490 Kosciuszko Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221

The four-story, eight-unit tenement building at 490 Kosciuszko Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, owned by Jack Zimmer, has experienced persistent maintenance and sanitation challenges since 2018. Most notably, there have been recurring rodent and pest infestations, with the most recent 311 service requests in 2024-2025 indicating ongoing unsanitary conditions.

The building has also faced significant infrastructure issues, including multiple plumbing problems (water leaks in 2020 and 2022), and appliance malfunctions (multiple reports of electric/gas range issues in 2020) as documented through both 311 complaints and Housing Maintenance Code violations. A concerning pattern of unauthorized modifications to the building has emerged, with three separate illegal conversion complaints filed between 2018 and 2024, including a 2020 violation related to unauthorized construction of interior stairs leading to the cellar from apartment 1R. This was accompanied by related Environmental Control Board violations for work conducted without proper permits.

The building's management has faced multiple penalties for failing to comply with commissioner's orders related to these unauthorized modifications, with fines totaling over $10,000 documented between 2020 and 2022. Recent inspections in 2025 have shown continued challenges with rodent activity, though these inspections have generally resulted in "Passed" determinations, indicating that while inspections show the presence of the problem, specific remediation requirements may not have been triggered. The building's bedbug reporting history from 2021 through 2025 shows no reported infestations during the specified periods, though the presence of rat activity continues to be documented through both inspections and complaints.