162 East 19th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11226

The 4-story, 16-unit New Law tenement building at 162 East 19th Street in Flatbush, owned by Joseph Friedman, has experienced ongoing maintenance challenges, particularly with building-wide heating and hot water issues. Between December 2024 and early 2025, there were nine separate complaints regarding heat and hot water problems, all affecting the entire building, with several requiring HPD inspections and at least one resulting in violations.

The building has also faced plumbing issues, with a water supply complaint filed in December 2024 that HPD could not fully investigate. More recently, in April 2025, there was a complaint about building shaking or vibration that resulted in an Oath violation being served. The building has a history of safety concerns, as evidenced by violation citations from December 2024 in Apartment 7, which included defective smoke and carbon monoxide detectors, inadequate hot water supply, and issues with fire escape access.

While the building has undergone some improvements, such as the repair of a defective fire escape ladder in September 2024, the persistent pattern of heat, hot water, and plumbing issues suggests ongoing infrastructure challenges. The property has maintained a relatively clean record regarding bedbugs and rodent infestations, with inspections showing varying compliance results in 2016-2017 but no reported infestations in recent years. There was also an illegal conversion complaint in 2018 that could not be investigated due to access issues, and a building permit was issued in 2019 for unknown work.