Owner fined: filed bad building plan

Owner’s rooftop apartment did not conform to plans filed by architect with the Department of Buildings. In 2003 the Anastasia Pleskun Living Trust purchased the building located at 169 East 117 Street.  The Trust hired a licensed architect in 2004 who drew up and filed self-certified plans, a process that bypassed a full review of the plans by the Department of Buildings.


Triton Structural Concrete Failed to Reserve $790,125 Claim

Contractor hired to repair Hurricane Sandy damage failed to list dispute when seeking time extensions on project. In 2009, the Department of Design and Construction awarded Triton Structural Concrete, Inc. a $105,003,443 contract to rebuild and repair various beachfront structures in Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy. The contract required Triton to install prefabricated modular buildings on driven pile foundations along several sections of the beachfront.


Plumber fined for 159 gas errors

Master Plumber submitted a large number of erroneous gas turn-on requests. The Department of Buildings surveyed all plumbing requests for sign-off and gas authorizations made by New York City licensed master plumbers between April 1, 2016 and October 31, 2016. The inspections by master licensed plumbers should ensure that all the necessary work and inspections have been accomplished prior to submitting a request for turning on the gas. Buildings identified ten licensed master plumbers who … <Read More>


Court Rules Permit to Disconnect Historic Clock was Irrationally Issued

Landmarks permit that would have seen designated interior converted to inaccessible private residence, and historic clock mechanism disconnected, is ruled to have been issued irrationally and influenced by erroneous legal counsel. The Landmark Preservation Commission designed spaces in the former New York Life Insurance Building, located at 346 Broadway, constructed in 1894 to 1898, as an interior City landmark in 1987. The designation included the 13th floor clock tower, which held the four glass clock … <Read More>


Owner Defeated Tenants’ Loft Claim

Tenants sought loft law protection by claiming that two attached structures on one zoning lot were two separate buildings. A two-story building was constructed at 538 Johnson Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in 1916 using timber and wood planking. A four-story building was constructed adjacent at 75 Stewart Avenue in 1919 using concrete columns, beams and slabs. The four-story structure abuts the eastern wall of the two-story structure, and the stairwell in the … <Read More>


Converted Commercial Building Exempt from Rent Stabilization

Bedford-Stuyvesant developer converted commercial building into residential apartments. 885 Park Avenue Brooklyn LLC owned a commercial building located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn that had been used solely for commercial purposes. Beginning in 1999, 885 Park converted the building into 23 new residential units. The conversion was completed in 2003. In 2011, Daniel Goddard signed a one-year market-rate lease with 885 Park.