Department of Buildings ruled this sign at 302 Metropolitan Avenue was illegal. Image credit: Google
Board agreed zoning prohibited advertising signs painted on the wall. On March 29, 2014 the Department of Buildings issued five notices of violation against the Respondent, Metropolitan Avenue 298-308 Associates, Inc., for a prohibited outdoor advertising company sign painted onto the wall of 302 Metropolitan Avenue and failing to comply with previous Buildings orders in 2011 to correct previously-displayed signs.
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Board finds no evidence the engineer knew or should have known his filed plans were inaccurate. On September 25, 2014 the Department of Buildings issued a notice of violation to Kenneth Philogene, a professional engineer, for making a material false statement in amended construction plans filed with DOB. The amended plans submitted by Mr. Philogene on September 8, 2014 showed the subject building at 1215 Jefferson Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn to be three stories tall, however when a DOB inspection was conducted on September 25, 2014 the subject building was actually four stories. Mr. Philogene contested the summons with the Environmental Control Board, arguing the amended plans were based on a professional architectural survey given to him by the building owner, and showing the building as three stories tall. Mr. Philogene argued this conformed to his initial personal inspection in February 2014, where the building was three stories, and he did not know or have reason to know the fourth story had been added. The hearing officer credited Mr. Philogene and dismissed the NOV.
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Master plumber who held the permits for the work in the buildings destroyed in an explosion found repeatedly negligent and submitted materially false documents to Buildings. Andrew Trombettas, a master plumber affiliated with S. K. Piping & Heating Corp., located at 2103 21st Avenue in Astoria, and Beta Plumbing & Heating Corp, located at 1201 Astoria Blvd in Astoria, has been issued approximately 400 plumbing permits. Following an explosion at a building for which Trombettas had been issued a permit, the Department of Buildings audited all projects Trombettas was involved in since 2010. Buildings issued Trombettas approximately 82 notice of violations following inspections at 25 locations. (more…)
Respondent previously relied on an agency email waiving excavation requirements. On March 11, 2015 a Department of Buildings inspection officer issued notices of violation to Monadnock Construction for thirty building sites along the length of Egan Street in East New York, Brooklyn. The notices were issued because the construction sites had begun excavation without notifying Buildings and obtaining excavation numbers for each site. Monadnock contested the notices and argued they submitted the necessary AI-1form to obtain a Buildings waiver of all excavation requirements for the thirty sites. Monadnock presented an email from a Buildings assistant plan examiner confirming the excavation requirements for “all Egan Street” were waived. The hearing officer decided in favor of Monadnock, finding they reasonably relied on the Buildings statements. Buildings appealed.
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HPD brought charges of tenant harassment against an Aimco-owned building in the Upper West Side. Image credit: HPD
Testimony showed landlord Aimco routinely ignored maintenance requests and issued baseless eviction threats. The NYC Department of Housing Preservation Development charged Aimco with a dozen different forms of harassment against their tenants. Aimco is the owner of the Tempo, a Class A hotel at 238-244 West 73rd Street, with 150 rent-stabilized single-room occupancy (SRO) units and 75 SRO units rented at market-rate. Aimco’s representative, John Bezzant, denied the charges and petitioned for a certificate of no harassment. On January 5, 2015 Administrative Law Judge Kevin F. Casey found sufficient evidence of harassment and recommended denial of Bezzant’s petition.
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