City Planning Approves Rockaway Beach Rezoning for Mixed-Use Buildings to Create a Gym

The proposed rezoning will allow for the facilitation of a new physical cultural establishment and the promotion of vibrancy and public engagement. On July 28, 2021, the City Planning Commission approved a zoning map amendment proposed by Beach 116th Associates LLC to facilitate the development of a gym located at 133 Beach 116th Street in Rockaway Beach. To facilitate the creation of the gym, the applicant requested a zoning map amendment to change the present … <Read More>



Owner fined $60,800 for hotel use

Upper West Side residential building converted to hotel. On May 29, 2014, a Department of Buildings inspector cited the owner of a residential building, located at 258 West 97th Street, Manhattan, with illegally converting the building into a hotel for temporary lodging. The building was originally divided into apartment units for three or more families to live independently from one another. The owner converted the building into temporary one-room and two-room lodging. The Buildings … <Read More>


New Law Replaces Green Wooden Fences with Chain Link Fences at Construction Sites

The law will affect construction sites that have been stalled for over two years. On June 28, 2021, Local Law 74 was enacted by the NYC Council. The law which originated as Intro 1128 was introduced on September 26, 2018 by Council Member Robert Holden. The new law will amend the New York City Building Code by requiring the green fences that are in place at construction sites that have discontinued or stalled work for … <Read More>


Pub fined for music level

Music from a Crown Heights Pub violated music noise level limits inside a residential building. A new tenant moved into a residential building in Crown Heights and complained about the music coming from the adjacent building, the Nostrand Avenue Pub located at 658 Nostrand Avenue, Brooklyn. The residential building owner had recently renovated the residential units. The Pub’s sound system included four Infinity speakers and one iPhone. Prior to the new tenant’s complaints, the Pub … <Read More>


Building owner fined $2,500

Building façade had delaminated paint, plaster and concrete which posed a threat that severely affected life, health and safety. On April 26, 2019, Department of Buildings Officer J. Williams charged Allison Wren, the owner of a three-story building located at 261 Clifton Place, Brooklyn, with failing to maintain the building’s exterior walls resulting in an immediately hazardous condition. The summons cited peeling paint and plaster delamination on all stories and falling from the façade. Photos … <Read More>