrections on immediately hazardous ECB violations, though these were later dismissed. The property has maintained regular permit filing activity, particularly in 2018-2019 when multiple permits were issued for various types of work.