Sushi Samba fined $500 K for illegal roof structure

Sushi Samba on Seventh Avenue South in the West Village shown with its new second story addition. Photo:Morgan Kunz.

Illegal roof space used for 5 years while case was pending. After receiving a Landmarks permit in 2000 to add a decorative wooden trellis to its roof garden, owners of Sushi Samba, a Greenwich Village restaurant made popular by Sex & The City, instead built a steel-reinforced trellis that it covered in canvas roofing, making its … <Read More>


Owner personally liable for corporate violations

Confusion existed in the closely held Limited Liability Corporation. In 2005, two tenants from 13 E. 17th Street filed a complaint with the Loft Board, claiming the building’s owner failed to install sprinklers as required and requesting fines. The tenants named Nathan Silverstein as the owner.

In Silverstein’s first letter to the Loft Board, he listed the correct owner as “13 E. 17 LLC,” but all remaining documents, including his formal response to the tenants’ … <Read More>


$3.2 million tax exemption awarded Brooklyn developer

The Albee Street Mall on Gold Street will be razed to make way for one of the tallest buildings in downtown Brooklyn. Image courtesy of Greenberg Farrow.

Downtown Brooklyn mall to be demolished for large mixed-use retail, office, and residential center. On February 13, 2007, the New York City Industrial Development Agency, a component of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, approved financial assistance for the construction of a new 1.8-million-square-foot mixed-use development in … <Read More>


DOB stiffens rules for construction superintendents

Proposed rule would set new qualifications, registration requirements and suspension rules. The Department of Buildings proposed stiffer requirements for the designation of construction superintendents on all demolition and construction jobs.

Under the new rules, Buildings would not issue demolition or building permits without a designated construction superintendent who met certain qualifications. To qualify, the construction superintendent must be a licensed professional engineer, a registered architect or a site safety manager certified by Buildings. Alternatively, the … <Read More>


Two turn-of-the-century churches landmarked

Designation of Harlem’s St. Aloysius Church supported unanimously by Landmarks. Photo: LPC.

The Harlem Catholic churches date from the late nineteenth, early twentieth century. On January 30, 2007, Landmarks voted to designate as individual landmarks Saint Aloysius Roman Catholic Church and the Church of All Saints Parish House and School. Landmarks first considered All Saints in 1966 and held hearings on both churches in 2004. Neither church was on the list, released in January 2007 … <Read More>


Art-deco automat building designated

After two hearings, 1930-built Horn and Hardart Automat finally designated. On January 30, 2007, Landmarks unanimously approved the designation of 2710 Broadway, one of the last remaining structures in the city to once house a Horn and Hardart Automat. Constructed in 1930 by the architectural firm E.P. Platt and Brothers, the Art-Deco style building features glazed terra cotta ornamentation of contrasting colors in stylized floral motifs that remain remarkably intact.

The building’s owner, Norma Teitler, … <Read More>