155-14 79th Street, Queens, NY 11414

The two-story, six-unit residential building at 155-14 79th Street in Howard Beach, owned by John Santiago, has been through several maintenance challenges since its construction in 1978. Most notably, in late 2018, multiple complaints were filed regarding unsanitary conditions, including pest issues in several units, water damage to ceilings, and heat/hot water problems, with HPD inspectors unable to gain access to investigate the latter three complaints.

The building has had three separate Notices of Violation related to bedbug reporting requirements in 2022, 2024 (Class A violations), while a 2023 Class C violation was issued regarding a defective self-closing door at the boiler room entrance that required repair or replacement. The good news is that recent bedbug filings show no infestations in the current reporting period (2023-2024), with all six units previously affected (as of 2025) having been successfully eradicated.

Similarly, the prior two reporting periods (2022-2023 and 2019-2020) showed no infestations or eradications, indicating a potential successful resolution to the pest management issues that plagued the building around 2018. While the building's maintenance history shows periods of significant tenant discomfort, particularly in late 2018 with multiple simultaneous complaints, the more recent bedbug reporting compliance and absence of current infestations suggests improvement in some aspects of building management and maintenance. However, the repeated need for HPD to issue violations for failure to file bedbug reports as required under the Housing Maintenance Code indicates ongoing administrative compliance issues that have persisted over multiple years.