321 West 42nd Street, Manhattan, NY 10036

321 West 42nd Street is a 5-story, 12-unit Old Law Tenement building in Hell's Kitchen, constructed in 1930 and currently owned by Evan Hollander. The building has experienced recurring issues with heat and hot water throughout the past year, with multiple emergency complaints between August 2024 and June 2025 indicating problems affecting the entire building and individual apartments. Recent concerns include unsanitary conditions related to pests as of June 2025, and safety issues regarding a broken window guard in May 2025. There are currently open violations from October 2024 regarding defective self-closing doors at the 1st-story vestibule.

The building has had significant structural monitoring attention, with complaints about building shaking and structural stability in late 2024, and is currently under active investigation for building maintenance issues including decorative stone disrepair. The property has a documented history of various regulatory compliance requirements and inspections, including failed compliance for rat activity in 2020, 2013, and several minor violations regarding fire safety features. While there have been multiple complaints about illegal hotel conversions and illegal hotel rooms in 2021-2024, most of these were either dismissed or did not warrant violation notices upon inspection. The building has consistently maintained bedbug-free reports since 2020, and recent rodent inspections in 2023 and 2024 have passed, though there were two instances of rat activity noted in earlier inspections.

The property has undergone periodic inspections by HPD and DOB, revealing various maintenance issues that typically require tenant cooperation for resolution, such as problems with building-wide heat and hot water systems, and individual apartment concerns like broken safety equipment and infrastructure deficiencies. The building's management has generally responded to complaints, though there have been multiple instances where inspectors were unable to gain access to units for verification of reported conditions. There are currently three active DOB violations from 2024-2025 related to building maintenance, including a requirement for the owner to submit detailed inspection reports addressing various conditions. The building's age and history as an Old Law Tenement property are reflected in the ongoing maintenance requirements and regulatory oversight, with particular attention needed for heat and hot water systems, as demonstrated by the frequency of related complaints and violations.