14th Street Stalled Site Starts Up

In Progress

308 14th Street developer renews demolition permit to complete long stalled job. A little IMBY archival history, a two+ year old before photo showing the stalled, partially demolished house, and an after photo showing the site after the recent cellar back-filling.
A five story, 10 unit building was/is planned for the site.

There are still approximately 576 stalled construction sites in NYC as of April 25, 2010. DOB Stalled sites link.

Fresh Paint on Fourteenth Street.

Our fresh house of the day.

Architectural Voyeurism: 11th Street's Scape

As part of the IMBY Corps. Mental Health Regimen, I started a virtual runners club for Agraphobics confined in the South Slope. We usually get together to work out mornings using the touchscreens of our new iPads... Thanks to Google's Streetscapes, our Index Fingers Running Club recently completed our first 5k without ever leaving the security of our respective homes.

Hard Dogleg Left
Three quarters through the virtual run, my Middle Flexor Digitorum Superficialis started to act up, so I zoomed in on a nearby stoop to sit down and stretch through the pain. Surprisingly, I found myself on my old block.

I once lived on 11th Street between 6th and 7th Avenues for 5 years back in the later part of the 20th Century before satellite imagery became readily available to the public. The street has not changed much. Zooming out for a moment so as to take in my familiar surroundings, I discovered the 14.17' wide house behind me was actually built on a lot only 61.92' deep, and that an adjoining three story brick building makes a concealed left turn behind this row of little frame houses down through the block's interior.
This is extraordinarily odd even for Park Slope South, where there are many curious shaped lots due to it's more industrious past. An interesting find nun the less.
*click on any photo to enlarge*

Commercial Garage entrance on 11th Street.  This building runs behind the row of two story frame houses.

Park Slope South Carriage House Re-Do

White picket fences, green pastures, horse carriages... Brooklyn's 15th Street.




"The Before" Google voyeur.

Jackson Place Wood Frame Restoration

Fountain of Youth
We continue our mini architectural tour of the South Slope, taking a look at this beautiful historic exterior restoration of this semi attached wood frame home on Jackson Place.

Last Sunday, IMBY looked at these two Jackson Place wood frame restorations (link) designed in a more modernist direction.

RICHARD A. GOODSTEIN ARCH PLLC

197 COLUMBIA STREET BROOKLYN NY 11231

NADAV MAZOR GENERAL CONTRACTOR
BEYOND PERFECT PAINTING Inc.
77 ATLANTIC AVENUE BROOKLYN NY 11201

New Certificate of Occupancy for Armory Plaza would allow 4 times the parking.

Update:JOB SIGNED OFF 5/6/2010
Well, didn't take long...

LAST ACTION: PERMIT ISSUED-ENTIRE JOB/ WORK 05/05/2010 (R)
APPLICATION APPROVED ON: 05/04/2010 (DOB LINK)

"CHANGE IN CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY TO REFLECT CHANGE IN NUMBER OF ATTENDED PARKING SPACES AT SUBCELLAR 1, SUBCELLAR 2 AND ADDITION OF PARKING SPACES IN OPEN SPACE AS SHOWN ON DRAWINGS SUBMITTED HEREWITH."

On March 10th, 2010 the owners of 406 15th Street filed an Alt-1 "no work" application to increase the current off street available parking from 26 spaces to 108 spaces. Eighty eight spaces will be divided up between subcellar 1 and 2. An additional 20 automobiles can now be parked outside in the side lot. The original C of O states 11 accessory parking spaces for both subcellar levels and 4 additional accessory spaces outside for a grand total of 28. There are 27 residential units in the building.

CENTRAL PARKING

The new schedule "A" indicates the spaces will be "attended". The only access to the subcellars parking is via elevator.

Previously, in April 2009, the Department of Buildings issued 2 violations to the Armory Plaza for operating a commercial pay-by-the hour garage in violation of their C of O , and for violating parking regulations in a residential district. There are $5,200 in unpaid Environmental Control Board fines still on the books.

After almost a year of operations, the New York City Padlock Enforcement Unit visited the the garage in February of this year and the owner removed the illegal monthly/hourly rate signs advertising that the garage was being managed by Central Parking Systems.
Zipcars website lists 406 15th Street as a current Park Slope location with 12 cars available.

How will this effect the levels of carbon monoxide exhaust vented into the backyards of 16th Street residents? (LINK)

Click to enlarge.

This apartment building was built under the city's Quality Housing Program. According to these plans, they are currently using the required recreation space for a parking lot.

"The Quality Housing Program, mandatory in contextual R6 through R10 residence districts and optional in noncontextual districts, encourages development consistent with the character of many established neighborhoods. Its bulk regulations set height limits and allow high lot coverage buildings that are set at or near the street line. Quality Housing buildings must also have amenities relating to the planting of trees, landscaping and recreation space." NYC Zoning Handbook

New Architectural Voyeurism: Jackson Place's Side by Side Remodels

Works in Progress

Neighborly rejuvenation of two diminutive wood frame row houses on perpendicularly positioned Jackson Place in Park Slope South.

I believe this very narrow, single block-long street is zoned R5B.



"Sky Blue Yonder"
Back when these homes were originally built, Crayola Crayons had just 8 colors in their box. Now they have 120. Care to try and guess the color name for the door pictured? Here's a helpful link: COLOR

You could always have a look through Benjamin Moore's Virtual Fan Deck... COLOR

I'm feeling "pear".

396 15th Street For Sale

A partially restored relic from the South Slope's good ol' manufacturing days goes on sale.
One of the last remaining manufacturing shop spaces left standing on our gentrified R6B zoned 15th Street. Located between 7th and 8th Avenues, it is now being sold through Marcus & Millichap.

The two story garage space with partial cellar is just across the street from the new YMCA Armory Sports Facility and, unfortunately, next door to the very stalled/abandoned condo project at 400 15th Street .



It was during excavation for this new condo that massive cracks formed through out 396 15th Street. The entire 100' masonry sidewall and 25' wide front facade broke off from the original building, and has since been replaced with a like colored brick.. There is a Stop Work Order Violation on the property dating back to the time of its reconstruction. Apparently the DOB objected to the contractor using the criss-crossed metal shoring system (seen in the photo) to support the floor/roof during the foundation underpinning and wall rebuilding process instead of the wood timbers specified in the approved plans... Anyway, the work appears to be finished.




Emergency bracing installed against 396 after it begins to move.

01/03/2007	A3	FULL STOP WORK ORDER SERVED	1934	01/03/2007
		WORK DOES NOT CONFORM TO PLANS302049433 STEEL SHORING BEING
01/04/2007	A3	FULL STOP WORK ORDER SERVED	0253	01/03/2007
		WORK DOES NOT CONFORM TO PLANS302049433 STEEL SHORING BEING USED, PLANS CALLS FOR TIMBER SHORING
01/19/2007	L1	PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER	0253	01/18/2007
		PARTIAL LIFT TO INSTALL SHORING AND BRACING OSHORING BEING USED, PLANS CALLS FOR TIMBER SHORING
01/19/2007	L1	PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER	1934	01/18/2007
		PARTIAL LIFT TO INSTALL SHORING AND BRACING ONLY
03/05/2007	L2	STOP WORK ORDER FULLY RESCINDED	1934	03/05/2007
		FULL LIFT BASED ON PLANS 3026646 3/2/7 APPROVED GALLAGHER 3/ 2/7
06/23/2007	L1	PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER	1934	06/22/2007
		PARTIAL LIFT TO COMPLETE FOUNDATION WALL AT SIDE INSTALL MAT SLAB FULL LIFT MUST BE OK BY IM