530 East 159th Street, Bronx, NY 10451

530 East 159th Street is a 44-unit, 6-story New Law Tenement building constructed in 1928, currently owned by Yaritza Vargas. The building has experienced persistent maintenance challenges in 2025, with multiple recent complaints regarding doors, windows, and various unspecified maintenance issues that HPD inspectors were unable to access for inspection. Earlier in 2025, there were multiple complaints regarding mold, water leaks, cabinet issues, and electrical problems, though many of these complaints reached the same resolution status of failed inspections. The building has two open Housing Maintenance Code violations from December 2024 related to Apartment 36's broken window mechanisms and bathroom plaster/paint condition.

Several emergency violations from 2021 remain active, primarily concerning work done without proper permits. The property has a documented history of heating and hot water issues in January 2025, with complaints regarding lack of service in both entire building and individual apartments. Previous inspections from 2024 revealed multiple building-wide violations requiring proper signage, including emergency contacts and safety notices, though many of these were later certified as corrected. The building has maintained a clean record regarding bedbugs, with no reported cases between 2020 and 2025, and recent rodent inspections in 2023 and 2024 passed successfully.

Multiple Department of Buildings permits were issued between 2020-2021 for various repairs and maintenance work, though there have been ongoing compliance issues as evidenced by active ECB violations with substantial penalties totaling $125,000 related to work without permits and failure to comply with Commissioner's orders. The building's recent history shows a pattern of tenant complaints being filed, but often not resulting in successful inspections or resolutions, particularly in 2025. This includes multiple consecutive complaints about door issues, which were classified as emergencies. While the building has passed recent rodent inspections and maintained a bedbug-free status, the active ECB violations and pattern of inspection access issues suggest ongoing challenges with maintenance and compliance oversight since 2020-2021. The building has undergone various construction work and maintenance attempts in recent years, as evidenced by multiple permit issuances, though many associated corrective actions appear to remain unresolved based on current violation statuses.