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 wall and all the defects lay on the neighbor’s side. Lipton also claimed that the neighbor’s actions caused the defects since the neighbor exposed the party wall when, 20 years earlier, the neighbor demolished the original brownstone to make way for a large 18-story apartment building. At that time, according to Lipton, the neighbor failed to permanently protect the newly exposed portion of the wall in violation of an Administrative Code requirement. (read more…)