Could It Be? Is 333 Carroll Street's Monstrous Steel Addition Finally Coming Down?

Could it possibly be?

Could the steel 'birdcage' at 333 Carroll Street finally come down?

The NYC Department of Building has issued several new permits for the old manufacturing building, amongst them, a permit "TO REMOVE EXISTING STRUCTURE AT 4TH, 4TH MEZZ., 5TH, 5TH MEZZ."

No building in Carroll Gardens illustrated the need to protect this historic neighborhood better than the condo conversion at 333-335 Carroll Street, between Hoyt and Bond Streets. Back in 2005, owner Issac Fischman hired bad boy architect Robert"Mezzanine" Scarano to convert an old brick manufacturing building into a 31 unit condo. As part of the plans, a two story, 40 foot steel addition was erected on top of the old structure.

Alarmed residents asked the NYC Department of Buildings to review the plans, which revealed that Robert Scarano had been more than creative with the floor-air-ratio calculations. The Building's Department confirmed in March 2008, that the architect has lied on the application, claiming that the cellar was a basement. Scarano intended to use the "habitable" basement for parking and had transferred the square footage onto the roof. A stop-work order was issued on March 4th 2008 and the developer fired Scarano.

The owner replaced Scarano with another controversial architect, Karl Fischer, to resolve the floor-area-ratio problem. Fischer, the architect behind the 11 story 'finger' at 100 Luquer street, filed for an amendement, which he self-certified. The DOB accepted an audit in October 2009 and new permits were issued.

However, by then, the neighborhood had organized and, with the help of the Department of City Planning, was able to down-zone Carroll Gardens. Unlike the neighborhood's original R6 zoning, the new R6B zoning has a 50 foot height limit. The City Council voted the re-zoning into law on October 28, 2009.

As with any re-zoning, all construction projects were served with a stop-work-order and were re-visited by DOB to see if construction was far enough along to be vested under the old zoning. In the case of 333-335 Carroll Street, DOB determined that only 15% of the work has been completed and therefore needed to comply with the new 50 foot hight limit. Another stop work order was issued.

After much maneuvering from the developer, it looks as though he is finally being forced to do the right thing. The day the steel structure comes down will definitely be a sweet day for Carroll Gardens.

Related Reading:

Breaking News! 333 Carroll Street Gets New STOP WORK ORDER

SURPRISE! New Permit Issued For 333 Carroll Street, The Building With The Growth On Top

Scarano A Bad Boy? You Don't Say!

333 Carroll Street May Lose It's Top After All

All Quiet On the 333 Front

Some Permits For 333 Carroll Street Revoked Again?

Busy Day At 333 Carroll Street

333 Carroll Street Update: Scarano Out!

New Permit For Mr. Mezzanine's Carroll Gardens Carcass?

Revisiting Scarano's Carroll Street Building

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Let's Party! Illegal Top Finally Comes Down At 333 Carroll Street

Finally! It took a few years, but finally architect Robert Scarano's illegal 40 foot addition at 333 carroll Street is coming down. A huge crane has been brought in and crews have started working on taking down the steel structure. These photos were taken by reader C. yesterday afternoon.

This is great news.

No building in Carroll Gardens illustrates the need to protect this historic neighborhood better than this condo conversion at 333-335 Carroll Street, between Hoyt and Bond Streets. Back in 2005, owner Issac Fischman hired bad boy architect Robert"Mezzanine" Scarano to convert an old brick manufacturing building into a 31 unit condo. As part of the plans, a two story, 40 foot steel addition was erected on top of the old structure.

Alarmed residents asked the NYC Department of Buildings to review the plans, which revealed that Robert Scarano had been more than creative with the floor-air-ratio calculations. The Building's Department confirmed in March 2008, that the architect has lied on the application, claiming that the cellar was a basement. Scarano intended to use the "habitable" basement for parking and had transferred the square footage onto the roof. A stop-work order was issued on March 4th 2008 and the developer fired Scarano.

The owner replaced Scarano with another controversial architect, Karl Fischer, to resolve the floor-area-ratio problem. Fischer, the architect behind the 11 story 'finger' at 100 Luquer street, filed for an amendement, which he self-certified. The DOB accepted an audit in October 2009 and new permits were issued.

However, by then, the neighborhood had organized and, with the help of the Department of City Planning, was able to down-zone Carroll Gardens. Unlike the neighborhood's original R6 zoning, the new R6B zoning has a 50 foot height limit. The City Council voted the re-zoning into law on October 28, 2009.

