316 East 70th Street, Manhattan, NY 10021

The five-story, 18-unit tenement building at 316 East 70th Street, owned by Martin Scharf and constructed in 1910, has experienced several notable maintenance issues in recent years. The most significant cluster of problems occurred in mid-2024, when multiple violations were documented in apartment 3FE, including issues with water leaks, broken bathroom tiles, defective plastered surfaces, and a reported rodent infestation.

Specifically, violations were issued for water leaks in the bathroom walls, broken ceramic floor tiles, defective plastered surfaces and paint in various rooms, and an infestation of mice in the apartment. Other maintenance issues throughout 2024 included problems with walls requiring paint/plaster repairs, unsanitary conditions including mold, water leak issues, and flooring concerns, with violations being issued for most of these complaints. More recently, in late 2024, there was one complaint regarding smoking or vaping in a smoke-free area, which was closed by the Department of Health.

The building has maintained a clean record regarding bedbug infestations, with no reported cases in any units since 2019, and rodent inspections between 2011 and 2019 consistently passed, with the exception of one instance of rat activity in January 2013. Two historical complaints from 2019 and 2020 regarding illegal hotel rooms and work without permits were investigated but no violations were found. The property has also passed multiple rodent inspections from 2011 to 2019, though one instance in 2013 noted rat activity before subsequent passes.