***Update***
photo above showing construction crew working at 377 Union Street was taken by a PMFA reader on Tuesday, December 5 at 2pm.
Over the week-end, PMFA received an email from a local resident pointing out that Paul J. Manafort's brownstone building at 377 Union Street between Smith and Hoyt Streets had received a Stop Work order from the NYC Department Of Buildings.
The order was prominently displayed to the front door of the property on Sunday afternoon, when we walked by with our camera to check ourselves.
That however, does not seem to have stopped work. According to the resident, construction workers "have been working at night. The Sheriff drove up and they shut lights off. Sheriff drove away, they resumed work. Lights on at night for weeks. Sadly, this charade goes on every weekend. And at night."
In effect several 311 calls about after-hour work have been logged on the D.o.B. website for this address since October.
A newly installed padlock on the front gate is obviously meant to discourage further visits by D.O.B.
Paul J. Manafort is, of course, the veteran Republican strategist and Donald Trump's former presidential campaign manager. PMFA first reported on his investment property at 377 Union Street in February 2017, after irked neighbors had complained about its unkempt condition. What began as a blog story of a neglected brownstone led to a look at ownership and public records related to finances.Pardon Me For Asking's investigation disclosed that Manafort had taken out mortgages way beyond the value of the property, which raised some interesting questions.
The press got hold of the story, dug deeper, and now 377 Union Street and its shady financing is included in an indictment of Manafort handed down by Special Counsel Robert Mueller.
Construction crews have been working on the brownstone since the news of its ownership became public. The latest stop-work order was issued in late November, 2017.
Obviously, Manafort has bigger legal trouble than a reprimand from the Department of Buildings, but ignoring it demonstrates that he doesn't play by the rules which apply to us all.
It would be a shame if people just sort of casually started chucking bricks at that place.
ReplyDeleteCan’t support that, but liked the idea that one reader came up with of fundraising tonpurchase the house and turn it into a center that benefits women or children.
DeleteJust make it a homeless shelter. If the neighbors won't mind, at least it's better than having even the aura of that subhuman jackal owning the house.
ReplyDeletelol @ JQ LLC. Don't you remember about our caring neighbors protesting the homeless shelter on 9th street?
ReplyDelete