Image credit: Scott Lewis.

Homeowner claimed home improvement contractor did incompetent work. Favors and Company Inc., a home improvement contractor, and Edmina Lee, a homeowner, entered into a series of home improvement contracts to make repairs for her two properties located at 112-28 199th Street and at 186-21 Hilburn Avenue, Queens. Work related to the 199^th Street property occurred between April 28, 2014 and May 23, 2014. Work related to the Hilburn Avenue property occurred between May 15, 2014 and June 26, 2014.

Seizure of three taxis without warrant was unlawful. Image credit: Manuel Martin.

A Segway user claimed he had a medical condition requiring the use of a Segway. On June 9, 2017, Parks charged Christopher Harrison with operating a Segway on Department of Parks and Recreation property in violation of Parks’ prohibition against the use of motor scooters in parks. Harrison defended by contending that a Segway was a permitted personal assistance mobility device which Harrison needed because his medical condition prohibited him from walking long distances. Harrison testified that he would eventually need bilateral knee surgery, and submitted a doctor’s note as evidence of his medical condition. Harrison later claimed that he had contacted the Mayor’s office when Parks began cracking down on the use of motor scooters in the parks and was advised that his use would be legal if he told officers that the Segway was a personal assistance mobility device.

Boerum Hill Map. Image credit: LPC.

Commission rejected modifications to 288-property extension to Boerum Hill Historic District, composed of three discrete pieces. On June 26, 2018, the Landmarks preservation Commission voted to designate a 288-building extension to the existing Boerum Hill Historic District. The extension is composed of three distinct sections to the east, north and south of the existing district. The extension shares it development history and architectural character with the existing district. The first wave of residential development in the area, in the 1850s to 1870s, followed the industrialization of the South Brooklyn waterfront, and saw the construction of speculatively built rowhouses, primarily in Italianate and Greek Revival styles. Following the Civil War and the opening of the Gowanus Canal, a second wave of development in the 1880s included Second Empire houses and neo-Grec rowhouses. The area’s original denizens were largely German and Italian immigrants who worked in port-related industries.

PS 163 in Manhattan. Image credit: Citylaw.

Non-profit developer sought to build residence for the elderly in Manhattan adjacent to a public school. In 2012, Jewish Home Lifecare, a non-profit providing health care services, applied to the New York State Department of Health for a permit to construct a residential facility for the elderly and disabled to be located on West 97th Street in Manhattan next door to P.S. 163. After Lifecare submitted an environmental assessment statement and an environmental impact statement, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Health Department approved the facility. Parents from P.S. 163 and nearby tenants objected and filed an article 78 petition seeking to annul the Health Department’s approval. The parents and tenants claimed that the Health Department had failed to address adequately the risks of exposure to hazardous materials and noise-levels.

Image credit: LPC.

Some commissioners lamented loss of Music Room and house museum character, but acknowledged those issues were outside of Landmark’s purview, and found impact on the exterior fell within bounds of appropriateness. On June 26, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to award the Frick collection a certificate of appropriateness to allow for an expansion that will improve circulation, increase exhibition, education and conservation space, and create a café. The individual City landmark was built for industrialist Henry Clay Frick by Carrere & Hastings in 1914. After the deaths of Frick and his wife, the mansion at 895 Fifth Avenue, was converted into a museum based around Frick’s art collection. The conversion and expansion were overseen by architect John Russell Pope, and include the construction of a library adjoining the museum.

1601 DeKalb Avenue. Image credit: CPC.

Applicant faces uphill battle to turn parking lot into residential building. On June 13, 2018, the City Planning Commission held a public hearing on an application by Camber Property Group for rezoning at 1601 DeKalb Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn. The rezoning will facilitate the construction of a new residential building. The rezoning will affect three lots owned by Camber and seven lots not owned by the applicant. The new building, however, will be constructed on the three lots owned by Camber, which is currently a parking lot.