411 Kingston Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11225

The 3-story, 4-unit residential building at 411 Kingston Avenue, owned by Menachem Gansburg and built in 1920, has experienced numerous maintenance and compliance issues in recent years. Most notably, in late 2024, there were multiple simultaneous complaints regarding safety concerns about the fire escape, unsanitary garbage/recycling storage conditions, lack of heat and hot water throughout the building, and missing signage. Despite these serious issues, Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) was repeatedly unable to gain access to complete inspections for several of these complaints.

The building is currently subject to an active Environmental Control Board violation from November 2024 for unpermitted construction of a metal-framed structure with glass panels, for which a penalty of $1,280 has been imposed. Additionally, there are multiple recent complaints (2024-2025) regarding work without proper permits, and inspections for illegal conversion and certificate of occupancy issues in late 2024 were met with access denial. While the building has filed its required annual bedbug reports (with no reported infestations in 2023), it has experienced ongoing rodent issues, with inspections showing alternating results between "passed" and "rat activity" between 2017 and 2025, though the most recent inspection in February 2025 was passed.

The property has a history of building maintenance violations, including an open violation from April 2024 related to failure to file the annual bedbug report. The pattern of complaints suggests ongoing challenges with building maintenance and tenant access for inspections, particularly during 2023-2024 when multiple complaints about garbage storage, signage, and other conditions were reported. The building's age and history of unpermitted work suggest potential ongoing maintenance challenges, though recent rodent inspections show some improvement in pest control measures. The most pressing current issues appear to be related to the unpermitted structure and the open Environmental Control Board citation, though many of the recent service requests and violations were closed without resolution due to access issues.