521 West 162nd Street, Manhattan, NY 10032

The three-story, three-unit residential building at 521 West 162nd Street in Washington Heights, owned by Benjamin Sun, has experienced several notable maintenance and safety issues over the past five years. The property, constructed in 1920 and currently classified as a "converted Class A" building, faced significant violations in 2020 when it was found to have an illegally converted basement apartment that lacked required fire safety systems, including sprinklers and alarms. These Environmental Control Board violations were ultimately resolved with no penalties imposed.

The building has a documented history of water-related issues, with multiple complaints about leaks in 2020 and 2021, including both slow and heavy flow situations, though inspections found no violations in these cases. Between 2020 and 2021, there were several other maintenance concerns including heat and hot water issues affecting the entire building, mold and pest problems, door and window concerns, and ceiling paint/plaster issues. More recently, the building has shown improvements in pest management, with bedbug reports for 2021-2024 showing zero infested units, and rodent inspections in 2024 demonstrating compliance with no active infestations noted, though there was a rat activity report from December 2023.

The property has undergone regular rodent inspections since 2015, consistently passing, with the exception of the most recent inspection in October 2024. The most recent housing maintenance code violations from March 2023 related to bedbug reporting requirements, though these appear to have been resolved given the subsequent clean reports through 2024. While the building has experienced various maintenance issues, recent inspections suggest improved management of both pest and water-related concerns, with no active violations on record as of the current date.