Staten Island civil court judge issued injunction against Buildings over C of O’s. In 2005, Judge Philip S. Straniere addressed a recurring issue in Staten Island where developers were failing to obtain final certificates of occupancy for new homeowners who, upon expiration of the temporary certificates, were unable to legalize their occupancy. Some of these homeowners, who had been cited by Buildings and ECB, sued the developers to compel them to obtain final certificates and … <Read More>
BSA’s decision on P.S. 64 upheld
Developer’s plan to build dorm requires connection to a local school. In 1999, the City auctioned off the lot at 605 East 9th Street, containing the former P.S. 64 building, to Gregg Singer by a deed restricting it to a community facilities use under the zoning code. Singer applied for permits to construct a 19-story “college or student school dormitory” with floor plans showing units with bathrooms and kitchens. Buildings objected, asking Singer to prove … <Read More>
BSA variance overturned
Court finds record insufficient to allow commercial use on a Staten Island residential street. After purchasing a single-family house at the intersection of Otis Avenue and Hylan Boulevard in Staten Island, GAC Catering Inc. demolished the house and applied to BSA for a variance to construct a two-story photography and video studio to serve couples having weddings at its nearby catering hall. Despite the lot’s residential zoning, GAC claimed that commercial uses predominated the area … <Read More>
Beaux-Arts horse-mart calendared
1904 building one of last remaining horse auction mart buildings in city. At its August 8th meeting, Landmarks calendared the Van Tassel & Kearney Horse Auction Mart for possible designation as an individual landmark. The Horse Mart, at 126 East 13th Street in the East Village, was designed by the New York architecture firm of Jardine, Kent & Jardine in the Beaux-Arts style. The Horse Mart features an arched brick facade with bulls-eye windows and … <Read More>
Landmarks issued permits for North Tribeca buildings
- Rendering of the proposed 23,000- square-foot residential building at 414 Washington Street in Tribeca. Image courtesy of Joseph Pell Lombardi and Associates.
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 … <Read More>
Variance denied to homeowner in legal trouble
Queens homeowner sought to legalize lot split to allow sale to proceed. Pei Yu Zhong proposed to split her 11,475-square-foot lot, containing a one-family house, garage and swimming pool, into two developable lots and construct a new home to replace the pool and garage. After receiving a preliminarytax lot from the Department of Finance and a subdivision approval from Buildings, Zhong applied for a new building permit in January 2003. While Buildings was completing its … <Read More>