BSA refuses to extend time to construct building

Owner argued that Buildings ordered a halt to excavation to prevent the 14-unit building from being grandfathered. On August 6, 2004, Peter Rendel of DNR Construction applied for a building permit to construct a 14-unit residential condominium building at 1150 Arden Avenue on Staten Island. Three days later, Buildings cited Rendel for removing trees without a permit and issued a stop-work order. Despite the stop-work order, Buildings issued the permit to construct the building on … <Read More>


Five-story residential building okayed

Variance will allow new residential building on irregularly-shaped, shallow lot. BSA approved a use variance for the construction of a fivestory residential building with 13 residential units and seven parking spaces in an M1-1 zoning district. The building will be located on a 15,840 sq. ft. vacant lot on the west side of Havemeyer Street between Metropolitan Avenue and Hope Street in Brooklyn. The original proposal called for a taller, bulkier building, which was reduced … <Read More>


Ten-year permit for health and beauty spa granted

Spa allowed in cellar of building in Little Korea. BSA approved a special permit for a spa to be located in the cellar of an existing 12- story building on the north side of West 37th Street between Fifth and Sixth Avenues in Manhattan. The building, located in an M1-6 District, currently contains a restaurant, retail store, office space and manufacturing uses. Prior to seeking the special permit from BSA, the Department of Buildings granted … <Read More>


Permits extended due to substantial progress on foundations

Work to continue on 19 and 13- story buildings in recently rezoned Bronx neighborhood. On December 7, 2004, BSA granted two permit extensions, allowing work to continue on two new developments that will exceed the height limitations set by the City Council’s September 2004 approved rezoning in the Bronx.

On September 28, 2004, the City Council rezoned a 30-block area of Central Riverdale and Spuyten Duyvil, which restricted new buildings to six or seven-story heights. … <Read More>


New mixed-use building okayed after size reduction

Variance will allow 11 new dwellings and ground floor commercial in a manufacturing zone. BSA approved a use variance, permitting a five-story residential development with ground floor commercial on an M1-1 zoned lot with unobstructed views of lower Manhattan at the corner of Columbia and Congress Streets in Brooklyn.

When the project site, two lots totaling 4,773 sq.ft., was purchased by the variance applicants, Isaac, Jacqueline, and Maurice Douek, it contained two vacant four -story … <Read More>


Variance Approved For Metropolitan College’s Bronx Campus

College sited educational facilities in an M1-1 zone.  On June 24, 2014, the Board of Standards and Appeals granted a use variance to Metropolitan College of New York, a non-profit educational institution headquartered at 431 Canal Street in Manhattan, to use the entire second floor of a new building at 459 East 149th Street at the corner of Brook Avenue in the Bronx for educational purposes.  The site is in the shape of a … <Read More>