BSA denied variance to Sheepshead Bay residence

Owner sought to enlarge one-family home. The owner of 2026 Avenue T, a 2,640-square-foot corner lot in Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn, sought a variance to enlarge a 3,001-square-foot residence. The existing structure, already noncomplying, is 1,020 sq.ft. larger than allowed in an R4 district.

Initially, the owner sought a special permit to enlarge the residence into the south side yard with an additional 470 sq.ft. BSA, however, ruled that the proposal was ineligible because the zoning … <Read More>

Variance granted after concession on height and parking

Split-level manufacturing building in DUMBO will be converted to 52-unit residential building. 37 Bridge Associates, LLC, the owner of 37 Bridge Street, a 12,500-square-foot lot between Water and Plymouth Streets in Vinegar Hill, Brooklyn, proposed to convert a 67,500-square-foot manufacturing building for residential use. The split-level, three- and seven-story building, formerly occupied by a soap manufacturer, is located on the border of M1-2 and M1-3 zoning districts within the DUMBO National Register Historic District.

37 … <Read More>

Music studio wins variance

Former metal manufacturing plant will be converted into a music studio. The owner of 28 Quincy Street in Bedford Stuyvesant, Brooklyn proposed to convert a one-story warehouse into a private-use music studio with two newly-constructed, second-story residential units. Located on a 5,747-square-foot lot between Classon Avenue and Downing Street, the warehouse has most recently served as storage; it previously served as a garage and a metal manufacturing plant. The owner was permitted as-of-right to construct … <Read More>

Owner withdraws Greenpoint variance application

Owner sought to convert industrial building to residential units. 202 Meserole LLC, owner of a three-story building located at the corner of Jewel Street and Meserole Avenue in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, sought a variance to convert the 15,960-squarefoot building into 17 residential units.

In its BSA application, Meserole represented that the building was structurally incapable of supporting as-of-right manufacturing because the building was originally intended for residential use, and consequently had low ceilings and no freight … <Read More>

After ten years, Third Avenue Equinox gym legalized

Equinox Fitness approved after six failed cases in which BSA found it lied to the Board. In its seventh case before BSA, Equinox Fitness Club obtained approval to legalize its 26,600-square-foot gym at 1511 Third Avenue at East 85th Street. Equinox has operated its Third Avenue gym for over ten years without a permit. The zoning restricts gyms to the first and second stories, but Equinox’s Third Avenue gym occupies space on four stories.

In … <Read More>

BSA refuses to revoke Lincoln West’s cert. of occupancy

Upper West Side resident requested revocation of temporary certificates of occupancy for near-complete Trump development. BSA denied an application made by Olive Freud, on behalf of the Committee for Environmentally Sound Development, to rescind two temporary certificates of occupancy for The Heritage, a 31- story residential condominium on 240 Riverside Boulevard in Lincoln Square, Manhattan. The building is located within Trump Place, a 15-parcel, residential/commercial development along Riverside Drive South on Manhattan’s west side.

After … <Read More>