Adjacent Building Owners Win Protections For Demolition

City sought to demolish derelict, mid-block row-house. The Department of Buildings issued an emergency declaration to demolish a deteriorating, vacant, and dangerous row-house at 32-49 37th Street between Broadway and 34th Avenue in Astoria. In order to demolish the abandoned mid-block building, contractors were required to erect scaffolding protecting the adjoining row-houses that physically abut the derelict building. The owners of the neighboring row-houses refused access to construct the scaffolding unless the City obtained legal … <Read More>


Emergency Demolition of Clark Street Building Upheld

Buildings directed wrecking company to partially demolish privately owned building. Buildings received a complaint on a Friday evening regarding a five-story building located at 100 Clark Street in Brooklyn. An emergency response team inspected the site the next day and determined the building was in imminent danger of collapse due to a bulging wall and an out-of-plumb fire escape. The response team recommended immediate demolition to a safe level, and the Brooklyn deputy borough commissioner … <Read More>


Proposed 20-Story Building Too Inconspicuous for Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District

Landmarks Commissioners disagree over the proposed demolition of the existing building and design of the new building. On March 5, 2019, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held a public hearing on a Certificate of Appropriateness to demolish an existing 1960s altered Modern style commercial four-story building and construct a new 20-story building at 200 Montague Street within the Borough Hall Skyscraper Historic District in Brooklyn. The application was presented by Richard Metsky of Beyer Blinder Belle.