81 Utica Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11213

The two-family house at 81 Utica Avenue in Crown Heights, owned by Joseph Katz, is a 2-story, 2-unit building constructed in 1920 that has experienced significant and concerning issues over the past several years. Most notably, there are multiple active violations from 2023-2025 related to construction safety and building maintenance, including an active violation for building vacancy that was entered in June 2025, and several ECB violations concerning building facade problems, such as sections of brick facade encased in vinyl siding detaching and safety concerns about rotted wood framing and loose bricks.

The property has a pattern of construction-related compliance issues, with multiple complaints in 2023 about work being done beyond approved plans, construction safety violations, and illegal after-hours work. Several inspection attempts were made, though inspectors reported being unable to gain access on multiple occasions, and there are three active ECB violations from 2023 with penalties totaling $7,875 related to job site fencing and building maintenance.

The building has a documented history of rodent issues, with complaints and inspections in 2019 showing evidence of both conditions attracting rodents and rat sightings, as well as confirmed rat activity during inspections in May and June of 2019. While these rodent-related issues appear to have been resolved (as no recent complaints have been recorded), they represent a previous health concern for the property. The combination of unresolved building maintenance issues, multiple construction-related violations, and historical pest problems suggests ongoing challenges with property maintenance and compliance with building regulations, though the most recent rodent-related issues appear to have been addressed.