ALJ orders closure of Bronx property due to illegal use

Occupants illegally used driveway and yard of residential property for automobile repair, salvage, and dead storage. Between 2009 and 2011 the Department of Buildings sent inspectors six times to 610 Mead Street in the Van Nest section of the Bronx. The R5-zoned property contained a two-story, two-family building with a one-car garage on the first floor. The inspectors observed over the course of their visits automobiles in various states of repair in the driveway, … <Read More>


No rent benefits for loft renters

Tenants in loft law units sought rent regulation protection based on 2010 amendments. 59 Crosby Street in Manhattan was an interim multiple dwelling covered under the 1982 loft law. This law required an owner to convert an interim multiple dwelling building into legal residential premises and obtain a certificate of occupancy. The owners of 59 Crosby in 1984 purchased the rights and improvements to the fifth-floor interim multiple dwelling unit from the then-current tenant. In … <Read More>


Nuisance claim upheld

Owner of vacant residential lots stored vehicles and construction materials. A Department of Buildings inspector visited four R4-zoned residential lots located on 78th Street between Dumont and South Conduit Avenues in Lindenwood, Queens. The inspector, during three visits, observed stored on the site a large excavator and two commercial trucks, and construction tools and equipment, including a drilling machine, a generator, and large quantities of lumber and pipes. Subsequently, Buildings sought an order to … <Read More>


NOV for low parapet upheld

Repairs to building subject to 1938 Building Code triggered new minimum height requirements. In February, June, and October of 2010, Buildings issued notices of violation to the owner of 331 Columbus Avenue, Manhattan. The issuing officer in each instance observed the same violation of the 2008 Construction Codes: brick parapet walls on the roof were not 42 inches in height.

At a hearing, the owner conceded that the walls in question were less than … <Read More>


Former Bronx Borough President fined $10,000

Adolfo Carrión, Jr. hired architect for private job at same time architect worked on project that Carrión later recommended for approval. Hugo Subotovsky worked as an architect on a Bronx development project known as Boricua Village. Atlantic Development Group LLC was the developer, and Peter Fine, one of Atlantic’s principals, was part of the team seeking City approval for the project through the City’s land use review process. Subotovsky was also part of this … <Read More>


Apartment building owner defeats facade report NOV

Distinction between basement and cellar explained. The Department of Buildings issued Supreme Company LLC a notice of violation for failing to file a required report concerning the periodic inspection of the exterior walls of its building at 1659 York Avenue in Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Supreme contested the NOV at a hearing before an ALJ, claiming that it was exempt from the filing requirement since its building did not exceed six stories. Supreme’s architect stated … <Read More>