Eagle claimed huge sign visible from Queensboro Bridge was not an accessory sign.  The Eagle Electric Manufacturing Company, in 1936, constructed a 1,950 square foot sign on the rooftop of its plant located at 23-10 Queens Plaza South, Queens. The plant is located in the M1-9/R9 Special Long Island City Mixed Use zoning district and within 200 feet of the Ed Koch Queensboro Bridge. Eagle ceased operations in 2000; the plant where the sign is located is currently vacant. In 1999, the sign was leased to Atlantic Outdoor Advertising, Inc. and has since been used to advertise different products. (more…)

Plan to allow public challenges of as-of- right permits effective July 13. After a public hearing, Buildings adopted a final rule for public challenges to zoning approvals that goes into effect on July 13, 2009.

Under the new development challenge process, architects and engineers applying for new building permits or alteration permits involving the exterior of existing buildings must submit a new zoning diagram, called a ZD1, to Buildings. The ZD1 will provide detailed project information, including to-scale drawings, use details, and the project’s position on the street. Buildings will post the diagrams on its website, triggering a public review period in which the public may contest zoning decisions. Buildings originally proposed a 30-day public challenge period, but after considering public comments, extended the period to 45 days. (more…)

Buildings mistakenly issued a certificate allowing conversion of SROs. The owner of a four-story building located at 614 West 138th Street sought to convert single room occupancy units to Class A apartments, which requires a Certificate of No Harassment from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development before Department of Buildings approval.

When the owner applied to HPD for a certificate, HPD denied the request because it found reasonable cause to suspect tenant harassment. Despite HPD’s denial, Buildings approved the conversion. When Buildings discovered its mistake, it filed an appeal with BSA to revoke its approval more than nine months after its final determination, and well after the thirty-day statute of limitations. (more…)

Owner’s application to Buildings failed to disclose actual conditions or intentions with respect to demolition. Alexis Lyublinskiy hoped to enlarge his one-story home at 136 Norfolk Street in Manhattan Beach. After his architect self-certified permits, demolition and construction work began that did not match the permits. Lyublinskiy eventually demolished three walls and constructed a two-story home that violated zoning restrictions on floor area, wall height and yard limitations.

The Department of Buildings then issued a stop-work order and notified Lyublinskiy that it planned to revoke the permit. Instead, Buildings issued a letter to Lyublinskiy categorizing the work as an “enlargement” rather than new construction; this allowed him to apply to BSA for a special permit to legalize the work. (more…)

Construction will require demolition of two Tribeca buildings. In August, Landmarks issued a permit for construction of a new building within the North Tribeca Historic District. The eight-story red brick and limestone residential building will be constructed at 50-52 Laight Street and will require the demolition of two buildings: a 1919-built, one-story freight building at 50 Laight Street and a 1940s-built, one-story red brick garage at 52 Laight Street. Landmarks allowed the demolition of both existing buildings, calling them insignificant and noting that neither contributed to the Tribeca North Historic District. The approved design would be seven stories along the street wall and includes a loggia, an open-sided arcade along the building’s roofline. Landmarks liked the scale of the building, but noted that the loggia was atypical for the district.

Landmarks also issued a permit for an eight-story, 23,000- square-foot residential building proposed by Atlantic Walk LLC to replace the existing parking lot at 414 Washington Street on the corner of Laight Street. Designed by Joseph Pell Lombardi, the new building will have patterned red brickwork on its Laight and Washington Street facades, recessed bays on its second through fifth floors, arch window openings, and will be set back from the street at its sixth story. In its approval, Landmarks emphasized the importance of the corner lot, noting that the new building would provide a needed termination to the block and strengthen the streetscape. (more…)