344 East 49th Street, Manhattan, NY 10017

344 East 49th Street is an 8-story, 24-unit residential building constructed in 1901 and currently owned by Hongjiang Ma. The property has experienced a series of maintenance issues, with the most recent concerns emerging in 2024, including problems with flooring, water leaks, ceiling damage, and pest infestations. Notably, there are three open violations as of 2024 related to water leaks and plaster/paint issues specifically in Apartment 7A, and the building has faced ongoing pest problems with multiple 311 complaints filed between 2023 and 2024.

The building's history includes significant compliance challenges, particularly during 2018-2019, when it faced multiple violations regarding illegal conversions and transient use, including unauthorized use of apartment units and installation of partition walls for a massage parlor on the first floor. During this period, the building received fines for improper occupancy and failure to provide required fire safety systems, though these violations were ultimately resolved. Recent monitoring shows some improvement in terms of bedbug and rodent control, with all bedbug reports from 2021-2025 showing zero infested units, and the most recent rodent inspection in February 2025 passed.

However, the building currently has active violations for unaddressed swamping conditions (as of May 2025) and an unsafe report filed in February 2025. The property has maintained regular compliance with rodent inspections, passing all required checks since 2010, and has shown efforts to address maintenance issues, though access for inspections has sometimes been a barrier to resolution, as noted in multiple HPD inspection reports. The building's most recent filings indicate continued monitoring of pest control measures, with no reported infestations in the past year according to bedbug reporting requirements.