Adjacent neighbor challenges legality of new home construction on cooperative’s land. On March 20, 2007, BSA held a contentious public hearing on an appeal of demolition and new building permits to construct a single-family home in Breezy Point, Queens, located at the western end of the Rockaway Peninsula.
In the early 1900s, New Yorkers started building small, summer bungalows in Breezy Point on land owned by the state. In 1960, Breezy’s predominantly summer residents formed … <Read More>
Proposed rule would set new qualifications, registration requirements and suspension rules. The Department of Buildings proposed stiffer requirements for the designation of construction superintendents on all demolition and construction jobs.
Under the new rules, Buildings would not issue demolition or building permits without a designated construction superintendent who met certain qualifications. To qualify, the construction superintendent must be a licensed professional engineer, a registered architect or a site safety manager certified by Buildings. Alternatively, the … <Read More>
Grounds for suspension of architects and engineers expanded. On January 10, 2007, the Department of Buildings adopted changes to its self-certification program, expanding grounds for exclusion and suspension of participating architects and engineers and authorizing the Commissioner of Buildings to immediately suspend participants to prevent a serious public safety threat. Included within the new grounds for suspension were cases of fraud, improper use of licenses or professional stamps, and negligence or incompetence in relation to … <Read More>
In the first months of 2006, Council Member Tony Avella, Chair of the Subcommittee on Zoning & Franchises, introduced proposed legislation to change the make up of BSA, require NYPD arrests for any illegal demolition, and curb the illegal construction that residents say is driven by a rush to beat a down-zoning. CityLand asked Avella about his proposed land use initiatives and his career.
Public Service. When asked about land use issues within his 20-year … <Read More>
Proposal would add grounds to suspend architects and engineers from program. Buildings proposed a series of amendments to its rules that would expand the grounds for suspending and permanently excluding an architect or engineer from the professional certification program and increase scrutiny of applications and plans submitted by those architects and engineers.
New grounds for suspension and exclusion would include knowing and failing to report that a project on which they worked in any capacity … <Read More>
Developer relied on self-certified permit later found invalid. Based on a professionally certified application, Buildings issued Chaim Nussenzweig, of HMS Associates, a building permit on August 21, 2005 for a 38-unit, five-story building at 614 7th Avenue at 23rd Street in South Park Slope, Brooklyn. The next … <Read More>