688 8th Avenue, Manhattan, NY 10036

688 8th Avenue is a 5-story, 5-unit commercial altered Class A building constructed in 1920, currently owned by David Katz. The property has experienced several significant maintenance and safety issues over recent years, most notably concerning heating systems, food service operations, and building inspections. In late 2022, there was a heat/hot water complaint for the entire building, though inspectors were unable to gain access for verification.

The building's food service establishment (believed to be McDonald's) has been the subject of multiple Department of Health complaints between 2020 and 2023, including incidents of food poisoning (2021), odor (2023), food containing foreign objects (2022), and spoiled food (2021). Multiple housing maintenance code violations have been recorded for failure to file annual bedbug reports from 2021 through 2024, though bedbug reports filed for these periods indicate no infestation or eradication cases. The building has faced several infrastructure challenges, particularly between 2020-2021, with complaints about plumbing, gas utility issues, and ventilation systems.

An active ECB violation from 2021 regarding unauthorized gas piping installations in McDonald's cellar area remains on record, though several other violations issued between 2023-2024 have been dismissed. More recently, the building has violations related to failing to file required external low-pressure inspections for various years between 2018-2021, with at least one violation remaining active as of 2023. The property has maintained good sanitation records, passing rodent inspections in 2010, 2011, 2012, and 2014, and has shown proper bedbug reporting compliance with no recorded infestations since 2019.