Trial set for dispute over fire escape

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 … <Read More>


Firefighter’s Claim Goes To Trial

Tenant left on a food warmer which ignited a fire in the apartment where firefighter was injured. Firefighter John Walsh suffered a debilitating shoulder injury when putting out a fire in Miriam Michelson’s high rise apartment. Michelson observed the Sabbath and used a warming tray to prepare and heat food.  Michelson left the warming tray on while away from her apartment.  The warming tray was plugged into a timer which was plugged into a wall.  … <Read More>


Tenant’s Fire-Injury Claim Goes To Trial

Tenant sued landlord over fire in his rent-stabilized apartment that had allegedly originated from inadequate wiring. James Daly, the tenant of a rent-stabilized studio apartment located at 9 East 36th Street in Manhattan, suffered injuries from a fire that occurred on June 19, 2013. The apartment, built in the 1930s, was 700 square feet consisting of a living area, a gallery kitchen, three closets, a bathroom, and a hall connecting the gallery kitchen to … <Read More>


Condos lose special street claim

Two condominiums adjacent to Franklin Place, a mid-block alley in lower Manhattan, asked that Franklin Place be designated as a fire apparatus access road in order to prohibit parking next to condominiums. The Franklin Place Condominium, joined by the 55 White Street Condominium, filed an article 78 petition seeking to compel the New York City Fire Department to declare Franklin Street a fire apparatus access road and to install “No Parking” signs. Franklin Place is … <Read More>


Homeless shelter site approved

City approved homeless shelter for single men in former single-room-occupancy building on West 58th Street. As part of its “Turning the Tide on Homelessness” initiative, the City planned to operate a homeless shelter in a building at 158 West 58th Street, located on Manhattan’s “Billionaires’ Row.”  The nine-story building was constructed in 1910. The building initially operated as single-room occupancy housing and later as the Park Savoy Hotel. The building’s new owner, New Hampton, … <Read More>


Owner fined $60,800 for hotel use

Upper West Side residential building converted to hotel. On May 29, 2014, a Department of Buildings inspector cited the owner of a residential building, located at 258 West 97th Street, Manhattan, with illegally converting the building into a hotel for temporary lodging. The building was originally divided into apartment units for three or more families to live independently from one another. The owner converted the building into temporary one-room and two-room lodging. The Buildings … <Read More>