238 Montrose Avenue, Brooklyn, NY 11206

238 Montrose Avenue is a 4-story, 5-unit old law tenement building constructed in 1920 in East Williamsburg, currently owned by Morgan Edwards. The building has experienced significant structural issues, most notably suffering substantial fire damage in August 2022 due to an incident at the adjacent 246 Montrose Avenue. The fire caused window and roof cutout damage on multiple floors (2nd through 4th), leaving the building exposed to the elements, and affected the front half of the building from the 4th floor to the roof.

The Department of Buildings issued multiple active violations related to these issues, including concerns about damaged joists and brick nogging on the 4th floor, as well as concerns about the front and back chimneys. A partial vacate order was issued in response to complaints about building shaking and stability concerns. In addition to the fire-related issues, the building has ongoing concerns regarding pest management, specifically bedbug reporting compliance.

Since 2021, there have been annual violations for failure to file the required bedbug reports, with the most recent violation recorded in April 2024. While the official bedbug report for 2019-2020 showed no infested units, the continued violations suggest ongoing compliance issues with pest management requirements. The building's maintenance history also includes a 2012 inspection that noted rat activity, though it's unclear if this was an ongoing issue. While some violations from 2022 have been resolved, including a construction enforcement complaint, the combination of structural damage from the 2022 fire and ongoing bedbug reporting violations presents significant maintenance concerns for the building as of July 2025.