2071 Fredrick Douglass Bl, Manhattan, NY 10026

The five-story, 13-unit Old Law Tenement at 2071 Frederick Douglass Boulevard in Harlem, owned by Robert Ezrapour and built in 1906, has experienced recurring issues with its heating and hot water systems throughout 2025, with multiple emergency complaints spanning January 2 to January 22. Between January 2 and January 9, 2025, eight distinct complaints regarding heat and hot water problems were filed, affecting both individual apartments and the entire building, though many complaints were duplicates or resulted in HPD being unable to gain access for inspection.

Prior to these recent issues, the building had documented problems with heat and hot water as far back as late 2022, when several violations were issued against Apartment 5A concerning inadequate hot water supply, excessive hot water temperatures, and pest infestations. The building has maintained a clean record regarding bedbug infestations, with no units reported as infested in the past four years (2019-2024), and passed multiple rodent inspections, including initial inspections in May 2025, November 2024, and August 2023. The apartment in question (5A) has been the focus of several violations related to heating and plumbing between 2022 and 2023, including issues with water temperature control and supply.

The building currently has an active Department of Buildings violation from April 2023 regarding failure to file the 2022 external low-pressure inspection. Despite these various maintenance issues, the building's bedbug reporting history shows consistent compliance with requirements, and most recent rodent inspections (2023-2025) have been passed, indicating improvements in pest management. As of the current date, July 2025, the most pressing ongoing concern appears to be the recurring heat and hot water problems that have persisted into early 2025, affecting both individual units and the building as a whole.