233 55th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11220

The four-story, 8-unit New Law Tenement building at 233 55th Street in Sunset Park, owned by Leon Schwimmer and constructed in 1931, has experienced several significant maintenance issues in recent years. Most notably, in 2024, the building has multiple open violations that raise concerns about tenant safety and comfort, particularly in apartment 1L, including problems with hot water exceeding 130 degrees, missing smoke detectors, absent carbon monoxide detectors, and an infestation of mice. The building's safety features are also under scrutiny, with open violations related to defective self-closing doors at both the front entrance and vestibule, as well as a requirement to post gas leak procedures in a visible location.

A recent bedbug violation notice was issued in April 2024 regarding the failure to file the required annual bedbug report. The building has a documented history of utility-related problems, with emergency complaints about heat and hot water in January 2024, plumbing issues in December 2022, and an electric power outage in February 2022, though these complaints were either resolved or no violations were found during inspections. More recently, in November 2023, there was a complaint about building shaking or vibration that was investigated by the Department of Buildings, resulting in an Oath Violation related to facade maintenance.

An August 2023 violation noted cracking at multiple locations of the building's facade, including damaged bricks and corroded window lintels. While the building has maintained compliant bedbug and rodent inspection records in recent years, with no reported infestations in the last two monitoring periods (2021-2022 and 2022-2023), the current open violations suggest ongoing maintenance challenges. The property passed an initial rodent inspection in October 2012.