490 East 74th Street, Manhattan, NY 10021

490 East 74th Street is a 6-story, 26-unit Old Law Tenement building constructed in 1910 and currently owned by Ahron Freidus. The building has experienced recurring vermin issues, with rat sightings and conditions attracting rodents reported in both 2021 and 2023, though most recently passed a July 2023 compliance inspection. There have been two significant heating system incidents in December 2022 - one affecting the entire building and another specific to individual apartments - both classified as emergencies by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD).

The building has faced multiple unsanitary conditions related to mold between 2018 and 2019, with three HPD complaints logged during this period, though only one resulted in a violation. In 2021, the Department of Buildings issued multiple Environmental Control Board violations regarding exterior maintenance issues, specifically noting problems with rusted fire escapes, deteriorating mortar joints, and cracked stucco, for which penalties totaling $3,750 were imposed but later resolved. The building's elevator system received attention in March 2023, though no violations were found during inspection. Bedbug reports have been consistently filed for the past seven years, with the most recent filings (2024-2023) showing zero infested or eradicated units.

Regular rodent control measures have been implemented, with multiple instances of bait application between 2021 and 2022. Three tenant safety inspections (2021) and a special operations compliance inspection (2019) were conducted, all resulting in no violations being warranted. An important safety-related upgrade was documented in 2019, involving self-closing door mechanisms at Apartment 2C. The building participated in the FISP (Facade Inspection Safety Program) with technical reports filed in 2018 and 2019, though there was one instance of failure to file noted in 2018 that was eventually dismissed.