Homeowner failed to remove snow from the sidewalk within the allotted four-hour time frame. Sanitation on March 15, 2017 at 10:49 p.m. charged Chen Nimchuk Jing with failing to remove snow and ice from the sidewalk in front of her premises. The summons stated that there was no attempt to salt, sand or shovel a path for pedestrians, and the snow storm had officially ended on March 14, 2017 at 8:00 p.m. The Administrative Code requires property owners to remove snow or ice from their adjacent sidewalks within four hours after the snow ceases to fall except when the snow ceases between the hours of 9:00 p.m. and 7:00 a.m. (read more…)
OATH Commissioner Fidel Del Valle speaking at the February 10th CityLaw Breakfast. Image Credit: CityLaw.
On Friday February 10, 2016, the Center for New York City Law at New York Law School hosted the 140th CityLaw Breakfast. The event speaker was Fidel Del Valle, Commisioner and Chief Judge of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings. (read more…)
The Center for New York City Law cordially invites you to a City Law Breakfast
presenting
Fidel Del Valle
Commisioner and Chief Judge of the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings
Speaking on:
“Reforming OATH: Providing fairness and justice”
(read more…)
Image Credit: NYCourts.gov
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 either obtaining the proper permits for the work already done or removing the violations. Buildings served four additional notices in 2013 charging that Pandora Realty had failed to comply with the Commissioner’s order. (read more…)
Board found the two-family requirement was not met. In 1983 Maria Nazor, an artist, leased the fourth floor of 544 West 27th Street in Chelsea for ten years from the owner. Nazor, with the owner’s consent, created two separate lofts each with their own kitchen, bathroom, and five independent studio spaces. Nazor occupied 4N and rented unit 4S and the studios to various tenants and artists at a prorated rent. Nazor married Peter Mickle, an unlicensed architect, in 1994. Following the marriage, Mickle moved into units 4S. Nazor and Mickle separated in 2004 with no formal separation agreement and both continued to occupy their respective lofts. In 2002 Mickle established his current business, Rational Building Company Inc., and listed 544 West 27th Street as the company’s address.
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2422 West 1st Street, Brooklyn
Brooklyn property with two-family home was being used as contractor yard, junk salvage, and for commercial vehicle storage. Between December 2011 and April 2012, the City Department of Buildings sent inspectors three times to 2422 West 1st Street between Avenues X and Y in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The R4 residentially zoned lot is occupied by a two-story, two-family home. The inspectors, during their visits, observed in the property’s rear and side yards construction equipment and tools; wood, bricks, and plastic containers; and a commercial vehicle advertising N.B. Construction. The property’s certificate of occupancy permits only a two-family dwelling, and no commercial or manufacturing uses are permitted on the property as of right. Buildings sought an order to seal the lots under the padlock law to halt an alleged public nuisance.
Prior to a hearing at OATH, one of the property’s co-owners agreed to discontinue the illegal use. Another co-owner, Mohammed Ghuman, and BNY Mortgage Co. LLC, failed to appear at the hearing. ALJ Astrid B. Gloade credited Buildings’ evidence that the owner and occupants had used the lot to store commercial vehicles, an impermissible commercial use, and as a contractor’s yard and salvage storage yard, both impermissible manufacturing uses. The uses violated both the zoning resolution and the property’s certificate of occupancy. ALJ Gloade recommended that Buildings seal the property in a way that would not impede on the residential portion of the premises.
DOB v. 2422 West 1 Street, Brooklyn, OATH Index No. 1909/12 (July 24, 2012).
