Many Questions Surround West 9th Street Building Slated To Become Homeless Shelter

As the community is getting ready to attend Wednesday's informational meeting regarding the proposed 170-bed homeless shelter at 165 West 9th Street in Carroll Gardens, more disturbing details about the ownership of the building slated to house the shelter are coming to light.

Capital New York reporter Andrew Rice has done an outstanding job investigating the many players behind Tunnel Condos LLC., the private corporation in whose name the building is held. Some of the 'owners' seem to have rather cushiony ties to Housing Solutions USA/Aguila Inc., the Bronx-based non-profit organization that is proposing the shelter.
Read his article here.

In addition, there seem to be a fair number of open questions regarding the building's Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) issued by NYC Department Of Buildings.
The 10-unit building was originally designed and self-certified by architect Robert Scarano, who subsequently was stripped of his self-certification privileges for violating zoning and building codes on projects in Brooklyn. Though the West 9th Street building was completed in 2002, a C. of O. was not issued until 2010.

Some of these issues concern the lot-line windows of the property. Unless the owners of 165 East 9th Street purchased the air rights of the neighboring buildings, these lot line windows are not legal sources of light and ventilation for habitable rooms.

According to NYC's Building Code, habitable rooms must have window area at least equal to 10% of their floor area. If any room in this building relies on lot line windows to meet the light and ventilation requirements, that room would not be legally habitable.

The original zoning for the site was R6 in a C2-C3 local service district. Even with the bonus Floor Area Ratio (FAR) for community facilities (doctors offices) on the basement cellar and mezzanine levels of the building, the maximum FAR for the building should have been 4.80. The existing FAR on record is 5.61. How then did a building that is so out of compliance get a Cof O?

The homeless shelter is being authorized by NYC Department of Homeless Services under an “emergency contract” rule. It seems evident that under the contract some basic building requirements, such as maximum occupancy, may be lifted.

However, one really has to wonder how NYC DoB could have legalized a building that obviously violated quite a few rules.

More disturbing is how this city has privatized social services and how homelessness has become so lucrative that it seems to have attracted some very shady players and may have compromised the Buildings Department.

I encourage everyone to attend the Community Meeting tomorrow, Wednesday October 24th, 6:30 PM at PS 58.  Hopefully, we will get some answers to these questions.

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The Terribly Sad Story Of The Little Red Brick House On Third Street

Once upon a time: the charming old red building at 85 Third Street
(photo courtesy of Property Shark)

In 2008, during demo
(photo courtesy of Lisa De Brooklyn on Flickr
After the building was totally demolished
Stop work order served in October 2008The site with the new steel frame, the way it has been left since 2009
Recent For Sale sign

Until a few years ago, Number 85 Third Street here in Carroll Gardens, was a small three-story brick building with a nice cornice. It wasn't the most beautiful house in the neighborhood, but it had its own charm and had stood at that location for over a hundred years. No doubt, it was also a place where quite a few generations raised a family.

In 2006, it was sold for $875,000 to a Mr. A. Weiss, who promptly turned around and secured a loan from Wachovia Mortgage Co. for $ 1,750.000. By 2008, permits were filed with the NYC's Department Of Buildings for "two additional floors to existing building." However, instead of adding a vertical extension the entire building was demolished.

DOB caught on and issued a Stop Work Order in October of that year. After refiling and amending the plans, work resumed in March of 2009. A brand new steel frame went up quickly and it seemed as though issued had been resolved. And then...work stopped again. Since then, little has happened at the site.

By early 2011, the owner had defaulted on his loan and the deed for the property was transferred to Wachovia, which is now part of Wells Fargo.

A quick online search revealed that the property was briefly on the market in April 2010 for $1,190,000. Just recently, a "For Sale" sign was posted on the plywood fence by Tom Marco Real Estate and the price has been dropped to $750,000. The listing reads:

"Vacant Land, 1,800 SQ FT, being sold in as is condition, close to all. No representation. Cash offer only."

The 'vacant land' comes with quite a few DOB violations and monetary fines, which have amassed at the site. Will clearing and paying for them be the responsibility of Mr. Weiss, Wachovia/Wells Fargo or the new owner?

