1878 Putnam Avenue, Queens, NY 11385

The 6-unit, 3-story New Law Tenement at 1878 Putnam Avenue in Ridgewood, owned by Magdi Teima and constructed in 1911, has experienced ongoing heating and hot water issues over the past several years. Most recently, in March 2025, HPD issued violations related to heat/hot water problems in an apartment, following a pattern of similar complaints throughout 2024-2025 that affected both individual apartments and the entire building.

These heating system problems have persisted since 2019-2020, during which multiple complaints were filed, though some inspections were unable to gain access to verify the conditions. The building underwent a comprehensive inspection in November 2024, which revealed multiple safety and maintenance violations that were subsequently addressed, including the correction of an infestation of roaches in apartment 2R, temperature regulation issues with hot water fixtures in that unit, and several administrative violations regarding required postings in the building's common areas.

The building's management has consistently filed annual bedbug reports from 2020-2025, with no reported infestations in the past five years, and has maintained compliance with rodent inspections, passing all inspections from 2016 to 2024. While there have been several Department of Buildings complaints regarding illegal conversions and other issues between 2019 and 2023, these were generally closed without violations being found. The most recent inspection in 2023 relating to Local Law 188/17 compliance also resulted in the inspector being unable to gain access for verification.