Landmarked Harlem Building Will Be Torn Down Due To Neglect

HARLEM, NY — A landmarked building on a picturesque Sugar Hill block will be torn down after its owner allowed it to decay for years, the city told Patch this week.

The four-story brick building at 451 Convent Ave. was built in 1897, between West 149th and 150th streets. As part of the Hamilton Heights / Sugar Hill Historic District, it is a protected landmark — making it illegal for the owner to let it fall into disrepair.

But the owner, listed in city records as Lisa Fiekowsky, has done just that, according to the city. Long abandoned, the building has suffered from collapsed floors, large holes in its roof, multiple missing windows and skylights, rust to its metal cornice, and a raccoon infestation, according to court filings from the city's Landmarks Preservation Commission and complaints from neighbors.

On Wednesday, the city filed plans to demolish the entire building, citing an emergency declaration from the housing department. The teardown marks the culmination of a drawn-out fight over the building, which began when the city sued Fiekowsky in 2019 in an effort to force her to make repairs.

Fiekowsky had told the city in 2013 that she had been locked out of the building since her bank mistakenly replaced the locks — then locked out again by police after she reported it had been broken into, according to court filings. Years later, however, the building had continued to deteriorate, and Fiekowsky's promises to carry out repairs soon never came to fruition, the city says.

A judge ultimately sided with the city in 2020, ruling that Fiekowsky owed the city damages for not making any improvements to the building — but even that ruling appears not to have prompted any repairs.

A Brooklyn resident, Fiekowsky is the daughter of two prominent economists and owns millions of dollars' worth in real estate around the city — but is known in her neighborhood for her hobby of collecting cans and driving a graffiti-covered car full of "junk," according to a 2018 New York Post profile.

Fiekowsky did not immediately respond Thursday to an email requesting comment about the Convent Avenue building, which she has owned since 1999, according to city records.

Work has not yet begun on the demolition, which is being done "in the interest of public safety," a Department of Buildings spokesperson told Patch on Thursday.

Once the teardown is complete, it will be a loss for the block, which includes four other identical buildings that "create an appealing street front and represent a continuation of the neighborhood's architectural and cultural development," the city wrote in its 2019 lawsuit.

The demolition will be only the latest blow to Harlem's historic streetscape. Just a few blocks south, at 726 St. Nicholas Ave., the city moved last week to partially demolish a historic townhouse that had to be sealed off this spring after multiple chunks of its facade collapsed.

And last September, a landmarked home on Harlem's famed Astor Row was torn down after its owner also let it fall into severe disrepair.

Related coverage:

• Harlem Townhouse Sealed Off After Repeated Collapses, City Says
  
• Landmarked Harlem Home To Be Demolished After Years Of Decay