Two New York City buildings drew a combined four elevator-maintenance violations from the Department of Buildings, according to OATH/ECB hearing records, with hearing officers finding all four violations sustained after hearings held this week.
At 321 East 43 Street in Manhattan, respondent Cloister Owners Corp. was cited on two tickets, both dated May 20, 2026, per DOB records filed with the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. The first violation, issued at 8:35 a.m., cited failure to maintain the building's elevator or conveying system under Building Code section 28-304, with inspectors noting a natural gas pipe requiring removal from the machine room, a misaligned mirror, and a missing case of fire signs. A second ticket issued the same day at 11:30 a.m. cited the same underlying conditions plus inoperative emergency lighting. Both hearings were completed by phone on September 24, 2026, with a finding of "in violation" on each and a $625 penalty assessed per ticket -- $1,250 total, both marked "Penalty Due" with no payment recorded as of the hearing date.
At 611 East 13 Street in Brooklyn, respondent Kennedy Realty LLC was cited on two tickets dated July 20, 2026, also for failure to maintain an elevator or conveying system under the same code section. Per DOB records, inspectors found a non-working elevator phone, roughly two feet of water in the elevator pit, and water in the motor room -- conditions written up across both the 2:25 p.m. and 2:50 p.m. tickets. Hearings were completed by phone on September 23, 2026, with both violations sustained and $625 penalties imposed on each, for $1,250 total, also marked "Penalty Due" and unpaid as of the hearing date.
Elevator-maintenance violations under 28-304 are a standing category at OATH -- the code section covers everything from paperwork lapses to standing water in a pit, and a sustained finding means a hearing officer reviewed the DOB inspection and agreed the condition existed. Neither case shows an emergency stop-work order or a Class 1 immediately-hazardous designation in the record; both moved through as routine ECB hearings with fixed penalty amounts.
For building owners and the contractors who service their elevators, unpaid ECB penalties compound into liens and can surface later during a sale or refinance -- worth flagging to any client managing these properties. For elevator maintenance contractors bidding this work, standing water in a pit or motor room, as at the Brooklyn address, is also a red flag for equipment damage beyond the citation itself, and worth a scope check before quoting repair work at that building.
Property owners or their managing agents can confirm penalty status and payment history through the OATH Hearings Division's online case lookup using the ticket numbers above; balances marked "Penalty Due" continue accruing until paid or resolved.