Trending
Former Kemore Hotel leads city in DOB complaints
Allegations at infamous building include poor ventilation, water leakage
The former Kenmore Hotel – the single-room occupancy building infamous for a 1994 seizure by the U.S. Marshals Service – continues to be troubled after the Department of Buildings recorded a city-high 220 complaints at the property for the year ending last month.
Complaints at the 22-story building, located at 145 East 23rd Street between Third and Lexington avenues, include allegations of poor ventilation and water leakage. The property, now known as Kenmore Hall, provides affordable housing.
The 326-unit property’s 220 complaints – up from 78 the previous year – outpaced 168 complaints at 535 West 162nd Street in Washington Heights and 94 complaints at 2700 Third Avenue in the Bronx, according to the New York Observer.
The building is infamous for falling into dilapidation and becoming a hotbed of drug trafficking and prostitution before the U.S. Marshals seized it in a 1994 raid. The nonprofit Housing and Services Inc. reopened Kenmore in 1999 after a $34 million gut renovation, converting the property into affordable studio apartments. [NYO] – Rey Mashayekhi