261 Clifton Place, Brooklyn (Center). Image Credit: Google Maps

Building façade had delaminated paint, plaster and concrete which posed a threat that severely affected life, health and safety. On April 26, 2019, Department of Buildings Officer J. Williams charged Allison Wren, the owner of a three-story building located at 261 Clifton Place, Brooklyn, with failing to maintain the building’s exterior walls resulting in an immediately hazardous condition. The summons cited peeling paint and plaster delamination on all stories and falling from the façade. Photos showed large fallen pieces of material around the entrance, staircase and side shed.

A hearing on the matter was held on February 21, 2020, at the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. Owner Allison Wren disputed the Class 1 designation of the summons. Wren testified that although pieces of the paint and concrete had occasionally fallen to the ground, this did not cause harm to any property or person entering and exiting the building because the crumbling pieces had mostly fallen to the left side of the front entrance onto a storage shed in her yard. The hearing officer disagreed and sustained the Class 1 designation of the violation. The ALJ credited photographs taken by the Buildings Officer that showed debris on an adjacent staircase.

The Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings, Appeals Unit, affirmed the Class 1 designation and the $2,500 fine. The Appeals Unit ruled that the photographs submitted by Buildings proved that the fallen delaminated paint, plaster and concrete posed a threat that severely affected life, health, safety, property, the public interest, or a significant number of persons which warranted a Class 1 designation.

DOB v. Allison Wren, OATH Hearing Division Appeals Unit, Appeal No. 2000474 (July 16, 2020).

By: Yuval Rosenthal (Yuval is a New York Law School student, Class of 2022.)