OTR Media sought to legalize an 11,297-square-foot billboard visible from the Bruckner Expressway. On January 14, 2013, the Department of Buildings issued a Sign Registration Rejection letter denying registration for a sign leased by OTR Media Group. The 79- by 143-foot sign, constructed in 1962, was located at 330 Bruckner Boulevard in the Bronx—35 feet from and within view of the Bruckner Expressway. Buildings based its rejection on a seven-year gap from 1981 to 1988 … <Read More>
Search Results for: Appeal
Owner Fined $18,000 for Basement Conversion
Owner converted basement into additional rental apartment without permit. On December 26, 2012, an inspector from the Department of Buildings served a notice of violation charging that Pandora Realty LLC had without a permit created an apartment in the basement, complete with gas and waste lines. The illegal basement apartment on 201st Street in Queens was being rented at the time. Included with the notice was an order by Buildings to correct the violation by … <Read More>
ECB Reinstates Construction Company Penalty
Respondent previously relied on an agency email waiving excavation requirements. On March 11, 2015 a Department of Buildings inspection officer issued notices of violation to Monadnock Construction for thirty building sites along the length of Egan Street in East New York, Brooklyn. The notices were issued because the construction sites had begun excavation without notifying Buildings and obtaining excavation numbers for each site. Monadnock contested the notices and argued they submitted the necessary AI-1form … <Read More>
BSA Upholds Buildings’ Rejection of Accessory Sign
Board rejected arguments an exterior building treatment did not qualify as an accessory sign under the Zoning Resolution. On June 16, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to uphold a Department of Buildings’ determination that a design treatment on the north face of a parking garage in the Hell’s Kitchen area of Manhattan constituted an accessory sign in violation of local zoning. The design treatment, on the north face of the garage … <Read More>
BSA Approves Variance for New Brooklyn Hotel
Board granted the variance over community opposition. On May 19, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals granted a variance to Bond Street Owner LLC for constructing a new thirteen-story hotel at 51-63 Bond Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The development site is partially within a C6-1 zoning district and partially within an R6B district. The Department of Buildings originally denied the permit on August 7, 2014 because the proposed hotel exceeded the maximum floor … <Read More>
BSA Permits Penthouse Addition
Board found complying with Multiple Dwellings Law prohibited full development of zoned area. On May 19, 2015 the Board of Standards and Appeals voted to grant the applicant, BBD & D Inc, a permit to construct a penthouse at 237 East 72nd Street in the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The penthouse unit will expand the current building from four stories in height to five.
On April 8, 2014 the Department of Buildings denied … <Read More>