7 West 137th Street, Manhattan, NY 10037

The 6-story, 18-unit New Law Tenement building at 7 West 137th Street in Harlem, built in 1926 and currently owned by Peter Murray, has experienced several significant maintenance issues in recent months. Most notably, there has been an unresolved water leak issue reported in March 2025 that remains open as of July 2025, and numerous heating/hot water complaints in January 2025 affecting both individual apartments and the entire building, most of which were closed due to lack of access for inspection.

The building has faced ongoing rodent control challenges, with multiple inspections between 2023 and 2025 showing rat activity, including reports in February 2025, January 2025, August 2024, and several earlier instances. The property has documented several housing maintenance code violations, particularly in apartment 5C, as of August 2024, including issues with the bathroom ceiling, water closet bowl connection, carbon monoxide detector, smoke detector, doors, and refrigerator gasket.

The building's exterior has been the subject of multiple Department of Buildings (DOB) violations and Environmental Control Board (ECB) citations, including recent concerns from July 2023 regarding the metal cornice and facade maintenance, with associated penalties. Historical records show a pattern of infrastructure and maintenance challenges, including a building shaking complaint in July 2023 and a site conditions issue in June 2021, both resulting in Oath violations. The building's bedbug reporting history shows no infestations or eradications in the past three reporting periods from 2021 through 2025, with only one instance of infestation (8 units) reported in 2020-2021.