As with any re-zoning, all construction projects were served with a stop-work-order and were re-visited by DOB to see if construction was far enough along to be vested under the old zoning. In the case of 333-335 Carroll Street, DOB determined that only 15% of the work has been completed and therefore needed to comply with the new 50 foot hight limit. Another stop work order was issued.

After much maneuvering from the developer, it's great to see the eyesore finally being taken down.

More photos to follow in the next few days.

Related Reading:

Breaking News! 333 Carroll Street Gets New STOP WORK ORDER

SURPRISE! New Permit Issued For 333 Carroll Street, The Building With The Growth On Top

Scarano A Bad Boy? You Don't Say!

333 Carroll Street May Lose It's Top After All

All Quiet On the 333 Front

Some Permits For 333 Carroll Street Revoked Again?

Busy Day At 333 Carroll Street

333 Carroll Street Update: Scarano Out!

New Permit For Mr. Mezzanine's Carroll Gardens Carcass?

Revisiting Scarano's Carroll Street Building

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Developer Isaac Fishman Confirms: 333 Carroll Street's Steel Addition Coming Down

Preliminary drawings for 333 Carroll Street presented last night by developer Isaac Fishman

Councilman Brad Lander

Debbie Fuka of Aguayo & Huebener, speaking on behalf of 333 Carroll Street developer

333 Carroll Street project manager "YC" on left and developer Isaac Fishman on right

It's Confirmed: 333 Carroll Street Will Lose Its Top

The Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association had invited, Isaac Fishman, owner and developer of 333 Carroll Street, the beautiful old industrial building with the huge 2-story 'steel birdcage' on top, to attend their monthly meeting in order to update the community on how he will proceed. At the meeting last night, Fishman confirmed that the addition will indeed be taken down.

Speaking for Fishman, Debbie Fuka of Aguayo & Huebener, explained that construction will resume shortly and will be fully enclosed in the existing building, without the additional floors. When finished, there will be 37 one-two & three-bedroom apartments available. A parking lot in the rear of the building will accommodate 9 parking spaces. The developer allowed this blogger to take a photo of the proposed design (see above), but repeated several times that this was just a preliminary drawing of what the building will look like after completion.

The news that the structure will lose its unsightly top was greeted with relief from the audience. A resident on Carroll Street told Mr. Fishman that his block was going to host a giant barbeque the day addition comes down.

I would like to thank Councilman Brad Lander and his staff who were immensely helpful in regards to this issue. Their ongoing dialogue with the developer, with the NYC Department of Buildings and with the community were key in resolving the issue.

Related reading:

Could It Be? Is 333 Carroll Street's Monstrous Steel Addition Finally Coming Down?

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Busy Day At 333 Carroll Street

Yesterday was a busy day at 333 Carroll Street, the building with the huge metal top. After months of inactivity, workers were spied on the top floor. In addition, bright lights have been illuminating the structure for two nights in a row. Pardon me for asking, but what's going on?

Carroll Gardeners still don't know what exactly will happen at 333 Carroll Street. The community has been outraged by the height added to the former manufacturing building being converted into condos. The fact that Robert Scarano, the controversial architect, was involved, is not helping matters.

On February 21st, a meeting was finally held at Councilmember Bill DeBlasio's office to discuss 333 Carroll with a group of local residents. Though the building's developer Fischman was not in attendance, he sent his General Contractor, Tom Link, and two Aguayo & Hubener realtors. Tom Gray was representing Bill DeBlasio.

Unfortunately, plans for the project were unavailable partly because it seems that architect Scarano is being replaced and partly because the height of the project is still being challenged.

Residents were told that the construction would proceed in a safe manner and that no one wanted problems with the neighbors. There were no firm timetables available for either demo or construction but they did indicate that there was a strong possibility of working on both Saturday and Sunday, if permits were granted by D.O.B.

That sounds just great, just great. I have the feeling the next few months will be very interesting, indeed, at 333 Carroll.

Related Reading:
333 Carroll Street Update: Scarano Out!
New Permit For Mr. Mezzanine's Carroll Gardens Carcass?
Revisiting Scarano's Carroll Street Building


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The De-Construction Of 333 Carroll Street's Illegal Addition: Part 2

You better believe I will be chronicling the taking down of the illegal 40 foot addition at 333 Carroll Street, a beautiful old brick building. Since 2008, the Carroll Gardens and Gowanus community has been fighting to have architect Robert Scarano's steel 'birdcage' taken down. It has become a symbol of the greed of some developers, of the corruption of some architects and the problems with New York Buildings Department's self-certification program, which allowed architects to sign off on their own plans. In the case of 333 Carroll Street,

Robert Scarano had lied on the initial application to D.o.B., and tried to cheat the zoning resolution.

