City Sues Over Hazardous Conditions at Historic Hell’s Kitchen Landmark

The owner of the Windermere, a historic and long-vacant Hell’s Kitchen building, has put the public in danger by failing to fix its crumbling facade and remove a neglected sidewalk shed, according to a lawsuit filed by the city on Monday.

“Once defined by its landmarked architecture, the Windermere is now overshadowed by the derelict sidewalk shed and rotting plywood fence that obscure the entirety of its street-facing perimeter,” court documents read .

When the Windermere was built in 1881 , it was the second largest apartment building in Manhattan. Fast forward a century, and in the 1980s the building’s managers went to jail due to tenant harassment.

The building received individual landmark status in 2005 and was noted as the oldest-known large apartment building remaining in the area. Famous residents include actor Steve McQueen

Located at the corner of W57th Street and 9th Avenue, all of the Windermere’s 76 units have been vacant since 2009. Current owner Mark Tress then purchased the landmarked building for $13 million. Since then it has amassed hundreds of violations, according to NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) records — 149 of which remain open.

Tress presented plans in 2021 to refurbish the building as a 174-room hotel featuring shops and a rooftop restaurant. Since then, work does not appear to have progressed — even though multiple work permit applications were filed in 2023 and 2024, according to DOB records.

According to court documents, the property has in recent years become a “magnet for rats and garbage,” while “bricks are chipped and falling, the fence is caving in,” and the sidewalk shed “has exposed bolts, sharp edges, missing cross-braces and rotting wood.” Falling debris has also been reported on the facade, per a DOB announcement.

The city’s lawsuit would slap a $1,000 per-day penalty for each open violation under the Nuisance Abatement Law until they are remedied.

“Property owners need to understand that we are no longer tolerating when they put off critical building repairs and allow long-standing sidewalk sheds to detract from the livability of our city,” DOB commissioner Jimmy Oddo said in a statement.

This lawsuit is part of “Get Sheds Down” , a citywide initiative aiming to swiftly remove sidewalk construction sheds that have become eyesores on city streets. We reached out to Mark Tress for comment before publication, but did not get a response.

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