Over 7,000 feet of water mains will be replaced. Image Credit: NYC DDC

The project will replace more than 7,000 feet of water mains, some of which were installed before World War II. On August 19, 2019, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) and the Department of Design and Construction (DDC) jointly announced the beginning of an infrastructure project in the Hollis and Queens Village neighborhoods of Queens. The project is part of Mayor de Blasio’s $1.9 billion plan to revamp the drainage system and alleviate flooding in southeast Queens.

Anjappar restaurant at 116 Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. Image Credit: Google Maps.

A Manhattan restaurant received health inspection during busy hour which resulted in five summonses with $900 penalties in total. Anjappar is an Indian cuisine restaurant located at 116 Lexington Avenue in Midtown Manhattan. On July 3, 2018, while the restaurant was preparing a large order, an inspector from the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene made an unannounced visit. The inspector observed in Anjappar’s kitchen near an operating stove approximately eight pounds of cooked chicken in metal containers at room temperature. The inspector tested the meat and found it was above the required temperature. The inspector also observed that the waste pipe connected to a dishwasher was contaminated by accumulated grease, and that water leaking from an air conditioner was being improperly disposed of in a bucket on the kitchen floor.

East 43rd Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan. Image Credit: Google Maps.

Elderly woman’s cane lodged into manhole cover causing her to fall. On August 6, 2013, Hadassa Carlebach tripped and fell while crossing the intersection of East 43rd Street and 5th Avenue in Manhattan when her cane became lodged in a small opening in a manhole cover. Carlebach sued the City for the injuries she sustained from the fall.

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CityLand tracks these applications through the review process to a final decision. The majority of these decisions are available on the Center for New York City Law’s CityAdmin database (found at http://www.cityadmin.org/).

Image Credit: LPC/HubbNYC

Applicants will continue to preserve and restore the building in exchange for the approval to increase the building’s height. On August 28, 2019, the City Planning Commission voted to approve an application for a special permit for 121 Chambers Street in Tribeca South Historic District, Manhattan. The special permit would allow for the addition of two stories to the existing five-story building.

Image Credit: William Alatriste

Intro 30-A gives HPD liens a stronger position. On August 14, 2019, City Council passed Intro 30-A providing that the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s (“HPD”) orders to vacate the premises, and the subsequent costs to relocate the displaced tenant would now be considered high status tax liens on the property. The law is intended to discourage the negligence of building owners and give HPD an ability to recover relocation expenses of those tenants that were forced to vacate. These liens will have a first position over all other liens and encumbrances on the building and lot except for other tax liens and assessments.