This project also illustrated to the community in the most graphic way the need to protect and to down-zone the neighborhood. After much work and commitment by community activists, and with the help of the Department of City Planning, the area was contextually rezoned on October 28, 2009 to R6B, which imposes a 50 foot height limit.

In 2010, after years of back and forth with the D.o.B., Issac Fischman, the developer of 333 Carroll Street, has been forced to take down the addition.

So be prepared for more photos of the de-construction, as I will be taking my camera down to Carroll Street between Hoyt and Bond frequently in the next few days. I am looking forward to the day the last piece of steel is taken down.

Read more about 333 Carroll Street here.

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It Took A Long Time, But Warehouse Conversion At 333 Carroll Street Getting Closer To Completion

It has taken a very long time and quite a few twists and turns, but it appears as though construction on 333 Carroll Street, between Hoyt and Bond Street, is getting closer to being completed. A few windows have been installed, and now that some of the netting has been removed from the scaffolding, it is easier to imagine what the building will look like when it is all done.

Permits to convert the lovely old brick manufacturing building into residential condominiums were first filed in 2005.  Owner/developer  Isaac Fischman of AMI Development, LLC, had hired bad boy architect Robert"Mezzanine" Scarano to convert an old brick manufacturing building into 30 units. As part of the plans, a two story, 40 foot steel addition was erected on top of the old structure.

Alarmed by the size of the addition, residents asked the NYC Department of Buildings to review the plans, which revealed that Scarano had been more than creative with the floor-air-ratio (FAR) calculations. The Building's Department confirmed in March 2008, that the architect has lied on the application, claiming that the cellar was a basement. Scarano intended to use the "habitable" basement for parking and had transferred the square footage onto the roof. A stop-work order was issued on March 4th 2008 and the developer fired Scarano.

Eventually, Fischman replaced Scarano with another controversial architect, Karl Fischer, to resolve the floor-area-ratio problem. Fischer, the architect behind the 11 story 'finger' at 100 Luquer street, filed for an amendement, which he self-certified. The DOB accepted an audit in October 2009 and new permits were issued.

However, by then, the neighborhood had organized and, with the help of the Department of City Planning, was able to down-zone Carroll Gardens. Unlike the neighborhood's original R6 zoning, the new R6B zoning has a 50 foot height limit. The City Council voted the re-zoning into law on October 28, 2009.

As with any re-zoning, all construction projects were served with a stop-work-order and were re-visited by DOB to see if construction was far enough along to be vested under the old zoning. In the case of 333-335 Carroll Street, DOB determined that only 15% of the work has been completed and therefore needed to comply with the new 50 foot hight limit. Another stop work order was issued.

Finally, in April 2011, the steel structure, which was so hideous that many in the community had begun referring to 333 Carroll Street as the 'hunchback' building or "hell house", was taken down. Work on the actual building finally resumed under Nicholas Scire-Chianeta of NSC Architecture, P.C. a few months later.

Since construction began, the site has raked up 60 complaints and 22 DoB violations (of which 9 are still open).  I bet neighbors will be happy to see this project completed.

A reminder of what it looked like:

The building at 333 Carroll Street in 2011 with the illegal addition

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The De-Construction Of 333 Carroll Street's Illegal Addition:Part 3

One of my readers had this to say about the de-construction of the illegal addition on 333 Carroll Street: "My heart gets a little lighter with every piece that comes off this godforsaken BORG cube."

I know the feeling. I am looking forward to the day that the steel structure is just a bad memory in our collective Carroll Gardens memory.

Here are the latest photos. Enjoy!

Related Reading:
The De-Construction Of 333 Carroll Street's Illegal Addition: Part 2

Let's Party! Illegal Top Finally Comes Down At 333 Carroll Street

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Read more

SURPRISE!!!!! New Permit Issued For 333 Carroll Street, The Building With The Growth On Top

Something "fishy" going on at 333-335 Carroll Street

Karl Fischer takes over as architect and self-certifies permit renewals

No building in Carroll Gardens illustrated the need for a neighborhood down-zoning better than the condo conversion at 333-335 Carroll Street, between Hoyt and Bond Streets. Back in 2005, owner Issac Fischman hired bad boy architect Robert "Mezzanine" Scarano to convert an old brick manufacturing building into a 31 unit condo. As part of the plans, a two story, 40 foot steel addition was erected on top of the old structure.

