735 East 166th Street, Bronx, NY 10456

The 5-story, 15-unit New Law Tenement building at 735 East 166th Street in Longwood, owned by Sean Mason, has experienced several significant maintenance issues over recent years, with the most pressing concerns centering around heat and hot water outages. The building has documented heat and hot water complaints for the entire building in late 2024 and late 2023, as well as multiple similar complaints in 2022, 2020, and 2019. These issues have generally been addressed through HPD inspections, although access to certain apartments has occasionally restricted full verification of complaints.

Notably, in November 2023, Apartment 4C was found to have multiple safety violations including non-functional hot water, smoke detector, and carbon monoxide detector systems, as well as a problematic window gate, though these violations were subsequently certified as corrected. The building has also faced challenges with building envelope and structural maintenance, particularly an active Department of Buildings violation (as of October 2024) regarding defective facade conditions, including issues with window lintels, roof cornice, and masonry. An April 2022 Environmental Control Board citation had documented similar concerns about bulged window lintels and degraded building elements.

While the building has maintained an active bed bug reporting record showing zero infestations between 2022 and 2024, rodent inspections have revealed intermittent rat activity, with positive findings recorded in 2022 and 2016, though many recent inspections have passed. Additional historical context shows a pattern of maintenance issues dating back several years, including violations related to door/window conditions in 2019 and various maintenance concerns in 2022 affecting Apartment 3B (including door functionality and plaster surfaces). The building's age (built in 1904) and classification as a New Law Tenement may contribute to these ongoing maintenance challenges, which appear to require regular attention from both the owner and city agencies to address recurring problems.