Councilmember Jumaane D. Williams, with Councilmember Vincent Gentile (l) and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (r). Image credit: Ernest Skinner/NYC Council.

UPDATE: On May 10, 2017, the City Council voted 49-0 approve the new legislation. The new law, sponsored by Council Members Vincent Gentile and Jumaane Williams, increases the minimum civil penalty for immediate hazardous illegal conversions to $15,000 fine for each dwelling unit beyond the number that are legally authorized. The legislation was proposed after a two-alarm fire in an illegally converted unit in East Flatbush, Brooklyn killed one person, injured five more, and displaced another sixteen.

“Substandard housing is not affordable housing,” said Council Member Vincent Gentile. “Seeking to maximize profit at the expense of tenant safety will no longer be permissible by the City of New York once this bill is signed into law. Few neighborhoods are immune from the dangers to life and property that illegally partitioning homes poses. By removing the profit motive from unscrupulous owners, this bill will help protect tenants from imminently life-threatening conditions, increase the safety of first responders in emergency situations, safeguard our overburdened infrastructure systems, and maintain the quality of life in our communities.”

“Illegal home conversions are a high-risk symptom of the overall housing crisis we have in this city,” said Council Member Jumaane Williams. “It is our responsibility as legislators to find these bad-acting landlords and thwart their illegal and very dangerous practices. It is also our responsibility to offer a realistic, affordable housing alternative to the residents. Illegal conversions are unsafe, as evidenced by the two major fires that took place in my district last year; they deteriorate the quality of life for residents and community members, and put a strain on local resources.”

“Today, we take a positive step toward advancing safer communities to raise healthy children and families,” said Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams. “Today, we respond to the countless tragedies that have senselessly claimed lives due to critically substandard housing conditions. Today, we address the challenge of aggravated illegally converted homes with common-sense, bipartisan legislation that prioritizes the health and safety of at-risk tenants and neighbors.” (more…)

Councilmember Jumaane D. Williams, with Councilmember Vincent Gentile (l) and Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams (r), announces new legislation to combat illegal home conversion. Image credit: Ernest Skinner/NYC Council

The new legislation was announced in the wake of fire fatalities.  On March 8, 2015 Councilmember Jumaane D. Williams held a press conference to announce new legislation to stop illegal home conversions in New York City.  The legislation is co-sponsored by Councilmember Vincent Gentile, who has previously introduced two other bills to halt illegal conversions, and is introduced at the request of Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams.  An illegal home conversion occurs when a property owner extensively renovates a building to house multiple families without the necessary Department of Buildings permits.  The legislation comes after a two-alarm fire in an illegally converted unit in East Flatbush, Brooklyn killed one person, injured five more, and displaced another sixteen.

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Following the Ocean on the Park Historic District designation vote, Landmarks agreed to consider extending district to include adjacent vacant lot. On December 15, 2009, Landmarks declined to extend Brooklyn’s recently- designated Ocean on the Park Historic District to include an adjacent vacant lot at 185 Ocean Avenue. Landmarks designated the Ocean on the Park Historic District in October 2009, and it comprises twelve attached rowhouses located at 189 through 211 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn. The free-standing brick house that formerly occupied an adjacent lot at 185 Ocean Avenue was developed in conjunction with the twelve other buildings, and the lot shares a driveway and a garage with 189 Ocean Avenue. In 2008, the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue demolished the house in order to build an eight-story condominium with a cantilevered portion over the shared driveway of 189 Ocean Avenue. The owner completed the condominium’s foundation before his building permits expired in September 2009.

Landmarks agreed to consider extending the historic district to cover the building site after hearing testimony at the October designation hearing from Fern Bernich, the owner of 189 Ocean Avenue. Bernich testified that the proposed building at 185 Ocean Avenue would negatively impact her property if Landmarks did not include the lot in the district. After Landmarks calendared the lot for consideration, Landmarks counsel Mark Silberman explained that Landmarks could remove it from its calendar if it determined that the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue had valid building permits. 6 CityLand 160 (Nov. 15, 2009). (more…)

The owner of one of the buildings included in new historic district opposed designation. Landmarks voted to designate twelve 1910 rowhouses at 189 to 211 Ocean Avenue in Brooklyn as the Ocean on the Park Historic District. In 1909, developer Charles G. Reynolds hired Axel S. Hedman to build a row of homes along Ocean Avenue bordering Prospect Park. Hedman built ten Renaissance-revival rowhouses at 193 to 211 Ocean Avenue. The homes feature limestone facades with randomly alternating bay designs, iron cornices, and unusually deep 30- foot front yards.

Philip A. Faribault purchased 191 Ocean Avenue from Reynolds in 1915 and built a Federal Revival brick rowhouse on the lot. Two years later, Reynolds hired Eric O. Holmgren to design two Arts-and-Crafts style brick homes, separated by a shared driveway, on his remaining lots at 189 and 185 Ocean Avenue. In 2007, the owner of 185 Ocean Avenue demolished the building and obtained construction permits to develop a nine-story structure that would be cantilevered over the driveway shared with 189 Ocean Avenue. (more…)

Designation does not include adjacent lot to accommodate trade group. Landmarks voted on November 20, 2007 to designate the former P.S. 90 building in Flatbush, Brooklyn. The Round-Arch style building dates back to 1878 and was built by John Y Culyer, chief engineer of Prospect Park and designer of the nearby Flatbush Town Hall. Landmarks first held a public hearing on the building back in 1989.

At the September 18th public hearing, representatives from the New York City Economic Development Corporation, which owns the building, testified that it intended to transfer it to the Caribbean-American Chamber of Commerce and Industry. The Chamber testified that it planned to use the building as its headquarters, and build an exhibition space on the vacant portion of the lot, adjacent to the building. Both EDC and the Chamber expressed their concern that designation would hinder the Chamber’s expansion plans. 4 CityLand 142 (Oct. 15, 2007). (more…)