Residents failed to show that the project offered no public benefit. Brooklyn residents sued in federal court, challenging the state’s plan to use eminent domain to take their property as part of the Atlantic Yards project. The residents claimed that the project failed to meet a public purpose, and that the state was taking private property solely for the private benefit of Forest City Ratner Companies, the project’s developer.
Defendants, including the Empire State Development … <Read More>
Buildings made initial error in not issuing building permit. In 2003, Hamida Realty sought plan approval from the Department of Buildings for two, three-family homes on two adjacent lots that would share a foundation and a common wall. Buildings approved the plans, but Hamida waited over a year to apply for permits. When it applied, Buildings granted the permit for one building, but held the second permit, erroneously requiring Hamida to submit a site safety … <Read More>
Local school affiliation not a requisite for building permit. In 1998, Gregg Singer purchased the lot at 609 East 9th Street from the City subject to a deed restriction that the site could only be used for a community facility. Singer then applied to the Department of Buildings to construct a new 19-story dormitory and demolish the P.S. 64 building that occupied the site. Since Singer’s plan showed full kitchens in each unit, Buildings asked … <Read More>
City’s zoning laws do not restrict transfers of air rights from federally-owned sites. On June 12, 2007, BSA denied a challenge by several East Village residents to the 26-story New York University dormitory currently under construction on East 12th Street in Manhattan. The residents, who objected to the 26-story height as out-of-character with surrounding walk-ups, first sought an injunction to halt construction while they filed an appeal with BSA, which a court denied in 2006. … <Read More>
Developer proposed unique design to exploit loophole in zoning text. Fred Corono applied for a building permit to add a second building in the rear of his oversized 6,938- square-foot lot in Staten Island. The Department of Buildings denied the application, believing that Corono specifically designed the new building to evade the requirements of the City’s Lower Density Growth Management zoning restrictions. The controls, enacted in 2004, set strict size and yard limits on proposals … <Read More>
Problems found with the safeguarding, accounting and transfer of fees to the City. On June 12, 2007, City Comptroller William C. Thompson issued an audit report on BSA’s collection and reporting of revenues, concluding that BSA correctly determined and accounted for fees, but problems existed with the safeguarding of fees, the integrity of receipt systems, and the forwarding of funds to DCAS.
Application fees are the primary source for BSA revenues. In 2006, BSA … <Read More>