The corner building at 136-02 35th Avenue, Queens. Credit: Google Maps

Owner maintained unlawful apartments in the garage, cellar and upper floors of Queens three-story building. In March 2019, the Department of Buildings received a complaint about people sleeping in the cellar of 136-02 35th Avenue in Queens. Buildings’ inspectors obtained access to the three-story apartment building and observed illegal apartments, a cellar did not match plans filed in 1997, and a garage that had been converted illegally into an apartment. Buildings charged the owner with multiple violations and posted a vacate order on the building.

Mayor Bill de Blasio. Image credit: CityLand

The Community Dispute Resolution Centers will be available in all five boroughs. On July 21, 2020, Mayor de Blasio and the Taskforce on Racial Inclusion and Equity announced the start of a new mediation program for small landlords and tenants across the City. The Citywide Landlord-Tenant Mediation Project will provide both parties with an opportunity to resolve rent-related disputes outside of the housing court system to prevent evictions during the pandemic.

The community center within 816 Soundview Avenue will be renovated as part of an investment of $22 million reallocated from NYPD capital funds. Image Credit: Google Maps

The funding will help four community centers. On July 21, 2020, Mayor de Blasio announced that three NYCHA community centers will be renovated, and a fourth will receive expense funding for programming, using $22 million in capital funding shifted from the NYPD to NYCHA in the Fiscal Year 2021 Adopted Budget. This project is a part of the Mayor’s commitment to reinvest $450 million in NYPD capital funds to community centers across the City.

Image Credit: SBS

The consultation focuses on state guidelines, outdoor seating, accessibility and personal protective equipment. On July 16, 2020, NYC Department of Small Business Services Commissioner Jonnel Doris announced the expansion of free virtual consultation services for small businesses in order to help them open up properly under the Open Restaurants guidelines and avoid fines and penalties.

Angel Guardian Home, Main Building Image Credit: Brooklyn CB10

Angel Guardian Home would be first landmark designation in the Dyker Heights neighborhood. On June 30, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to calendar the designation of the Angel Guardian Home, located at 6301 12th Avenue in Dyker Heights, Brooklyn.  The former orphanage, which encompasses the entire 12th avenue frontage between 63rd and 64th Streets, is composed of four original, completely intact buildings: a central administration building, a nursery building, a reception and intake building, and a laundry building. The designation is sought only for a partial portion of the block, specifically the main building.

Williamsburg warehouse burned to the ground just minutes after FDNY left the scene. A Williamsburg warehouse owned by Recall Corporation and located on the Brooklyn waterfront at 5 North 11th Street burned to the ground in the early hours of the morning on January 31, 2015. The New York City Fire Department had responded to a fire alarm at approximately 4:36 a.m. and found a fire ablaze on storage shelves inside the warehouse. The FDNY, believing that the fire had been controlled by the warehouse’s sprinkler system, turned off the main water valve to stop the deluge and prevent flooding. The FDNY deemed the warehouse safe for reentry and left the scene. Just minutes after the FDNY left, a second fire appeared, triggering another fire alarm at the warehouse at 6:32 a.m. With no water available to supply the sprinkler system, the fire quickly spread, destroying the warehouse and its contents. The warehouse contained government records from entities including the State court system, the City’s Administration for Children’s Services, and the Health and Hospitals Corporation.