Alarmed residents asked the NYC Department of Buildings to review the plans, which revealed that Robert Scarano had been more than creative with the floor-air-ratio calculations. The Building's Department confirmed in March 2008, that the architect has lied on the application, claiming that the cellar was a basement. Scarano intended to use the "habitable" basement for parking and had transferred the square footage onto the roof.

The building's owner fired Scarano and the site was slapped with a full stop work order on March 4th 2008. Since that time, the empty building has been dormant. In the meantime, the neighborhood got organized and with the help of the Department of City Planning, was able to down-zone Carroll Gardens, in order to protect this historical neighborhood from out-of-scale developments such as 333-335 Carroll Street.
Unlike the original R6 zoning, the new R6B zoning has a 50 foot height limit. The City Council voted unanimously for the re-zoning on October 28, 2009. It went into effect immediately.

Unbeknown to local residents, the building's owner hired another controversial architect, Karl Fischer, to resolve his building's woes. Fischer, the architect behind the 11 story 'finger' at 100 Luquer street, filed for an amendement, which he self-certified. The record show an audit was accepted on October 16, just days before the new R6B zoning went into effect. It is still unclear how Fischer was able to solve the original Floor-Area-Ratio problem. The owner may have bought some air rights from other buildings. He may also have added an Ambulatory Diagnostic Health Facility, which may have given him bonus F.A.R. under the old zoning. (Under the new R6B zoning, that would not have helped.)

A new building permit has been issued on November 5, 2009 for:

Proposed conversion of existing manufacturing building to residential with additional floors, as per Article 7B MDL, including the removal and construction of interior & exterior bearing & non-bearing partitions, plumbing fixtures, finishes, cabinetry & casework, complete repiping of building.

If indeed, the audit and the permits were filed and approved before the Carroll Gardens re-zoning on October 28th, the developer got them in under the wire. That would be incredibly unfortunate for the neighborhood.

However, given the history of the site and the willful misleading by the developer to get more building than he is entitled to, it would seem appropriate for the Buildings Department to take a very careful look at all the paperwork.



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Breaking News! 333 Carroll Street Gets New STOP WORK ORDER

STOP WORK ORDER EXISTS ON THIS PROPERTY

Project Not Vested Under Current Zoning

That did not take long. Just days ago, I wrote about the new building permit, which has been issued for 333-335 Carroll Street, the old manufacturing building with the monstrous steel addition.
The owner, Isaac Fleischman, had given the boot to his condo conversion project's original architect, Robert Scarano, when the NYC Department of Building realized that Scarano had lied on the original application and had exceeded the allowable Floor-Area-Ratio or F.A.R.
Scarano had claiming that the cellar was a basement. Scarano intended to use the "habitable" basement for parking and had transferred the square footage onto the roof.

Fleischman just recently brought in Ken Fischer, the architect behind the 100 Luquer 'Finger'.
Just before the neighborhood's down-zoning went into effect on October 28th, 2009, D.O.B. issued new building permits. Apparently, the original issues were resolved. How exactly Fischer has been able to reconfigure the F.A.R. to get the project re-approved is still unclear.

However, the project still should have been stopped on October 28th by the DOB, when the Carroll Gardens re-zoning passed unanimously by the City Council on October 28th.
When new zoning laws are passed, all projects are served a stop-work-order and must be re-visited by DOB to see if they are vested, or far enough along, to receive an exemption, from the new zoning law.

In the case of 333-335 Carroll Street, DOB must have forgotten to stop the project on October 28th. After it was brought to their attention yesterday, they visited the site, determined that only 15% of the work has been completed under the old zoning laws, and imposed a stop work order yesterday afternoon.

Isaac Fleischman will most probably bring this issue to the Board Of Standards and Appeals, that very contentious agency which brings relief to developers in cases such as this.



Related Reading:

SURPRISE!!!!! New Permit Issued For 333 Carroll Street, The Building With The Growth On Top

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Scarano Building Limbo

(Though I am currently down South, I have not forgotten about Brooklyn, more precisely Carroll Gardens.)

My little neighborhood is really getting worked up about the upcoming 360 Smith Street apartment building. But what's going on with architect Scarano's other Carroll Gardens project? The factory conversion or rather " creative re-use project" at 333-335 Carroll is shown on Scarano Architects' web site with a completion date of 2006. I guess that was wishful thinking, before the N.Y.C. Department of Buildings slapped a stop work order on this project and revoked some of the permits. Now, the place is in limbo and very far from being completed. As in everyone of his projects, Scarano used creative math on this project when calculating how high he could build.

