119 Ramapo Avenue, the damaged property. Image Credit: Google Maps

Property owner blocked neighbor’s contractors from completing agreed repairs. In 2005, Mauro Palladino, without permits from the Department of Buildings, installed a pool, a fence, and a wall in the backyard of his Staten Island home. Palladino’s construction caused stormwater to flood the neighboring backyard of a home owned by Nicola Mezzacappa.  In 2008, Mezzacappa, sued Palladino for the damage to Mezzacappa’s property. The neighbors settled the lawsuit in 2011.  As part of the settlement, Palladino agreed to undertake the necessary remedial work and Mezzacappa agreed to provide Palladino and his contractors reasonable access to his property. Palladino had four to six months from the settlement to get Buildings Department approvals, and four to six months to complete the work. (read more…)

Center building at 338 Atlantic Avenue. Image Credit: Google Maps

Adjacent owner demanded that next-door neighbor remove fire escape that overhung the adjacent owner’s property. Clover M. Barrett owned a five-story mixed-use building, constructed in 1902, located at 338 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn. Barrett’s property had a fire escape dating from the original 1902 construction that hung three feet and five inches over a neighbor’s property located at 319-325 Pacific Street. The fire escape gave Barrett’s second through fifth floor tenants and building occupants the ability to escape or seek refuge on Pacific Street in the event of a fire. The neighboring property was originally a parking lot, but had recently been developed into townhouses. On October 15, 2014, the neighbor wrote Barrett a letter demanding that Barrett remove the fire escape. (read more…)

Pier 5. Image Credit: Google Maps

The City authorized Pier 5 on the Harlan River to be development for housing. The City acquired Pier 5 on the Harlem Riven, a 4.4 acre parcel of land in The Bronx, in 2006 during the $60 million renovation of Yankee Stadium and transferred control of the land to the Parks Department. Pier 5 is bounded on the north by Mill Pond Park, on the east by the Major Deegan Expressway, on the south by 149th Street. Parks fenced off Pier 5 and kept it closed for a most of the following ten years. Parks occasionally rented the land to private companies to host carnivals and small events. Between June 2013 and August 2014 Parks allowed the Bronx Council for Environment Quality to collect air quality data and to conduct environmental experiments on Pier 5. The Council permitted members of the public to come on the land for educational and research purposes. Ultimately Parks allowed the Department of Transportation to use Pier 5 for equipment storage. (read more…)

Adult entertainment businesses continue their decades-long fight against zoning rules that restrict business locations. In the latest installment in the City’s efforts to restrict adult entertainment establishments, a federal court enjoined enforcement of the City’s zoning resolution. This is the latest court action in a series of actions that began in 1994. (read more…)

View of Co-Op City from the New England Thruway. Image Credit: Google Maps

Owner’s sought to install on a single pole a 9,000 square foot of billboard space capable of running 54 separate advertisements.  In February 2018, Baychester Retail III LLC filed applications with Buildings to install a 9,164 square foot LED billboard made of 27 two-sided panels mounted on one pole on a commercial property located near Co-op City, in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx near the New England Thruway. The large billboard would be capable of displaying 54 video screen advertisements, since each of the 27 panels could display advertisements on both sides. (read more…)