2 'Unsafe' Harlem Buildings Need Repairs, City Says

HARLEM, NY — Two buildings in opposite corners of Harlem need urgent repairs due to unsafe conditions, the city said in a pair of court filings on Monday.

Owners of the two buildings — at 1895 Amsterdam Ave. and 21 East 115th St. — need to make repairs to fix "unsafe and dangerous conditions," the city said in both of the filings.

The most dire conditions can be found in the East 115th Street building, a five-story structure between Fifth and Madison avenues, which has "major structural issues," a spokesperson for the Department of Buildings told Patch.

Fully vacant, the building's windows and doors are boarded up, and bricks are dislodged and loose near the roof level, according to the city's filing. Other roofing material has deteriorated, leaving its interior exposed to the elements, while load-bearing walls and window arches are plagued by cracks, the city said.

"The building will continue to deteriorate and there will be potential brick falling onto adjacent properties" until the building is repaired, the city wrote.

A DOB spokesperson said the building will be demolished if no repairs are done.

The owner, 115 SNV Associates LLC, bought the building in 2018 for $2.9 million. The LLC's listed manager is Alexander Sharf, is a prominent real estate mogul who in 2015 faced criminal charges for failing to maintain an Upper West Side building facade that crumbled and killed a two-year-old girl. (Scharf ultimately paid the city $5,000 in restitution.)

No contact information for Scharf was readily available.

The other "unsafe" building, meanwhile, is a three-story structure on the corner of Amsterdam Avenue and West 154th Street.

That building is "vacant, unguarded and open," and the city wants the owner to seal it "in the interest of public safety," according to the court filings and the DOB.

City records show a resident complained in July about people "walking in and out" of the building's abandoned storefront.

The building's listed owner is Marvin Davis of the firm Davis Realty, who could not immediately be reached for comment.

The city's unsafe building process begins with court filings and summonses such as these, which notify owners that they need to make repairs.

Before the scheduled court date, DOB surveys the buildings to inspect the unsafe conditions. If they have not been fixed, a judge can issue an order allowing the city to do whatever it needs to resolve them.