864 42nd Street, Brooklyn, NY 11232

The 16-unit, 4-story tenement building at 864 42nd Street in Borough Park, owned by Ray Chen, has exhibited recurring maintenance issues over the past several years, with the most pressing concerns centered around heating systems and pest control. Most notably, there have been two separate incidents of heat and hot water outages in late 2024 and early 2024, both affecting the entire building, with violations related to self-closing doors in the public hall and various maintenance issues being documented in 2024. The building faced a significant pest infestation problem in 2023, particularly affecting Apartment 2 on the first floor, with multiple violations issued for roaches and mice, as well as various apartment maintenance issues including problems with floor tiles, bathroom conditions, and the need for smoke and carbon monoxide detector repairs.

This infestation led to three separate Housing Maintenance Code Violations in June 2023. The building's history includes some plumbing issues, with complaints recorded in 2020 regarding water supply problems, and previous complaints in 2018 concerning sink/basin problems. Two complaints regarding potential illegal conversions and illegal hotel rooms were investigated in 2020, though no violations were found at the time of inspection.

While the building has maintained a clean record in recent bedbug inspections from 2019 through 2025, with no reported infestations in the past six years, the recent history of heat outages and pest control issues suggests ongoing maintenance challenges. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene conducted rodent inspections in 2012 and 2013, with initial failures noted in both cases, though subsequent inspections showed improvements. The most recent service requests in 2024 indicate continuing concerns about the building's systems and maintenance standards, particularly during the winter months when heating systems have failed.