Between 2016 and 2025, Lou Rubino inspected two homes in Midtown East — two jobs, each with a written report, and the photographs below come from them. The reports describe two apartment houses, about 92 years old.
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Lou’s two summaries flagged 8 items Repair or Replace, most for the kitchen (4), rooms (2) and bathrooms (1). Each report, newest first, as Lou wrote it up.
2025, an apartment house, over 25 years old: 6 items flagged: 3 kitchen; 2 rooms; 1 electrical system. As recorded: flat roof, rubber membrane, seen from: walked roof; attic: no attic, none found ventilation; tankless con ed steam water heater (basement and utility room); 200-amp rated sub panel circuit breakers (Siemens), BX wiring, ductile iron supply pipes, public water, water source heat pumps forced air and (also provides cool air); casement, double-hung and thermal/insulated windows, hardwood t&g floors, laminate cabinets, quarts counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Kitchen entrance door hit dishwasher door”; “Hot and cold water is reversed at faucet”; “Boards appear to be bamboo exotic wood floor”; “Living room center and right side windows very difficult to open”; “Right side window lower sash won't stay up”; “Windows are very dirty, need to be cleaned”; “No screens for all windows”. Also noted: “Roof is original 25 years old with 3/4" pebble covering”; “Refrigerator does have a working icemaker”; “Temp settings were 45 Degrees for Refrig. and 1 Degree for freezer”; “Temp taken with Raytek MiniTemp laser thermometer were: 48 Degrees Refrig.and 6 Degrees Freezer”; “Jacuzzi tub has no stopper”; “Towel bar is loose at right side holder”; “No door or curtain rod installed for shower”; “Towel rod right side holder is loose”; “Two gas meters in basement gas meter room”; “Main gas shut off cock in basement water room”; “Sub panel on apartment wall near bedroom”; “Main panels in basement electric room”. On the day: 42°F, clear, damp ground, rain in the three days before; the house faces south. Not inspected that day: service entrance conductors; sump pump; trash compactor. Not present in this house: electric meter; food waste disposer; gas/lp firelogs and fireplaces; range hood; solid fuel heating devices.
2016, an apartment house, about 92 years old: 2 items flagged: 1 kitchen; 1 bathrooms. As recorded: brick full brick siding; (inadequate) and 30 amps fuses and circuit breakers (General Electric), conduit and BX wiring, copper supply pipes, public water, window AC; double-hung windows, hardwood t&g and terazzo floors, metal cabinets, composite counters. Flagged, in Lou’s words: “Old stove pilot light ignition”; “Large spaces between floor boards”; “Original double hung windows with sash weight pockets”; “Painted shut and no storm or screens present”; “Sliding upper and lower closet doors missing”; “Two towel bars missing from in tub area”. Also noted: “Outlets in living area are all two prong”; “Overhead track lighting does not work”; “Main fuse panel in basement”; “Conductors left hanging out of main fuse panel”; “Two prong outlets throughout apartment”; “Main fuse panel in basement above electric meter”; “Sub panel in apartment closet wall”; “Heat supplied by CON ED City Steam”; “No heating system in building”. On the day: 75°F, clear, damp ground, no rain in the three days before; the house faces south. Not inspected that day: columns or piers; floors; fuel storage and distribution systems; hot water systems, controls, chimneys, flues and vents; main fuel shut off; main water shut-off device; roof coverings; walls. Not present in this house: automatic safety controls; burner; chimneys, flues and vents; combustion air; dishwasher; exhaust fan; food waste disposer; microwave cooking equipment; operation of gfci; range hood; solid fuel heating devices; windows.
“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 Midtown East inspection reports, chosen because they show a building component and nothing that identifies a property or an owner.
Median year built in zip 10017: 1957 (Manhattan: 1951). Of 12,866 units, 40% predates 1940; 14% is from 2000 on. Next come the 1960s at 17% and the 1980s at 12%. 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: 92 years old. (ACS)
38% electricity, 37% utility gas; fuel oil 8% against 15% county-wide. NYSDEC logs Manhattan home oil spills under the borough, not Midtown East. 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)
88% buildings of 50 or more units, 8% buildings of 20 to 49 units; 31% owner-occupied (Manhattan: 25%). With 96% 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 multi-family building and 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)
35 flood-insurance claims from zip 10017 since 1978, most in 2012 (6): 120th 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.
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: Sutton Place · Midtown · Lenox Hill · Flatiron · Gramercy Park · Lincoln Square · all 250 towns.
His Midtown East file goes back to 2016. Yours would not be the first.
Not sure yet? Read what New York requires of your inspector or see a real report.