Skip to content
ViolationScout51 open Class C, with 0 certifications filed and 8 new Class C in the last 180 days, too few to call a direction.Is this your building?
Buildings538 West 159 Street, ManhattanCurrent through

538 West 159th St, Manhattan

BBL 1-02117-0017

En español: 51 violaciones de Clase C abiertas (peligro inmediato) y 191 abiertas en total. La más antigua del HPD lleva 8 años abierta, desde el 21 de julio de 2018.

Open violations are sitting, with little movement either way. 51 open Class C, with 0 certifications filed and 8 new Class C in the last 180 days, too few to call a direction.

The oldest open HPD violation has been open 8 years, since July 21, 2018.

Since September 29, 2023, certifications were filed on 45 Class C violations, all 45 by the original certify-by date. How certification works

Is this your building?

51 open Class C. The oldest open HPD violation was filed July 21, 2018.

A firm we work with can take these on. We reply within one business day with the firm's name. You decide whether to talk to them. One firm, not a list.

Your details stay with us, and go only to the one firm you are introduced to. No lists, no resale.

¿Es su edificio? Déjenos un correo o un teléfono. Leemos cada solicitud.

See everything first: the building report, $19

Or file it yourself: what it can hold up, and how correction is filed

The case file on a building like this names who is responsible on HPD's registration and how to reach them. We prepare them for firms on our pilot, ranked by how much hazardous work is open.

Request a sample file

The building report reads this record for you: every open violation in the city's own words, what each status means, and how the building compares with others its size. Usually ready within 15 minutes of payment.

Get the report, $19

HPD takes complaints from tenants through 311.

DOB violations
1 active DOB violation, issued March 18, 2019.
Housing court
1 open housing court case, opened December 5, 2025.
DOB complaints
2 DOB complaints in the 12 months to September 25, 2026. The newest was filed November 18, 2025.
Bedbug report
Filed December 3, 2024, for the year to October 31, 2024. Buildings with 3 or more apartments file one with HPD every year.
Rent stabilization
Has rent-stabilized apartments (2024 registration).
HPD emergency repair orders
3 completed HPD emergency repair orders since September 29, 2023, awarded for $3,310 in total. The most recent of the 3, a general construction order, was opened December 11, 2025.

Open violations by class. A party is named only where the building's HPD registration covers the date a violation was filed.

FiledCategoryStatusNumberRegistered party when filed
Class C51 open most often Vermin / Infestation
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant19043128
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant19043127
Notice sent18970703
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18970702
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18970699
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18970696
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18970691
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent18879049
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18706400
Vermin / InfestationNotice sent to tenant18706398
The report lists all 51, each with the city's own words and the date on its notice. What the report adds
Class B137 open most often Fire Safety
MoldNotice sent to tenant19076633
Notice sent19076632
Notice sent19076631
Notice sent19081715
Notice sent19081705
Fire SafetyNotice sent19043130
Fire SafetyNotice sent19043129
Notice sent18970704
Fire SafetyNotice sent18970701
Fire SafetyNotice sent18970700
The report lists all 137, each with the city's own words and the date on its notice. What the report adds
OATH/ECB3 open most often Construction
Construction, Class 2Found in violation37033296JRH 536-538 W 159 STREET LP
Construction, Class 3Found in violation35680751K
Construction, Class 2Settled by agreement39106842P

The full report on 538 West 159th St, Manhattan

Get the report on 538 West 159th St, Manhattan, $19 See a sample report

Usually ready within 15 minutes of payment, on your order page and by email. If it tells you nothing you did not already know, reply and we refund it.

Other buildings on this tax block

Nearby buildings

Questions about this building

Does 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan have open violations?

Yes. 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan had 191 open violations on September 27, 2026: 188 from HPD and 3 from OATH/ECB. 51 are Class C, the class HPD treats as immediately hazardous. The oldest open HPD violation has been open 8 years, since July 21, 2018.

Is 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan getting better or worse?

