Rooftop addition on brownstone approved

Applicant required special permit because proposed addition would violate sliver law’s height limit. On January 6, 2010, the City Planning Commission approved a proposal by 161 West 78th Street LLC to build a one-story addition atop an existing five-story brownstone at 161 West 78th Street in the Upper West Side/Central Park West Historic District of Manhattan. The twelve-foot addition would not be visible from the street and would increase the building’s height to 70 feet. … <Read More>


Hoist contractor fined $1,000

Hoist at former Deutsche Bank building had broken door and brake. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation hired Regional Scaffolding and Hoisting Co. and Safeway Environmental Corp. to assemble exterior scaffolding on the former Deutsche Bank building at 130 Liberty Street in Manhattan. Aside from the scaffolding, the joint venture was also hired to install a hoist for personnel and material. Lower Manhattan Development hired Bovis to deconstruct the building after the joint venture completed its … <Read More>


City Island housing development approved

 

City Island Estates’ proposed residential development on City Island. Image: Courtesy of Lessard Group Architects.

Developer sought height waiver for proposed development abutting Long Island Sound. On October 14, 2009, the City Council approved City Island Estates’ proposal to build a residential development abutting the eastern shore of Long Island Sound at 226 Fordham Place on City Island. The 43-unit project includes 21 two-family, side-by-side, detached residences and one single-family, detached home. Five of … <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>


New MoMA tower, reduced by 200 feet, approved

Commission expressed doubts about whether Jean Nouvel-designed tower should equal Empire State Building. On September 9, 2009, the City Planning Commission approved a modified version of Hines Interests’ proposal to build an 85-story, 1,250-foot tall mixed-used building, which would reach the Empire State Building’s height below its antenna, adjacent to the Museum of Modern Art complex at 53 West 53rd Street in Midtown, Manhattan. The 19,615 sq.ft. through-block site is located in the Special Midtown … <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>