158 West 58th Street. Image Credit: Google Maps.
City approved homeless shelter for single men in former single-room-occupancy building on West 58th Street. As part of its “Turning the Tide on Homelessness” initiative, the City planned to operate a homeless shelter in a building at 158 West 58th Street, located on Manhattan’s “Billionaires’ Row.” The nine-story building was constructed in 1910. The building initially operated as single-room occupancy housing and later as the Park Savoy Hotel. The building’s new owner, New Hampton, LLC, partnered with the non-profit organization Westhab, Inc. to convert the building to a homeless shelter for 150 employed or job-seeking men. (more…)
364 Meredith Avenue, Staten Island. Image Credit: Google Maps.
A rigging accident at a construction site killed a pedestrian. On March 10, 2017, a pedestrian was struck and killed by falling debris that became pried loose during rigging operations at a construction site located at 364 Meredith Avenue in Staten Island. Joseph Volpe, the Master Rigger on the job, delayed notifying the Department of Buildings about the incident despite being required to do so. Following the accident, Buildings revoked Volpe’s Master Rigger’s licenses to hoist materials and issued five summonses charging various building code violations. (more…)
24-59 32nd Street, Astoria. Image Credit: Google Maps.
Building owner challenged loss of advertising rights. In 1998, Astoria Landing purchased an existing four-story apartment building located in a residential zone at 24-59 32nd Street in Astoria, Queens. The building’s previous owner had obtained a permit to display commercial advertisements and begun to display advertisements in the 1940s. In 1961, the City adopted new zoning rules which banned the display of advertisements in residential areas. In 1981, the Department of Buildings erroneously renewed the previous owner’s permit. After the purchase of the building in 1998, Astoria Landing continued to display commercial advertisements. (more…)
1220 Liberty Avenue, Brooklyn. Image Credit: Google Maps.
Bodega owner fined $6,000 for unpermitted awning. In 2012, Krishna Tiwari installed a 4-foot by 20-foot illuminated awning on the store front of his bodega, Krishna Bazaar, located at 1220 Liberty Avenue in Cypress Hills, Brooklyn. Tiwari never received the required Department of Buildings permit to install this sign. In July 2018, Buildings issued a Notice of Violation to Tiwari for his unpermitted sign and imposed a fine of $6.000 which Tiwari paid. In response, Tiwari hired both a licensed sign hanger and a licensed electrician to remove his store’s awning and to obtain the required permits to place an awning sign. (more…)
The Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. Image Credit: Google Maps.
DEP defaulted the contractor upgrading the Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant following long delay and performance failures. On March 4, 2013, the New York City Department of Environmental Protection awarded Framan Mechanical, Inc. a $6,555,000 contract to upgrade of the Bowery Bay Wastewater Treatment Plant. The contract involved the replacement of all eight main sewage pumps, including suction piping, seven suction valves, high and low-level seal water skids, and ancillary seal water equipment. (more…)
