A Bronx apartment building that Mayor Zohran Mamdani recently showcased as proof of his new housing commissioner’s success is now under fire for a stunning number of unresolved code violations — nearly 200 in total, The New York Post has learned. The 102-unit complex at 1520 Sedgwick Avenue in Morris Heights — once hailed as a model of affordable housing and known as the birthplace of hip-hop — has racked up 194 open violations dating back to 2016. City records show 88 of them are “Class C,” the most serious category, meaning conditions are “immediately hazardous.” Tenants have reported rats, roaches, broken fixtures, failing refrigerators, and mold.

Mamdani visited the site on January 4 to introduce his new Housing Preservation and Development chief, Dina Levy, 54, a veteran tenants’ advocate and former state housing official; “who grew up the silver-spooned daughter of two high-powered DC lawyers,” according to The Post. The mayor praised Levy as a “visionary reformer” who would reshape housing policy and strengthen the city’s nonprofit-run housing network. Levy, who will earn $277,605 annually as HPD commissioner, helped arrange a 2011 agreement that allowed nonprofit Workforce Housing Advisors to purchase and renovate the Sedgwick Avenue complex from private landlords.

Conditions inside the Sedgwick Avenue building are not flattering, however. While the deal was meant to stabilize finances and preserve affordable rents, residents say upkeep has only declined. The aging property has twice as many severe housing violations as a struggling Brooklyn complex the mayor condemned just days earlier as evidence of the city’s housing failures. For some tenants, life under nonprofit ownership has only gotten worse.

“I have been here over 20 years, and I preferred it when it was under private management because they used to screen people in and out of the building,” said resident Mordistine Alexander.

Alexander said she has been without a kitchen light for months and recently battled a massive rodent problem on her own after getting no response from the property’s managers.

“Since [the nonprofit] took over, the building has deteriorated. They lack porters. No one is maintaining it, and the complaints fall on deaf ears – especially if you complain a lot,” Alexander said, adding that she wished the building never went under Levy’s leadership in the first place.

Despite the mounting problems, Mamdani has doubled down on his push for more nonprofit control over housing. He’s championing legislation that would give such organizations the first right to buy rent-stabilized apartment buildings, dramatically limiting the role of private landlords.

Critics say the idea is backfiring, however. Councilwoman Joann Ariola (R-Queens) said, “You have to laugh at the hypocrisy,” noting, "these nonprofits are proving themselves to be little more than taxpayer-funded slumlords, and this blatant double-standard is all part of the administration’s planned attack on private ownership in New York City.”

Levy, the daughter of two Washington D.C. attorneys, reportedly grew up in affluent Maplewood, New Jersey, and has spent decades agitating for tenants’ rights. She once described herself as “hooked” on activism after being arrested at a Texas housing protest in 1997.

Workforce Housing Group did not respond to calls or emails seeking comment. HPD defended Levy’s work, saying she helped tenants avoid losing the building to speculators and that the property is now undergoing an $8 million renovation to improve conditions. For tenants still dealing with rats, peeling paint, and a lack of heat, that promise can’t come soon enough.