540 West 159th Street, Manhattan, NY 10032

540 West 159th Street is a 5-story, 15-unit New Law Tenement building in Washington Heights, constructed in 1913 and currently owned by Yvonne Stennett. The building has experienced several maintenance issues in recent years, with the most recent complaints in 2025 involving unsanitary conditions with pests.

In 2024, there were multiple significant maintenance concerns, including water leak issues (July 2024), ceiling problems (November 2024), and various appliance-related complaints, particularly regarding electric/gas ranges between May and July 2024. The building underwent an HPD inspection in December 2024, which revealed several violations in Apartment 4B, including issues with water leaks, carbon monoxide detector malfunction, smoke detector problems, and plaster/paint concerns. Apartment 4A also had multiple violations identified in November 2024, including smoke detector, carbon monoxide detector, intercom, and painting issues, though some of these violations have since been certified as corrected.

The building's maintenance history shows a pattern of both emergency and non-emergency repairs needed over the past few years, with multiple instances of plumbing, appliance, and general maintenance issues. Despite these challenges, the building has maintained a passing status during routine rodent inspections conducted between 2014 and 2025, suggesting that while there are ongoing maintenance concerns, the building is generally maintaining compliance with basic health and safety requirements. The bedbug reporting history shows sporadic infestations, with two cases reported in 2022-2023 and none in the most recent reporting period (2023-2024), indicating some success in managing this particular issue.