Open violations are sitting, with little movement either way. 51 open Class C, with 0 certifications filed and 8 new Class C in the last 180 days, too few to call a direction. That window ends September 27, 2026. It compares certifications filed with new Class C violations, and it describes what happened, not what anyone intends.

When were certifications filed on Class C violations at 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan?

Since September 29, 2023, certifications were filed on 45 Class C violations, all 45 by the original certify-by date. A certification is the filing, dated when it was made, not HPD's acceptance of it. It is compared with the original certify-by date on the notice. A granted postponement moves that date and the city's data keeps only the first, so a certification counted after it may still have met a postponed date.

Does 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan have active DOB violations?

Yes. 1 active DOB violation, issued March 18, 2019. The Department of Buildings writes these separately from HPD's housing violations, for things like boilers, elevators, facades, construction and energy filings. Each one stays active until DOB resolves or dismisses it.

Is 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan in housing court?

Yes. 1 open housing court case, opened December 5, 2025. HPD takes buildings to housing court to get violations fixed and heat and hot water restored, and it joins tenants' own repair cases, called tenant actions. A case stays open until the court closes it.

Has DOB received complaints about 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan?

Yes. 2 DOB complaints in the 12 months to September 25, 2026. The newest was filed November 18, 2025. Anyone can complain to DOB about a building or the work going on in it, and DOB then inspects and decides whether there is a violation. A conversion complaint says an apartment may have been added or changed without approval. It is a complaint, not a finding.

Are any HPD emergency repair orders at 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan marked completed?

Yes. 3 completed HPD emergency repair orders since September 29, 2023, awarded for $3,310 in total. The most recent of the 3, a general construction order, was opened December 11, 2025. HPD orders an emergency repair when a hazardous condition cited in a violation, or in another agency's emergency order, is not corrected, and does the work itself or through a contractor. The amounts are what the orders were awarded for, not a bill: this page does not show what was charged to the property or whether it was paid. Orders for lab tests, such as dust-wipe and asbestos samples, are not counted.

When did 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan last file its bedbug report?

On December 3, 2024, for the year to October 31, 2024. HPD asks the owner of every building with 3 or more apartments for this report once a year, covering November 1 to October 31, including buildings that had no bedbugs.

Is 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan rent stabilized?

The building has rent-stabilized apartments on its 2024 registration. That comes from the Rent Guidelines Board's list of buildings with at least one stabilized apartment registered that year. Buildings that registered late are left off, and a 421-a or J-51 building can leave stabilization when its tax benefit ends. A particular apartment's status is for NYS HCR to say.

When was 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan built?

The city's record gives 1913 as the year 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan was built, in the Department of City Planning's PLUTO tax-lot file. The same file classes it as a walk-up apartment building with 5 floors.

How many apartments does 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan have?

The Department of City Planning's PLUTO tax-lot file lists 10 residential units at 538 West 159 Street, Manhattan. The count is for the whole tax lot.

Where do these numbers come from?

From New York City's own data: HPD housing violations and OATH/ECB hearing results, read whole rather than sampled. It also draws on DOB violations, HPD's housing court cases, DOB complaints, the Rent Guidelines Board's stabilized-building lists, HPD emergency repair orders, HPD's annual bedbug reports and the city's PLUTO tax-lot file. This page is current through September 27, 2026. The city's data changes daily, so a violation certified after that can still show as open here; the city's own page for this building is linked above.

Sources. HPD housing violations and OATH/ECB hearing results, plus DOB violations, HPD's housing court cases, DOB complaints, the Rent Guidelines Board's stabilized-building lists, HPD emergency repair orders, HPD's annual bedbug reports and the city's PLUTO tax-lot file. Counts cover HPD Class B and C violations from the last 3 years that HPD still shows open, and OATH/ECB summonses from the same 3 years that the city still shows active. The city's own pages can show more, never fewer.

Cite this page

ViolationScout, 538 West 159th St, Manhattan: violations, from New York City's HPD violation and OATH/ECB hearing data. Figures through September 27, 2026. https://violationscout.com/building/538-west-159-street-manhattan

How we count: /method.

Is this your building?