Mott Haven mold and moisture help, from assessment to cleanup
Mott Haven's apartment blocks put many households behind a few shared walls and pipes. When one of them goes damp, we connect you with the licensed company that fits, and the first booking carries $100 off.
Which side of the city line
Inside New York City: the Bronx
Housing inspectors score a mold violation by the size of the patch, and every class carries its own deadline. The city also bars an owner, a managing agent and their staff from doing mold work over ten square feet in a building with ten or more apartments, so a state-licensed firm has to.
Past the line: Yonkers, Mount Vernon, Pelham, New Rochelle
Common questions
Does my Mott Haven building count as a covered building?
If it has ten or more dwelling units, yes. The owner, managing agent and their staff may not do mold assessment or remediation over ten square feet there, and an Article 32 licensee must.
Is Mott Haven in a flood zone?
The center returns Zone X, minimal hazard, but a point on the Harlem River edge returns Zone AE. Flood claims are low: 24 ever filed in ZIP code 10454 and 9 in 10455.
My landlord has ignored a mold complaint. What now?
HPD's guidance is to tell the landlord first. If the hazard stays or the work is unsafe, the complaint goes to the city.
The four jobs in Mott Haven
Four jobs, one form: pick the one closest to what you see, and the page explains how it works in these buildings.
Local notes for Mott Haven
Mott Haven is not an old-house neighborhood in the way Fordham is. In ZIP codes 10454 and 10455 the median building dates from 1966 and 1963, and only 24.1 and 23.9 percent of units were built in 1939 or earlier. What stands out is size: 74.5 percent of units in 10454 and 76.1 percent in 10455 are in buildings of ten or more apartments, and 93.2 and 90.9 percent of occupied units are rented.
So the person with the duty is the owner or managing agent. A building of three or more apartments has to be kept clear of mold, HPD enforces it, and from ten apartments up, mold work over ten square feet goes to separately licensed firms, not to building staff.
Water here comes from two directions. FEMA returns minimal flood hazard at the center of Mott Haven, but at one point on the Harlem River edge it returns Zone AE with a base flood elevation of 13 feet. Inside the buildings, 24.6 percent of homes in the Hunts Point and Mott Haven reporting area reported leaks in 2017, against 13.4 percent citywide.
- Old buildings
- 24.1 percent (ZIP 10454) and 23.9 percent (ZIP 10455) of housing units built in 1939 or earlier
- Renters
- 93.2 percent (ZIP 10454) and 90.9 percent (ZIP 10455) of occupied units are renter occupied
- Larger buildings
- 74.5 percent (ZIP 10454) and 76.1 percent (ZIP 10455) of units are in buildings of ten or more apartments
Source: American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, US Census Bureau
Who handles it here
In Mott Haven the owner of a building with three or more apartments must keep tenants' homes free of mold and the city's Housing Preservation and Development department enforces it, and in the large buildings that dominate ZIP codes 10454 and 10455 work over ten square feet must go to separately licensed assessors and remediators. Source: New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 5-year estimates, US Census Bureau, Local Law 61 of 2018, The City of New York
What makes buildings wet
FEMA returns Zone X at the center of Mott Haven and Zone AE with a base flood elevation of 13 feet at a point on the Harlem River edge, yet only 24 flood insurance claims have been filed in ZIP code 10454 and 9 in 10455, and 24.6 percent of homes in the Hunts Point and Mott Haven reporting neighborhood reported leaks in 2017. Source: National Flood Hazard Layer, Federal Emergency Management Agency, OpenFEMA NFIP redacted claims, Federal Emergency Management Agency, Environment and Health Data Portal, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene