Owner fined for eliminating unit

Owner added staircase to create a duplex but failed to get permit to do work. The corporation AS 303 LLC owns an apartment building located on 303 East 46th Street, between 1st and 2nd Avenue, in Manhattan. The building was authorized to have eleven class “A” units over the five floors. The owner converted apartments 2E and 3E into a duplex by building a staircase connecting 2E to 3E and added another bedroom. The owner … <Read More>


Contractor liable for property damage

Contractor damaged neighboring building while excavating vacant lot in preparation for building parking garage. LIC Contracting, Inc. was hired by a company that owned a vacant lot located at 211-02 and 211-04 Northern Boulevard in Queens to construct a three-story commercial building with two-level underground parking on the premises. The project required that the lot be excavated to construct the parking structure.


Homeless project survives challenge

A not-for-profit proposed to convert two buildings in Ozone Park into homeless services facilities. In July 2016, Common Ground Management Corporation, a not-for-profit organization, applied to the City of New York for approval of a homeless shelter and services project. The non-for-profit organization intended to convert two multistory adjacent buildings in Ozone Park into temporary housing for homeless adults that would provide medical and psychiatric services, meals, laundry, and showers for stays of up to … <Read More>


Property owner wins indemnification

Property owner sued general contractor and design consultant for indemnification of costs resulting from violations of federal, state, and local disabilities law. CREF 546 owned property located at 546 West 44th Street in Manhattan and hired developers to construct two fourteen-story residential midrise apartment buildings that shared amenities. CREF 546 contracted with Code Consultants to review design and construction documents and Hudson Meridian as their general contractor. The building became occupied in 2016.


Advertising sign claim denied

Building owner challenged loss of advertising rights. In 1998, Astoria Landing purchased an existing four-story apartment building located in a residential zone at 24-59 32nd Street in Astoria, Queens. The building’s previous owner had obtained a permit to display commercial advertisements and begun to display advertisements in the 1940s. In 1961, the City adopted new zoning rules which banned the display of advertisements in residential areas. In 1981, the Department of Buildings erroneously renewed the … <Read More>


Fine for illegal awning upheld

Bodega owner fined $6,000 for unpermitted awning. In 2012, Krishna Tiwari installed a 4-foot by 20-foot illuminated awning on the store front of his bodega, Krishna Bazaar, located at 1220 Liberty Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Tiwari never received the required Department of Buildings permit to install this sign. In July 2018, Buildings issued a Notice of Violation to Tiwari for his unpermitted sign and imposed a fine of $6.000 which Tiwari paid. In response, … <Read More>