281 Macon Street, Brooklyn, NY 11216

The 6-unit, 3-story brownstone at 281 Macon Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant, built in 1873 and currently owned by Michele Alford, has experienced recurring heating and water issues in recent years, with emergency complaints about heat/hot water in both March 2024 and January 2023. The building has also faced persistent maintenance challenges, including multiple housing violations and service requests.

Most notably, there are active DOB violations regarding the failure to file mandatory external low-pressure inspection reports for 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2023, as well as a 2017 boiler inspection report violation from 2019. The property has a documented history of interior maintenance issues, particularly in late 2018 when multiple violations were issued for plumbing (including issues with a bathtub/shower and a kitchen sink) and paint/plaster conditions affecting walls and ceilings, most of which were subsequently addressed. The building's maintenance record shows some positive developments, including the absence of bedbug infestations reported in recent years (with the most recent bedbug report for 2022-2023 showing zero infested units) and successful rodent inspections in 2022 and 2024.

However, the property continues to have open violations related to interior conditions in the ground-floor apartment, including requirements to repair plaster surfaces and repaint various areas in the kitchen, bathroom, and private hallway. The heating system's reliability remains a concern, as evidenced by the recent heat complaints that required HPD intervention, though these issues were not consistently verified or resolved through inspections. While some historical maintenance issues have been addressed, the current active violations regarding pressure system inspections and the open interior maintenance violations suggest ongoing compliance and maintenance challenges.