121 Van Buren Street, Brooklyn, NY 11221

121 Van Buren Street is a 12-unit, 4-story New Law Tenement built in 1931 and currently owned by Clarkson Hood. The building has experienced several significant maintenance issues in recent years, most notably a heat and hot water outage affecting the entire building in February 2025, which was resolved within two days. Between April and June 2023, multiple complaints regarding fire escape safety were filed, though no violations were issued following HPD inspections.

The building underwent a serious incident in August 2023 when fire damage affected apartments 4 and 12, located on the 2nd and 4th stories respectively. This incident led to multiple violations requiring repairs to fire-rated materials in affected areas, though most of these violations have since been closed. The building has shown consistent compliance with bedbug reporting requirements, with no reported infestations in recent years, including the most recent report filed in March 2025 showing zero infested units.

Rodent inspections have generally passed, with only one failed inspection in January 2024, though subsequent inspections have shown improvement. Several current violations are noted regarding building maintenance, including an active violation for a defective self-closing door at the cellar entrance, and violations related to the building's structural condition documented in August 2023. These structural issues involve concerns about a missing bulkhead, charred roof joists, and open windows at the top floor due to previous fire damage. The building's history includes multiple enforcement actions for illegal work and permit violations between 2020 and 2024, though inspections typically found no violations at the time of inspection.