How terribly ironic that the empty lot is now selling for less than the original house sold for in 2007. Had the owner just left it standing, it would have been worth a lot more. And a cute historical house would have been preserved in the neighborhood. Read more

Carroll Gardens "Eco Brooklyn" House Gets Stop Work Order For Digging Under Publicly-Owned Front Yard

Here is a new twist on the ongoing debate about Carroll Gardens' signature front yards. As New York City is is trying to clarify the rules governing ownership of the court yards, appropriate uses and possible enforcement of the rules, one Carroll Gardens owner is taking the debate to a whole new level.

Gennaro Brooks-Church, director of Eco Brooklyn, has been doing construction on his home at 22 2nd Street house for the last three years. It serves as a green show house for his business, and "highlights best green building practices for brownstone renovations in the NY metropolitan area."

2nd Street residents had become used to the long, drawn-out renovation at this location. However, recently, lots and lots of dirt was being carried out of the house. Almost 60 cubic yards of dirt, in fact. Enough to fill five dumpsters.

And just as everyone was wondering what was up, the work came to an abrupt halt. It turned out that Brooks- Church was in fact excavating an extra space UNDER THE FRONT YARD.

Amazing right?

But what is more amazing is that Brooks-Church had gotten a permit from the NYC Department of Buildings for, in part, "underpinning and excavation of cellar w/ extension at front yard for storage purposes."

What the geniuses at DoB forgot to realize before issuing the permit was that the deep front yards in Carroll Gardens are actually the property of New York City and not the homeowner. The property line starts at the building and not at the sidewalk. Most probably Brooks-Church was aware of that, but kept his mouth shut.

When DoB realized the mistake, it issued a violation for "excavation work for an extension beyond front property line. The front property line is at the front wall! The cellar may not be extended onto public property. Construction is contrary to city law."

In addition, the Borough Commissioner has also issued a 15-days Letter of Intent to revoke the original permit.

It will be difficult for the homeowner to prove that he is entitled to the space under the front yard. It was determined beyond a shadow of doubt that the neighborhood courtyards are protected by a decades-old law, that they are public property and NOT the property of the owners.

I guess its time to put all 60 cubic yards of dirt back...

***UPDATE***

I just received an email from a reader with a link on Eco Brooklyn's web site featuring lots of photos of the excavation. The reader writes:

"Look at these pictures I copied from his site (http://ecobrooklyn.com/photos-of-our-jobs/?shashin_album_key=202 ) . It’s a room underneath the front yard. You can see the mailbox on the wall, next to the current basement window. You can also see the gas & water pipes + the electricity line… It gives an idea of the depth and size.

I am pretty sure that he is doing the same thing in the backyard to use part of the cellar as a room, with an opening in the garden, making the basement+ half of the cellar a duplex."

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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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#200 Smith Street: Now You See It, Now You Don't

Number 200 Smith Street In October 2010

A view of the building from Baltic Street in August 2009

And now...gone

Since when does a NYC Department Of Buildings permit for "proposed horizontal enlargement of 3rd floor" mean that you can take the entire structure down?  Yet that is exactly what happened to number 200 Smith Street at the corner of Baltic Street in Boerum Hill.  As first reported by Brownstoner,  demolition of the three-story structure began last week on Wednesday.  By Friday evening, most of the building was gone, dumped into a huge truck parked in front, ready to drive the debris evidence away.  


Now, I don't claim to understand the nuances of a Building Department permit, but the one posted on the construction fence sure doesn't state anything about a full demolition, does it?  


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After More Than Two Years, Still No Permanent Certificate Of Occupancy For Hannah Senesh Day School

Just issued Temporary Certificate Of Occupancy # 7

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to enlarge, click here

Back in December 2009, the Board of Hannah Senesh Day School drew attention to itself when it revealed its plans for a two-story expansion onto the city-owned courtyard next to the school. However, Carroll Gardens' unique courtyards are protected by a 150-year-old law, which forbids anyone from building or parking on them.

With the help of lobbyist Ken Fisher, Hannah Senesh was able to convince then-Councilman Bill de Blasio that this was a good idea. In his last days as this community's public elected official, de Blasio was ready to introduce to the Council a bill which would have altered the law by exempting the courtyard on First Place at Smith Street.

