More Rents, More Problems at New Buildings

New “luxury” apartment buildings across New York City are piling up housing violations at an unexpected rate.

Nearly 10 percent of roughly 1,600 residential buildings completed since 2016 have at least one housing code violation per apartment, averaging 2.1 violations per unit — more than double the citywide average of 0.8 — according to an analysis of city data by Gothamist.

The findings suggest an increasing quality problem in the city’s newest housing stock, even as developers market many of the buildings as high-end rentals loaded with amenities.

Tenants at several newly built towers report chronic maintenance issues ranging from water outages and leaks to power failures and pest infestations. Notably, however, the severity of the housing violations isn’t clear from the data, nor are the rent levels for the buildings in question.

At the 30-story One Blue Slip in Greenpoint, renters paying as much as $12,400 a month for a three-bedroom say the building has struggled with both flooding and a lack of running water. A frozen pipe tied to the rooftop water tank left the 359-unit building without water for three days last month, according to the outlet. Residents also complained of recurring hot water issues and flooding that poured into the building’s lobby.

The property is owned by Brookfield Properties, which said it was investigating the pipe failure and has installed insulation to prevent future incidents.

Similar complaints have surfaced across the city. At One38 in the Bronx’s Mott Haven neighborhood, tenants said they moved into a building that lacked stable electricity and hot water, where power was supplied for months by mobile generators. Residents described brown tap water, leaking ceilings and flooding in shared spaces.

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development sued owner JCS Realty in 2024 over heat and hot water outages. Residents later withheld rent and were sued for eviction.

Another property, the 303-unit 38 Sixth in Brooklyn near Barclays Center, logged more than 1,300 tenant complaints in the past two years and more than 100 housing violations for issues including leaks and pests.

Industry experts say the problems reflect a mix of cost pressures and construction challenges. Developers often face rising material costs, labor shortages and pressure to complete projects quickly to begin collecting rent, which can lead to cheaper materials or rushed work.

Supply-chain disruptions during the pandemic also drove up prices for items like plumbing and boilers, while a shortage of skilled tradespeople has complicated construction timelines.

City officials say buildings can experience fine-tuning issues as systems come online, but tenants paying luxury rents say they expect more.

— Holden Walter-Warner