Residential Property in Brooklyn Used for Commercial Purposes Padlocked

Brooklyn property with two-family home was being used as contractor yard, junk salvage, and for commercial vehicle storage. Between December 2011 and April 2012, the City Department of Buildings sent inspectors three times to 2422 West 1st Street between Avenues X and Y in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The R4 residentially zoned lot is occupied by a two-story, two-family home. The inspectors, during their visits, observed in the property’s rear and side yards construction equipment and … <Read More>


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>


Limit in 66-year-old C of O compels office closing

Office space on E. 63rd Street once used by adjacent Barbizon Hotel. Responding to neighbors’ complaints, the Department of Buildings sent an inspector to 148 East 63rd Street, who found that the offices of Relais & Chateaux, hotel and restaurant owners, occupied four floors in the residentially-zoned building. Buildings issued an order to close the offices under the Padlock Law, which OATH ALJ Kara J. Miller upheld after a hearing requested by the owners, Jeanette … <Read More>