When it became known, the plan met with tremendous opposition from the Carroll Gardens community. The overwhelming sentiment was clear: not even one of our signature courtyards can be lost.

Why Hannah Senesh Day School needs to expand so quickly after moving into the building in September 2007, is unclear. The Board's Vice-Chair, Amy Glosser, was quick to say that the school did not intend on growing its enrollment. Glosser stated that the expansion was "not about getting bigger, but about getting better."

Could there possibly be another reason why the school is pursuing the expansion?

Since Hannah Senesh moved into their new location at 342 Smith Street in the fall of 2007, the school building has not been issued a permanent Certificate of Occupancy by the New York City Buildings Department.

So far, seven Temporary Certificates have been issued. That is rather an unusual amount. Between T.C. # 6, which expired in September 2008 and T.C. # 7 issued in January 2010, the school did not have ANY permit.
How could this be?

On January 19, 2010, the Buildings Department presented the school with a list of 14 open items needed before a permanent C.of O. can be issued. Amongst those items is a final plumbing sign-off, a fire alarm/signal system sign-off and Place Of Assembly sign-off.

There is also a special notation that there would be no more issuance of Temporary Certificates without a review.

The Buildings Department, I have heard, gives special consideration to schools to ensure that they have all the correct permits in a timely fashion. Why then has it taken Hannah Senesh Day School so long to get a permanent one?
And more importantly, why was the school able to operate without even a temporary permit between the end of '08 and the beginning of '10?

Whatever the problem with the D.o.B, one has to wonder if the expansion is a must rather than a need.

And are the school's parents aware of any of this?




To read previous posts about Hannah Senesh expansion, click here

For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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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.



For Home Page, click Pardon Me For Asking

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The Very Troubling History Of The Smith Street Abadi Warehouse Demolition

The former Abadi/ Vichar, Inc. building in early 2009

Late 2008

Very recently, the New York City Buildings Department has lifted a Stop-Work Order imposed on the Abadi/ Vichar, Inc. Warehouse at 455-459 Smith Street. It is rather surprising, since there are still 15 ECB and 7 DOB active violations. Besides those violations, there are quite a few reasons why this site should be closely monitored, both by this community and the DOB, but also by the Department Of Environmental Conservation (DEC)

Reason # 1 

In February 2009, the contractor, Perry Ferrara, had his crews demolish the roof of the building, which once housed 47th Street Photo. But he did so without the knowledge of the Buildings Department and without receiving the proper demolition permit. The roof contained asbestos, so the unsupervised demolition was rather problematic. The demo earned the site a full stop-work order for "hazardous conditions and lack of public protection.

Reason #2

Predictably, the structurally weakened building collapsed on August 11th, 2009. Thankfully, no one was hurt, but quite a few cars were buried under the rubble. Interestingly enough, when the owners of the cars contacted Mr. Ferrara's insurance company to file their claims, they were told by the claims adjuster that the contractor is not covered for this type of incident. It would appear that he is only insured for interior sheet rock installation, not the demolition of an entire building.
The car owners still need to be reimbursed for damages. If that is indeed correct, one would suppose that the Buildings Department would have caught the mistake.

Reason # 3

The Abadi property has been declared a brownfield site due to the contaminated soil and coal tar left behind by the old Brooklyn Union Gas Company and various other industries. It is also next to the equally toxic six acre Public Place site, which the city intends to turn into a mixed-use development with over 700 units of low and middle -income housing after remediation. Just this week, the Stop-Work Order was lifted and demolition resumed. Today, crews were digging away at the cement slab of the old building. Whatever is underneath that slab is rather nasty and dangerous stuff. If any special steps had been taken because of the toxicity in the ground, it was not apparent yesterday, when I took the video above. In addition, the site has not been secured. Anyone can slip through the big gap in the fencing. Given the history of the demolition of Mr. Abadi's property so far, it is important to keep our collective eyes and ears open. The owner and his contractor have been way too negligent so far.

filmed October 6th 2009

Abadi Warehouse: Carroll Gardeners Finally Clued In On Demo
Carroll Gardeners To Get Answers About Abadi Building At CB6 Meeting Tonight
When 'The East India Chemical Works Company' Made Fertilizers On The Shores Of The Gowanus

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