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.

°°°°°°°°°

Read more

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

Read more