1727-29 Walton Avenue. Image Credit: Google Maps.
Parent of two and one-half-year-old child found with elevated lead levels sued landlord. On September 13, 2004, a two and one-half-year-old child was diagnosed with lead poisoning after a test revealed his blood lead level to be four times greater than the City’s guideline. The Department of Health and Mental Hygiene tested the child’s apartment located at 1727-29 Walton Avenue in the Bronx and discovered 47 positive findings of lead paint and 29 readings which showed the apartment’s paint in poor condition. The child had been living in the hazardous apartment with his adoptive mother since he was two weeks old. (more…)
Image Credit: NYC DOB.
Violations for illegal conversions or violations associated with injury or death will not qualify. On September 1, 2021, the Department of Buildings announced the first homeowner relief program in New York City to help property owners of one- and two-family houses. The program’s goal is to help small property owners avoid fines by giving them time to fix DOB violations. The program has education initiatives for homeowners about their legal requirements as property owners without imposing large fines. (more…)
The Comptroller’s audit revealed failures on behalf of the DOB to address illegal driveways and curb cuts. Image Credit: Office of the Comptroller
Buildings facilitated the installation of illegal curb cuts and driveways by approving work permit applications that did not meet Zoning Resolution requirements. On July 1, 2021, New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an audit of the Department of Buildings, finding widespread deficiencies in Buildings’ efforts to combat illegal curb cuts and driveways. (more…)
84-40 Avon Street, Queens. Image Credit: Google Maps
Owner of private elevator failed to perform annual safety inspections. Lisa Neuman is the owner of a single-family home located at 84-40 Avon St., Jamaica Estates, New York. A private elevator has been present in Neuman’s home since the 1990s. Beginning in 2011, Neuman began receiving yearly notices from the Department of Buildings for failing to perform annual elevator safety inspections in violation of §28-304.6.1 of the Administrative Code, which became effective in 2008. Under Building’s rules, an owner who fails to file a test report for their elevator is subject to a civil penalty of $1,000 per year per elevator. Buildings filed seven violations for the years 2009 through 2015, and fined Neuman $7,000. (more…)
258 West 97th Street. Image Credit: Google Maps
Upper West Side residential building converted to hotel. On May 29, 2014, a Department of Buildings inspector cited the owner of a residential building, located at 258 West 97th Street, Manhattan, with illegally converting the building into a hotel for temporary lodging. The building was originally divided into apartment units for three or more families to live independently from one another. The owner converted the building into temporary one-room and two-room lodging. The Buildings inspector also charged the owner with a failure to provide legally required exits for each floor and for commercial operations in a residential zone. (more…)
