In 2015, Lou Rubino inspected one home in Carnegie Hill — one job, one written report, and the photographs below come from it. The report describes an apartment house, about 90 years old.
Rated 4.9 on Google as of November 2026 · U.S. Army veteran owned · NY licence #16000039568 · 516-330-3870
The report, as Lou wrote it up.
2015, an apartment house, about 90 years old: 10 items flagged: 3 roof, chimney and attic; 3 exterior; 3 kitchen. As recorded: flat roof, tile and asphalt/fiberglass, seen from: walked roof; passive ventilation; brick full brick and stone siding, chimney: brick; brick, poured concrete and rock foundation, supporting walls; tankless oil water heater (basement and boiler room); 100-amp circuit breakers (Federal Pacific), conduit wiring, public water, window AC; double-hung windows, hardwood t&g, wood and tile floors, metal cabinets, laminate counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Sky light wire mesh cover left on roof after new skylight was installed”; “Caution: Items left on roof can become a missile in a wind storm”; “Roof leader pipe from penthouse roof is emptying right on loose ceramic roof tile that make up the lower section of roof”; “Vent pipe broken off penthouse roof”; “Leader pipe from penthouse empties onto loose roof tile”; “Lentil iron over sliding glass door is rust jacking away from mortar joints”; “Much tree and leaf debris on patio clogging drain”; “Upper fire-escape platform rail bracket is rusted thin and platform support bracket is rusted worn thin where anchored to brickwork”; “Old vinyl tile floor tile joints are opening”; “Original wood double hung window does not open”; “Washer not working properly”; “Ceiling has many spider and major cracks. High spot need to be sanded, before skim coat The paint is old and is sure to contain lead”; “Walls have many spider and major cracks. High spot need to be sanded, before skim coat The paint is old and is sure to contain lead”; “Many joints in herring bone are open”; “Original wood double hung windows do not open”; “Small bedroom floor has old tile or linoleum”; “When removing old floors care should be taken for asbestos content”; “Door lock at bottom of stairwell does not work”; “Windows in common areas are original double hung, sash weight type, single pane wood window. These windows are very inefficient, 1920 technology”. Also noted: “Left side of master bedroom window brick cracked from rust jacking of lentil iron”; “If any outlets are to be installed they need to be GFCI protected”; “Rug in hall to elevator is lifted and a trip hazard”; “Windows in common areas are original double hung, sash weight type, single pane wood window”; “These windows are very inefficient”; “Lights in emergency stairwell are not battery back up lights and some fluorescent fixtures are not working”; “Hot and cold water reversed”; “Tub stained from water leak”; “Flushometer is leaking staining floor”; “Caution: In gas meter room in basement order of natural gas, Con”; “Edison has been notified at 4:30 PM”; “Failures are documented in the CPSC study and by independent research”; “Brown condensate pump in boiler room is wired wrong with exposed conductors”; “Sub panel in hallway closet”; “Asbestos warnings on pipes in basement. Building has only been partially abated”; “Blue Condensate pump in boiler room is leaking”; “Commercial style washers in basement Laundry Room common area”; “Basement Laundry common area”; “Caution: In gas meter room in basement order of natural gas, Con Edison has been notified at 4:30 PM 4/13/”. On the day: 60°F, clear, damp ground, no rain in the three days before; the house faces east. Not inspected that day: cooling and air handler equipment; plumbing water faucets; presence of installed cooling source in each room. Not present in this house: burner for water heater; food waste disposer; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; insulation under floor system; outlets; range hood; trash compactor; vapor retarders.
“Flagged” is HomeGauge’s Repair or Replace mark, not a verdict on the house. See a complete report.
Related: The Manhattan page · What an inspection costs · Schedule an inspection.
All three photographs are from Lou's own Carnegie Hill inspection reports, chosen because they show a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 10128: 1960 (Manhattan: 1951). Of 35,940 units, 36% predates 1940; 6% is from 2000 on. Next come the 1970s at 17% and the 1980s at 13%. An older house is not a worse house, but its wiring, plumbing and roof were installed under different rules and replaced piecemeal, which is what the inspection looks for. Lou’s reports here: 90 years old. (ACS)
52% utility gas, 24% electricity; fuel oil 15% against 15% county-wide. NYSDEC logs Manhattan home oil spills under the borough, not Carnegie Hill. A gas conversion can leave a tank behind. An abandoned tank is most likely in a house that was converted from oil. Buried tanks are outside the standards New York sets for a home inspection, so the seller’s answer matters. (ACS, NYSDEC)
57% buildings of 50 or more units, 20% buildings of 20 to 49 units, 15% buildings of 10 to 19 units; 32% owner-occupied (Manhattan: 25%). With 77% of units in buildings of 20 or more, many purchases here are apartments: the inspection covers the unit, and the roof, plant and risers belong to the board. Lou’s jobs here included a co-op apartment. (ACS)
Manhattan (reported by borough): 131 basement tests, average 2.09 pCi/L, 16 at 4 or above (12%). First-floor tests there: 68, average 2.7. The highest basement reading was 49.5 pCi/L. EPA’s action level is 4 pCi/L, and it advises testing every home whatever the area’s results. Radon testing is optional. (NYSDOH)
64 flood-insurance claims from zip 10128 since 1978, most in 2012 (27): 91st of the 189 zips on these pages. A claim count describes the zip, not the house; 2012 was the year of Hurricane Sandy. Flood zones follow the address. Check the address on FEMA’s map. (OpenFEMA)
The NYC Department of Buildings. Look the address up on BIS or DOB NOW. Your attorney usually runs the search. The inspection reports the condition of what is there and flags work that typically needs a permit, such as a finished basement, a dormer or a moved panel, so you know what to ask about.
By median year built, fuel-oil share and owner-occupancy: Carnegie Hill (zip 10128) 1960, 15%, 32%; Yorkville (zip 10028): built 1957, oil 18%, 38% owner-occupied; Upper East Side (zip 10075): built 1956, oil 14%, 46% owner-occupied; Lenox Hill (zip 10065): built 1956, oil 8%, 33% owner-occupied. (ACS)
The New York City Construction Codes, the NYC Department of Buildings records, NYC water and sewer and the offering-plan rules for co-ops and condos: county-wide, written once. They are the same for every town in Manhattan, so they are set out there with their sources instead of on each page.
Lou quotes the actual property, not a flat rate — what drives the price is size, age and what is included. The written report arrives the same day as a rule; a large or complex house can run to the next morning. Call or text 516-330-3870.
Lou covers Long Island, the five boroughs and Westchester from his base in Wantagh, and the archive behind these pages shows where that work has actually concentrated.
Nearby towns Lou has inspected: Yorkville · Upper East Side · Astoria · Lenox Hill · Upper West Side · West Harlem · all 250 towns.
His Carnegie Hill file goes back to 2015. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.