523 West 187th Street, Manhattan, NY 10033

The 42-unit, 6-story New Law tenement building at 523 West 187th Street in Washington Heights, owned by Christopher Orpheus, has experienced multiple recurring issues between 2023 and 2025, with particular concerns surrounding building systems and infrastructure. The building has faced ongoing heating and hot water problems, with at least seven documented complaints between 2023 and 2025, affecting both individual apartments and the entire building. Additional infrastructure challenges have included cooking gas supply issues, with four separate complaints between late 2023 and 2024, and more recently, an appliance-related complaint regarding a refrigerator in May 2025. The building's safety systems have also been a focus, with several violations noted in 2024 concerning self-closing doors on fire exits across multiple floors, including the 3rd and 6th stories.

While the building has seen improvements in managing bedbug infestations, with no reported cases in the past three years (2022-2025), it has experienced other pest control challenges. A mouse infestation was documented in apartment 1C in early 2023, and rodent inspections between 2023 and 2025 have shown mixed results, with some initial inspections failing for "Other Reasons" while others passed. The property has maintained compliance with bedbug reporting requirements for the past three years, though historical records from 2019-2021 show occasional infestations. Significant building system violations have been addressed, including heat, hot water, and gas supply issues, with the most recent inspections finding some violations but generally showing the owner has taken steps to correct previously identified problems.

The building's sidewalk shed conditions attracted attention in both 2022 and 2024, with a notable penalty imposed in 2022 for inadequate conditions, though subsequent inspections found no violations. The property's environmental control record shows a penalty related to the sidewalk shed ($2,400) issued in July 2022, which has a resolved status. Building structure and systems have required ongoing attention, with multiple 311 complaints and housing maintenance code violations being addressed through HPD inspections and corrections. While the building has a substantial history of maintenance issues requiring resolution, recent months (2024-2025) have shown fewer complaints being filed compared to previous years, though significant infrastructure challenges, particularly regarding heating and hot water systems, persist as the most notable ongoing concern.