Search Results for: Department of Buildings

Key Terms text change OK’d

New Clarification Text Amendment changes the meaning of the term ‘building”. Image: Courtesy of NYC Department of City Planning.

Amendment redefines “development” and “building” and clarifies how the terms are used in order to reflect Planning’s intent. On February 2, 2011, the City Council approved the Department of City Planning’s Key Terms Text Amendment. Planning proposed the 700-page text amendment to ensure that existing regulations are interpreted and applied as originally intended under the … <Read More>

Brian Cook Discusses Land Use Under the Manhattan Borough President

Brian Cook, Director of Land Use for Manhattan Borough President Scott M. Stringer, first developed an interest in land use while pursuing a degree in Metropolitan Studies from New York University. Cook stayed on to pursue a master’s degree in Public Policy with the hopes of learning how international governments shape land use policy. During his studies, however, Cook says he was “fascinated” by a course that centered on New York City’s Uniform Land … <Read More>

Local law preserves stalled construction site permits

A stalled construction site at 150 North 12th Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. Photo: CityLand

Owners of stalled sites participating in new DOB safety monitoring program can renew permits for up to four years. On October 14, 2009, the City Council passed legislation creating a construction site maintenance program, to be administered by the Department of Buildings, for sites where permitted work has been suspended or has not commenced.

Currently, construction permits issued by Buildings … <Read More>

LPC seeks fee increase

Current fee structure created in 2004. On August 4, 2009, Landmarks held a hearing on a proposed fee increase for new building and alteration applications. The rule was published in the City Record on July 2, 2009.

The proposed rule would increase Landmarks’ fee for new one-, two-, and three-family dwellings from six to ten cents per square foot. For all other buildings, the proposed rule would increase the fee from thirteen to twenty cents … <Read More>

Party wall NOV enforced

Owner argued that party wall defects resulted from the neighbor’s demolition. A Department of Buildings inspector observed loose stucco along a parapet and stress cracks along the exterior wall of a brownstone, located at 130 East 35th Street. Buildings issued a notice of violation to the brownstone’s owner Joseph Lipton.

At the hearing, Lipton argued that the adjacent property owner was responsible for repairing the defects, not him, because the wall was a shared party … <Read More>

Time to complete Carroll Gardens project extended

Cold weather, Christmas, and New Year holiday help justify failing to meet construction deadline. In November 2008, BSA granted a developer three months to complete construction of a five-story apartment building at 126 First Place in Carroll Gardens after the City Council’s approval of a text amendment rendered the construction noncompliant with zoning. Unable to finish construction within the three months, the developer returned to BSA, arguing that conditions outside its control made it impossible … <Read More>