2422 West 1st Street, Brooklyn

Brooklyn property with two-family home was being used as contractor yard, junk salvage, and for commercial vehicle storage. Between December 2011 and April 2012, the City Department of Buildings sent inspectors three times to 2422 West 1st Street between Avenues X and Y in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The R4 residentially zoned lot is occupied by a two-story, two-family home. The inspectors, during their visits, observed in the property’s rear and side yards construction equipment and tools; wood, bricks, and plastic containers; and a commercial vehicle advertising N.B. Construction. The property’s certificate of occupancy permits only a two-family dwelling, and no commercial or manufacturing uses are permitted on the property as of right. Buildings sought an order to seal the lots under the padlock law to halt an alleged public nuisance.

Prior to a hearing at OATH, one of the property’s co-owners agreed to discontinue the illegal use. Another co-owner, Mohammed Ghuman, and BNY Mortgage Co. LLC, failed to appear at the hearing. ALJ Astrid B. Gloade credited Buildings’ evidence that the owner and occupants had used the lot to store commercial vehicles, an impermissible commercial use, and as a contractor’s yard and salvage storage yard, both impermissible manufacturing uses. The uses violated both the zoning resolution and the property’s certificate of occupancy. ALJ Gloade recommended that Buildings seal the property in a way that would not impede on the residential portion of the premises.

DOB v. 2422 West 1 Street, Brooklyn, OATH Index No. 1909/12 (July 24, 2012).