215 East 121st Street, Manhattan, NY 10035

The 33-unit, 6-story New Law tenement building at 215 East 121st Street in East Harlem, operated by Old Harlem Road, LP, has experienced ongoing heating and maintenance issues in recent years. Most notably, there has been a persistent pattern of heating and hot water problems throughout the building, with multiple tenant complaints and HPD inspections from February 2023 through October 2023, including violations issued in February 2023 for inadequate heat and hot water.

The building currently has open violations from September 2024 regarding defective fire door hinges on the first public hall bulkhead and issues with the carbon monoxide and smoke detectors in apartment 4C. Previous violations have been noted for a broken fire escape tread at the 3rd-story balcony (2023), and in February 2023, the 5A apartment had pest-related violations for both rodent and roach infestations. The property has multiple active Department of Buildings violations related to energy efficiency, including failures to file required benchmarking reports and to display energy efficiency scores, with the most recent active violations issued between 2020-2024.

These include violations for failing to file benchmarking reports for multiple years (2020-2024) and failure to display energy efficiency scores as required (2021-2024). Although the building has maintained a record of "0" infestation counts for bedbugs in the official reporting, recent rodent inspections in 2024-2025 have consistently shown rat activity, indicating ongoing pest control challenges. The building's maintenance history suggests recurring issues with basic services and infrastructure, particularly regarding heating systems and fire safety equipment, as evidenced by multiple violation notices and service requests over the past several years.