Here is how Scarano Architects are marketing this building on their web page:

Our goal was to keep the existing building as pure as possible, while creating comfortable, modern, loft apartments. The interior brick and timber columns are preserved, and the spirit of the original building is maintained.
An 8-unit steel and glass penthouse extension follows the same language as the existing building it sits on, with 5 structural bays that align with the original building grid. The interior and exterior proportions of the new building are similar to the proportions found in the old structure. The intricate extension is a stripped, modern version of the existing structure below in both its proportional and conceptual design, in keeping with its industrial roots.
Scarano Architects
NYC D.O.B. 333 Carroll Street

And now the Carroll Gardens Courier is reporting that there are huge rats running around Carroll Street. Residents on that block suspect that they are coming from 333 Carroll.
Carroll Street Jeers Rodents Read more

Breaking News! On His Way Out, Councilman Bill De Blasio Sticks It To Carroll Gardens

SHAME ON COUNCILMAN BILL DE BLASIO

PMFA has just learned that out-going Councilman Bill De Blasio will amend and erode the old law protecting Carroll Gardens' unique front yards on December 9th, requesting a change in front of the City Council to allow an exception for Hannah Senesh, the private school at the corner of Smith Street and First Place, to build on city owned property.
Just last year, the City Council passed the Wide Street Text Amendment, establishing once and for all that building and parking on the front gardens in this historical neighborhood is forbidden. Many local residents have given countless hours of their time and have fought so hard for this amendment.
Hannah Senesh Day School claims that two years after moving into its new facility at 342 Smith Street, it is already running out of space and wants to expand their building. They have asked to be allowed to build onto their (paved over) front garden along First Place.

Though I am sympathetic to the school's space issue, I believe that allowing an exception to the rule on that corner of Carroll Gardens will open the possibility to more. Imagine if more owners of corner properties should claim the right to build on their corner garden?

How typical of Bill deBlasio! Just as his term as city councilman is about to come to its end, he zings the neighborhood one last time. It wasn't bad enough that he was a mostly absent representative.

Below is a statement on this matter by members of the Carroll Gardens Coalition For Respectful Development (CORD)

BILL DE BLASIO'S STINGING PLANNED EXIT FROM CARROLL GARDENS

A 150 year old plus law, protecting the "gardens" in Carroll Gardens, is about to be thrown away by Bill De Blasio. Bill DeBlasio

The man who was quoted on the Front Page of one of our local newspapers as recently as Nov 20 saying the character of CG was so "very important to him" appears to be back peddling in a major way.

"Today we are seeing the voice of the community in action. Stopping the 333 CArroll Street development from becoming another out-of-scale development is an important step in protecting the historical character of Carroll Gardens." (Front page words of Bill De Blasio in "Hell to Pay on Carroll Street/ CG Courier/ 11/20/2009)

Despite these seemingly hearfelt words, Bill De Blasio has an exit strategy on his way to the city wide Public Advocate's office, that STINGS Carroll Gardens badly, especially in the wake of the hard won zoning regulations approved by the City Council over the last year and a half.

Carroll Gardens is unique. We were blessed with beautiful deep front gardens.These "courtyards" are specifically protected under old Brooklyn Law from having any structures built upon them.

That law is about to be changed. It is being tampered with by our exiting Councilman, Bill

de Blasio.

We learned today that DeBlasio, who has publicly supported and taken credit for maintaining neighborhood character, (link to campaign platform below) will be introducing a bill to amend the old brooklyn law on December 9th. He will be requesting a change that will allow a two story structure to be built on a courtyard on a Place block.

Once this dangerous precedent is set, there is no way of knowing what else could follow.

This is unacceptable and completely bewildering to the many many people who have worked so diligently over the years to insure that Carroll

Gardens did not lose its identity in the face of overwhelming overdevelopment.

"Fighting Overdevelopment: Bill fought to close a longstanding loop hole in the zoning text that left many streets in Carroll Gardens vulnerable to overdevelopment. The narrow residential streets were labeled “wide street” in the Zoning Resolution allowing for developers to build larger buildings. The change, advanced by Bill, appropriately characterized the narrow streets helping to preserve Carroll Gardens' character by disallowing out-of-context structures to rise on several residential blocks."

A page full of irony from Bill De Blasio's Public Advocate Website entitled: Neighborhood Preservation http://www.billdeblasio.com/node/275

How do you feel about this imminent change?

Should one Council member have the power to overturn something that affects so many?

We would like to know. Please email us at cgcord@gmail.com

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