Pilot Program Will Require Certification of No Harassment Before Approval of Construction Permits

Building owners denied certification may not significantly alter their buildings for five years. On October 12, 2018, the de Blasio Administration announced the application of the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) Pilot Program, which seeks to expand tenant harassment protections. The program will require buildings to meet certain criteria to certify that no previous tenant-harassment has occurred prior to obtaining construction permits for significant alterations to their property. CONH currently applies to more than 1,000 <Read More>


Extra Payment for Repair Work Denied

Contractor sought compensation for repairing damages caused during an additional work contract. In 2009, Sanitation entered into a $161 million contract with Prismatic Development Corporation to improve the North Shore Marine Transfer Station in Queens.  Prismatic, following Sanitation’s plans and specifications, installed a new deck and concrete overlay on the Transfer Station’s exterior ramp.  The concrete overlay later developed extensive cracking.  Sanitation conceded that an error in the design documents provided by Sanitation to Prismatic … <Read More>


Proposed Office Building Too Ambitious for DUMBO

Landmarks Preservation Commission sends applicants back to the drawing board. On September 25, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on an application for a certificate of appropriateness to demolish an existing 2-story brick warehouse building located at 29-37 Jay Street, at the northeast corner of Jay and Plymouth Streets in Brooklyn, within the DUMBO Historic District. The application calls for a proposed new 11-story office building at the location made almost entirely … <Read More>


Loft Tenant Wins Parking Space

New owner of a Brooklyn loft building demanded that resident vacate his parking space. Andrew Ohanesian, an artist, is the tenant of loft Unit 709, located at 475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn.  Ohanesian signed a one-year lease with the building’s prior owner in February 2009 and has lived in the building ever since.  The prior owner verbally agreed that Ohanesian could use a designated parking space in the loading bay area of the building for an … <Read More>


Landmarks Proposed Park Terrace West-West 217th Street Historic District

The proposed historic district highlights homes with suburban characteristics rarely found in Manhattan. On September 25, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to calendar the proposed Park Terrace West-West 217th Street Historic District in the Inwood section of Manhattan. The proposed historic district consists of fifteen houses along West 217th Street between Park Terrace West and Park Terrace East and along Park Terrace West between West 215th Street and West 218… <Read More>


Seven Buildings South of Union Square Enter Designation Process

The buildings feature various architectural styles and were home to garment manufacturers in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. On September 25, 2018, the Landmarks Preservation Commission unanimously voted to add seven buildings to its calendar for consideration as individual landmarks. The buildings are located at 817 Broadway, 826 Broadway, 830 Broadway, 832 Broadway, 836 Broadway, 840 Broadway, and 841 Broadway. All of the buildings are south of Union Square in Manhattan.