309 5th Avenue, Manhattan, NY 10016

309 5th Avenue is a 35-story, 165-unit residential building located in Midtown, owned by Chris Niehaus and constructed in 2008. The building has experienced recurring issues with its water supply system, with multiple plumbing complaints documented between 2022 and 2023, including several emergency reports in March 2023 alone.

Notable building-wide service interruptions have included heat and hot water outages reported in both February 2022 and February 2023, though in each case, tenants reported that services were restored before HPD's confirmation. The building has undergone various inspections and investigations, including a Department of Health examination of the drinking water tank in July 2022 which found no health code violations, and a series of inspections in 2022 that uncovered no violations related to reports of unsanitary conditions involving pests and sewage. The property has maintained a clean record regarding bedbug infestations, with the most recent reporting periods from 2022 through 2024 showing zero infested or re-infested dwelling units.

The building's rodent inspection history reveals some challenges in its early years, with initial inspections in 2010 showing failures, though subsequent checks in 2011 and 2012 resulted in passing grades. A single Department of Buildings Environmental Control Board violation was recorded in August 2021 related to document maintenance requirements during an alteration inspection, but this was resolved with no penalties imposed. In July 2022, a housing maintenance code violation was noted regarding the improper placement of inspection certificates near mailboxes, though this was certified as corrected in October 2022.