68 West 126th Street, Manhattan, NY 10027

The 6-story, 5-unit building at 68 West 126th Street in Harlem, owned by Josh Spitzer and constructed in 1910, has experienced several notable maintenance and safety issues in recent years. Most recently, in January 2025, there were complaints about both fire escape conditions and unsanitary garbage/recycling storage, with violations issued for the latter.

A comprehensive inspection in November 2024 revealed multiple violations requiring attention, including issues with self-closing doors at various locations (bulkhead, basement front, and fire door to boiler room), problems with sprinkler system valves, and encumbrances in public areas including household items in the basement hall. The building has maintained regular pest control practices, with no recorded bedbug infestations between November 2022 and October 2023, and has passed several recent rodent inspections in 2023, though there was one instance of rat activity noted in March 2023. The property has a history of both sanitation and safety concerns that have required intervention, though many past violations have been resolved.

For instance, a 2020 door/windows issue was promptly corrected, and previous garbage storage violations from 2019 appear to have been addressed. The building has undergone various inspections related to safety systems and maintenance, with most recent violations falling under both Class B and Class C categories, indicating varying levels of severity. An investigation into potential illegal hotel rooms in 2019 was marked as "Inspector Unable To Gain Access." The property has consistently filed its annual bedbug reports as required by HPD regulations, showing no active infestations in recent years, and while some safety and maintenance issues remain open as of the most recent inspection, many prior violations have been successfully addressed through appropriate channels.