538 West 159th Street
Class B
Class C
12 months to Aug 2026
rent-stabilized with
DHCR (most recent year)
units (PLUTO)
rent
min walk
(311 complaints)
errands grade
nearby
Top insights
- The most open HPD violations of any building in this ZIP (342 open)
- 71 open hazardous (Class C) violations
- More HPD complaints than the neighborhood average (55 vs ~15)
- Built before 1939 (city records: 1913) — likely subject to NYC lead-paint rules
- Rent-stabilized: 11 units registered
About this building
The building’s floor space is 3.9 times the size of its lot: 9,685 sq ft of building on a 2,505 sq ft lot.
Comparisons with neighboring buildings, as of October 19, 2026.
A difference between the DHCR rent-stabilized count and the PLUTO total is common and does not, on its own, indicate a violation: units can leave rent stabilization legally, the two datasets count units differently, some units may be non-residential, and a registration can be filed incompletely. To check your own apartment, see how to request your rent history from DHCR.
538 West 159th Street
Open in Google Street View ↗
- City records show 342 open HPD violations, 71 immediately hazardous (Class C) at this building. Ask which are still unresolved in the unit and the landlord’s timeline to clear them.
- The oldest open violation on record dates to 2018 — why has it stayed open this long, and is it in or near this unit?
- DHCR’s most recent registration lists 11 rent-stabilized units here. Ask whether this specific unit is one of them, and ask the landlord for its legal regulated rent and lease history.
- Confirm the condition behind the most recent open violation was actually repaired, not just marked closed: Abate the infestation consisting of roaches in the entire apartment.
- Confirm in person that the immediately-hazardous (Class C) conditions — typically heat, hot water, leaks, mold or pests — are genuinely fixed, not just marked closed.
538 West 159 Street sits in Manhattan, ZIP 10032. The closest subway is 157 St (1) (2-minute walk), served by the 1, A, B, C, and D lines.
Building Condition
Oldest open violation: July 2018 · Most recent: October 2026. HPD marks a violation open until it is certified as corrected, so an old date can mean an unresolved condition or a repair that was never certified.
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-10-15
- 2026-06-30
- 2026-06-30
- 2026-05-31
- 2026-05-31
- Class C · 71 open · penalty 1065 · (15/ea)
- Class I · 2 open · penalty 2 · (1/ea)
- Class B · 226 open · penalty 1130 · (5/ea)
- Class A · 43 open · penalty 43 · (1/ea)
- 2026-05-25 · Apt 6 · NON EMERGENCY · UNSANITARY CONDITION
- 2026-05-25 · Apt 6 · EMERGENCY · HEAT/HOT WATER
- 2026-05-24 · Apt 3 · EMERGENCY · HEAT/HOT WATER
- 2025-08-07
- 2025-08-07
- Jul 21, 2021 "FAILURE TO CERTIFY CORRECTION ON IMMEDIATELY HAZARDOUS (CLASS 1) ECB VIOLATION"
- Dec 9, 2020 "FAILURE TO CERTIFY CORRECTION ON IMMEDIATELY HAZARDOUS (CLASS 1) ECB VIOLATION"
- Jun 26, 2019 "FAILURE TO CERTIFY CORRECTION ON IMMEDIATELY HAZARDOUS (CLASS 1) ECB VIOLATION"
10 open lead-paint hazard violations on record (most recent 2026). These are HPD violations recorded against the building — not a test of any specific apartment.
5 earlier hazards cited and remediated.
Under NYC Local Law 1 (Admin Code §27-2056.5), lead paint is presumed present in common areas and in apartments where a child under 6 resides, in multiple dwellings built before 1960 (this building: built 1913). The presumption stands unless the owner obtained a lead-free or lead-safe exemption from HPD. Those exemption records aren’t published as open data, so we can’t confirm one either way.
Also on record: 2 procedural §27-2056 violations (failure to file required lead paperwork, most recent 2025) — a records failure, not evidence of a lead hazard.
The Building
Neighborhood & Environment
~1 block 300m
~2-3 blocks
- HARRASSMENT 2: 31
- PETIT LARCENY: 28
- ASSAULT 3 & RELATED OFFENSES: 19
- CRIMINAL MISCHIEF & RELATED OF: 17
- DANGEROUS DRUGS: 16
- HEAT/HOT WATER: 607
- Noise - Street/Sidewalk: 469
- Noise - Residential: 231
- Water System: 140
- UNSANITARY CONDITION: 132
- 559 WEST 158 STREET
- 522 W 158TH ST
- 3824 BROADWAY
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- P.S./I.S. 210 - Twenty-first Century Academy for C
- Community Health Academy of the Heights
- P.S./I.S. 210 - Twenty-first Century Academy for C
- JHS 164 Edward W Stitt
- Community Health Academy of the Heights
- Gregorio Luperon High School for Science and Mathe
- New Heights Academy Charter School
- 157 St
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- 155 St
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Internet providers serving this area
Internet providers available in this area — including fiber:
- Verizon Fiber Up to 2,300 Mbps down · 2,300 Mbps up
- Spectrum Cable Up to 1,000 Mbps down · 1,000 Mbps up
How to check internet providers before signing an NYC lease →
Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection (NY, rev. May 2026). Wired broadband only — cable + fiber. DSL, satellite, and fixed-wireless not included. Block-level data; actual availability may vary by building.
Market & Availability
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