Buildings vacated apartment building’s occupants before MTA started construction work nearby on the Second Avenue subway line. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority, before performing certain construction work on the Second Avenue subway line, contacted Buildings regarding the building located at 1766 Second Avenue. MTA was concerned that drilling, excavation, and/or blasting for the new subway line could cause the already-leaning building to become unstable. Buildings declared the building “unsafe and an imminent peril,” and later issued … <Read More>
Search Results for: Article 78
Engineer barred for two years
Licensed engineer certified altered photos and submitted misleading application to Buildings. Buildings filed charges against engineer Leon St. Clair Nation after discovering he had certified the accuracy of altered photographs and submitted a false application to alter the second floor of a building which did not have a second floor. Buildings specifically charged St. Clair Nation with violating the City’s rules by knowingly or negligently submitting false or misleading documents.
After a hearing at OATH, … <Read More>
Denial of State brownfield benefits overturned
DEC denied access to State’s brownfield cleanup program on theory that contamination did not complicate development. In 2007, a developer purchased a 17,700 sq.ft. former parking lot at 29 Flatbush Avenue in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, intending to build a 342-unit residential building. An environmental assessment of the site’s subsurface revealed the presence of lead and at least seven semi-volatile organic compounds at levels exceeding regulatory standards. In April 2008, the developer filed an application with … <Read More>
Emergency Demolition of Clark Street Building Upheld
Buildings directed wrecking company to partially demolish privately owned building. Buildings received a complaint on a Friday evening regarding a five-story building located at 100 Clark Street in Brooklyn. An emergency response team inspected the site the next day and determined the building was in imminent danger of collapse due to a bulging wall and an out-of-plumb fire escape. The response team recommended immediate demolition to a safe level, and the Brooklyn deputy borough commissioner … <Read More>
BSA’s denial of special permit upheld by Second Department
BSA found that project did not qualify as an enlargement. In 1999, BSA granted the owner of 155 Norfolk Street in Brooklyn a special permit to enlarge a one-story home. The enlargement was not built pursuant to the approved plans. More than three years later, the owner submitted a different set of plans to Buildings for an as-of-right enlargement and began construction. In 2005, after resolving a series of violations, the owner obtained an alteration … <Read More>
Landmarks’ designation process upheld
First Department ruled that preservation group failed to show its members were affected differently than general public. The City’s Landmarks law provides the public with the ability to nominate properties for landmark designation by submitting a Request for Evaluation form. After receiving a request, the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s Request for Evaluation Committee, which includes the Landmarks Chair, screens the nomination in order to determine whether additional consideration is appropriate.
A nomination requiring further consideration is … <Read More>