537 West 158th Street, Manhattan, NY 10032

The 6-story, 24-unit New Law Tenement building at 537 West 158th Street in Washington Heights, owned by David Hakakian, has experienced recurring maintenance issues over the past several years, particularly in regard to heating and water systems. Between 2023 and early 2025, there were multiple emergency complaints regarding heat and hot water problems, with four documented instances affecting the entire building and one specific to an apartment.

Most recently, in May 2025, there were multiple complaints and violations issued for paint/plaster issues affecting ceilings, walls, and flooring, with at least one of these classified as an immediate emergency. The building has also faced safety-related violations, including three classified as Class C in November 2024 regarding defective self-closing doors and fire doors at the first story entrance, though these were certified corrected by December 2024. Inspection records show the building has passed annual rodent inspections consistently from 2014 through 2024, and there have been no documented bedbug infestations or re-infestations reported in the last three filing periods (2021-2024).

However, there is an active Department of Buildings violation from June 2023 regarding the failure to file external low-pressure inspection reports for 2018 and 2020, and a bedbug reporting requirement violation from April 2024 related to 2022-2023. The building's maintenance history includes housing maintenance code violations from 2022 pertaining to a defective fire escape tread, bathtub repair issues in apartment 52, and a mouse infestation complaint that was corrected in early 2023. The property has also demonstrated some accessibility challenges for inspections, as evidenced by multiple HPD inspection requests being unable to gain access to apartments in 2023-2024, particularly during investigations of heat and hot water complaints.