Building owner faulted for not clearing vacate order

Rent-stabilized tenant had been forcibly removed from apartment after structural weakness was discovered. After receiving complaints that 223 East 96th Street was shaking, an HPD inspector observed cracks in the rear wall caused by construction taking place on the building next door. In August 2004, the Department of Buildings determined that the building was unsafe and issued a vacate order. Police and firefighters forcibly removed Thelma Farrell, an 81-year old, rent -stabilized tenant from her … <Read More>


313-Unit Housing Project to Front Coney Island Boardwalk

First unsubsidized project built in Coney Island in past 50 years gets Commission approval. Coney Island developer, David Weisz & Sons, sought to rezone five lots along Surf Avenue and Coney Island Beach to allow the construction of two seven-story residential condominium towers with 313 market-rate units to be called Ocean Dreams. When compiled, the five lots would comprise a 133,843-square-foot development site stretching from West 35th to West 37th Streets along the Riegelmann Boardwalk.… <Read More>


York Ave. tower approved over opposition

New residential tower will be nine feet from adjacent co-op building. On September 28, 2005, the City Council approved a text amendment and special permit to allow construction of a 26-story, mixed-use building at 1129-1133 York Avenue in Manhattan. The proposal called for a zoning map amendment to change the site from C8-4 to C1-9 and a special permit to build a 100-space parking garage.

The developer, the Witkoff Group, plans to use HPD’s Inclusionary … <Read More>


Former SRO exempt from City’s no harassment law

Building had been converted prior to passage of Local Law. Jennifer Walker purchased 151 West 76th Street, a five-story residential building in Manhattan, in 2002. That year, Walker applied to Buildings for permits to renovate three apartments and a terrace. Buildings determined that the building’s legal use was an SRO, requiring a certificate of no harassment from HPD before permits could be granted. Consequently, Buildings denied the permits.

AfterWalker sought a certificate from HPD and … <Read More>


Housing for mentally-ill approved

HPD obtains approval for four-story housing project with 19 studio apartments. On August 17, 2005, the City Council approved HPD’s application for the construction of a four-story, low-income housing project for the mentally ill on four vacant lots in East New York, Brooklyn. The 7,600-square-foot site, comprised of four lots at 433 – 441 DeWitt Avenue at Malta Street, is located on a residential block, containing other HPD projects, privately- owned residences and a few … <Read More>


High Line/Chelsea Rezoning Gets Go Ahead

Rezoning crafted to transform High Line into elevated open space; no mandatory affordable housing requirement set, despite community’s request. On June 23, 2005, the City Council approved the complicated rezoning and land acquisition plan for West Chelsea that has as its central goal the transformation of the High Line, an elevated rail line, into a 1.45-mile open space.

The approved rezoning impacts the area between Tenth and Eleventh Avenues from West 17th to West 30th … <Read More>