Appellate Court Upholds AirBNB Law [UPDATE: Court of Appeals Denies Leave to Appeal]

Court found that DOB letter of objection exception to the Multiple Dwelling law was no longer valid. On March 17, 2016, New York Appellate Court reversed a Lower Court’s Decision and thus denying Grand Imperial LLC’s Petition for a Letter of No Objection to rent its property for shorter than the legally required time period. Grand Imperial LLC owns a Single-Room Occupancy building, located at 307 West 79th Street on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, … <Read More>


BSA Denies Appeal of Illegal Advertising Sign

Board found the tunnel approach qualified as an “arterial highway” under the Zoning Resolution.  On July 21, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to deny an appeal by 121 Varick St. Corp. of a previous Department of Buildings determination that their advertising sign was not established as a lawful non-conforming use.  The sign is a 75′ by 75′ illuminated advertising sign placed fifty feet above curb level on 121 Varick Street, Manhattan, … <Read More>


BSA Denial of Billboard Permit Upheld on Appeal

Court held Board properly found billboards were prohibited near Holland Tunnel exit.  On January 8, 2013 the Board of Standards and Appeals issued two decisions denying an appeal of a Department of Buildings decision to refuse permitting two billboards near the Holland Tunnel exit in Tribeca, Manhattan.  Take Two Outdoor Media LLC, the appellant, argued the Holland Tunnel’s exit roadway did not constitute an “approach” to an arterial roadway under §49-16 of the Rules of … <Read More>


ECB Denies Appeal of Dismissed Buildings Summons

Board finds no evidence the engineer knew or should have known his filed plans were inaccurate.  On September 25, 2014 the Department of Buildings issued a notice of violation to Kenneth Philogene, a professional engineer, for making a material false statement in amended construction plans filed with DOB.  The amended plans submitted by Mr. Philogene on September 8, 2014 showed the subject building at 1215 Jefferson Avenue in Bushwick, Brooklyn to be three stories tall, … <Read More>


Trump SoHo Wins Appeal

Court finds that BSA’s decision to uphold DOB permits was supported by substantial evidence. The New York City Department of Buildings issued permits for a transient hotel at 246 Spring Street in Manhattan. Believing that the design amounted to an unpermitted residential building in an M1-6 zoning district, SoHo Alliance appealed DOB’s decision to BSA. BSA denied the appeal, 5 CityLand 74 (June 15, 2008), and SoHo Alliance filed an article 78 petition challenging … <Read More>


DOB Billboard Decision Upheld

Owner’s sought to install on a single pole a 9,000 square foot of billboard space capable of running 54 separate advertisements.  In February 2018, Baychester Retail III LLC filed applications with Buildings to install a 9,164 square foot LED billboard made of 27 two-sided panels mounted on one pole on a commercial property located near Co-op City, in the Baychester neighborhood of the Bronx near the New England Thruway. The large billboard would be capable … <Read More>