525 West 138th Street, Manhattan, NY 10031

The 5-story New Law Tenement building at 525 West 138th Street in Hamilton Heights, currently owned by Rosa Altagracia, has been experiencing significant heating and water infrastructure issues throughout 2025. Between May and June 2025, there were nine documented complaints regarding heat and hot water problems affecting the entire building, with some complaints showing repeated incidents of insufficient heating and lack of hot water.

The building's heating system appears to be an ongoing concern, with multiple Housing Maintenance Code Violations from December 2024 documenting inadequate heat and hot water supply issues in apartments 4, 9, 11, and 13. Additionally, there are active ECB violations from 2022-2023 related to boiler defects and operating conditions, with penalties associated with these violations.

Recent inspections have revealed ongoing pest management challenges, with rodent activity recorded in multiple compliance inspections between March and October 2024, and previous building-wide pest issues were documented in December 2024, affecting multiple units. The building has a history of requiring multiple service requests for basic systems access, as evidenced by HPD's inability to gain access during several inspections, particularly regarding heat and hot water complaints. While there have been no reported bedbug infestations in the past five reporting periods (2019-2024), and the building's cooking gas systems appear to have been addressed relatively quickly as per service requests, the recurring nature of heating and water issues, along with pest control challenges, suggests ongoing maintenance and infrastructure concerns within this 1910 tenement building.