Thursday, September 06, 2012

It's Taken A Long Time, But 132 Second Place's Make-Over A Bit Closer To Completion

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132 Second Place back in 2008
Losing its stoop in early 2011
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Construction of cinderblock wall surrounding front yard, Spring 2011
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New cornice, summer 2012
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The conversion of the four-story brownstone at 132 Second Place to a five-story (presumedly condo) building has taking a long time, but it now looks as though at least the façade is complete. In the process, it has lost a stoop, but gained a cornice.

It all started in 2005, when the home was sold for $1,850,000 to Mohegan Holdings, Co. LLC.
Shorty afterwards, work began on a vertical and horizontal addition. That's when things quickly turned into a comedy of errors. First, the NYC Department of Buildings issued a violation for demolition work done 'without proper permits'. Then, after proper permits were filed in the fall of 2006, the back wall collapsed into the neighbor's back yard. Construction stopped and the windows were bricked up. The building languished in limbo for the next few years.

In 2007, the deed to the property was transferred from the Mohegan Holding Company, LLC to a Henry Azcue for $1,825,000. New work permits were issued by the NYC Department of Buildings in 2008 and work finally resumed, but then stopped again.

It wasn't until the spring of 2011 that construction seemed to finally move along. However, progress has been sporadic at best and I was told that the inside looks as though it still needs lost of work

Over the last year and a half, a fifth floor was added, the rear extension was completed, and a new brownstone coat was applied. In the last few weeks, a cornice has been attached.

It's only too bad that the brownstone lost it's stoop. The new entrance definitely makes it look more like an apartment building. And the new aluminum awning just accentuates this.
And have you noticed that t is crooked?

Reader Dinah sent the photo below and wrote:
'Pardon me for asking, but is this "rooflet" supposed to be crooked? I got gestures and attempts to explain in English, but English was not the workers' first language, so I took my picture, shrugged, and moved on.'

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photo credit: Dinah G.




4 comments:

Sasha said...

My husband and I noticed that it was crooked too.

Katia said...

Of course, the 'rooflet' may be straight, but the building crooked...

Anonymous said...

It looks good, especially the cornice. A definite improvement for the block.

Anonymous said...

Beautiful job others should take notes at the respect and consideration taken to keep the Reno inline with the neighborhood character