686 Academy Street, Manhattan, NY 10034

At 686 Academy Street in Inwood, a 5-story, 30-unit New Law Tenement building constructed in 1930 and currently owned by Harry Hirsch, there are numerous recent and concerning maintenance issues as of May 2025. The building has nine open complaints filed in May 2025, including emergency issues such as sewage, cooking gas, electrical wiring, and bathtub/shower plumbing problems, along with several non-emergency matters related to walls, floors, and cabinets. Previous violations from late 2024 show persistent problems with pest infestations, particularly in apartments 2 and 41, where roach and mouse issues were documented.

Apartment 41 also had multiple ongoing violations for water leaks, interior painting requirements, and various maintenance needs. The building's systems have shown variable performance in rodent control, with inspections revealing both passed and failed results between 2023 and 2025, including reports of rat activity in multiple inspections. While the building has maintained a bedbug-free record in recent years (with no reported infestations since 2019), the overall maintenance picture is concerning, with multiple open violations and complaints that require tenant access for repairs according to HPD protocols.

The property has experienced various issues over its recent history, including plumbing concerns that date back to at least 2018 (with one complaint about defective plumbing), and a 2022 complaint regarding illegal commercial use of the residential space. Three separate apartments have been documented with pest infestations - notably, apartment 41 appears to have had ongoing issues with both roaches and mice from mid-2024 through late 2024, with violations extending into early 2025. The building's maintenance record shows a mix of addressed and ongoing concerns, with several violations requiring repairs to walls, floors, and electrical systems. Despite these challenges, the building has demonstrated some recent improvements in specific areas, such as achieving a "passed" rating in the most recent rodent inspection (April 2025), though this comes after a history of mixed results in rodent control inspections throughout 2023-2024.