Neighbors claimed that two Manhattan developments violated the height limit. On July 17, 2007, BSA held public hearings on the Department of Buildings’ issuance of permits for two projects: a one-story penthouse addition to 515 East Fifth Street and a one-story mechanical room addition to 441 East 57th Street. Local residents claimed that the penthouse and the mechanical room violated Section 23-692 of the zoning resolution, also known as the Sliver Law.
The City enacted … <Read More>
DOB wins appeal modifying C of O issued in error. Yeshiva Imrei Chaim Viznitz, located on 53rd Street in Boro Park, Brooklyn, operated a catering hall out of the basement of its three-story building containing its school and synagogue. The Department of Buildings applied to BSA to revoke the building’s 1999 certificate of occupancy. Buildings claimed that the certificate listed the catering use in error since the use was prohibited by the site’s residential zoning … <Read More>
Buildings made initial error in not issuing building permit. In 2003, Hamida Realty sought plan approval from the Department of Buildings for two, three-family homes on two adjacent lots that would share a foundation and a common wall. Buildings approved the plans, but Hamida waited over a year to apply for permits. When it applied, Buildings granted the permit for one building, but held the second permit, erroneously requiring Hamida to submit a site safety … <Read More>
Local school affiliation not a requisite for building permit. In 1998, Gregg Singer purchased the lot at 609 East 9th Street from the City subject to a deed restriction that the site could only be used for a community facility. Singer then applied to the Department of Buildings to construct a new 19-story dormitory and demolish the P.S. 64 building that occupied the site. Since Singer’s plan showed full kitchens in each unit, Buildings asked … <Read More>
City’s zoning laws do not restrict transfers of air rights from federally-owned sites. On June 12, 2007, BSA denied a challenge by several East Village residents to the 26-story New York University dormitory currently under construction on East 12th Street in Manhattan. The residents, who objected to the 26-story height as out-of-character with surrounding walk-ups, first sought an injunction to halt construction while they filed an appeal with BSA, which a court denied in 2006. … <Read More>
Developer proposed unique design to exploit loophole in zoning text. Fred Corono applied for a building permit to add a second building in the rear of his oversized 6,938- square-foot lot in Staten Island. The Department of Buildings denied the application, believing that Corono specifically designed the new building to evade the requirements of the City’s Lower Density Growth Management zoning restrictions. The controls, enacted in 2004, set strict size and yard limits on proposals … <Read More>