IMBY: A Rear Window View of Brooklyn's South Slope

Stoop

2012-01-20T00:56:00.001-05:00

Patience, Fortitude, and Drooper.

Got Wood?: New Facade in the Works for 16th Streeter.

2012-01-06T14:35:00.003-05:00

January Update: The windows are in. Six-over-one double hung sash, no less.

South Slopers will know this house by its art-is-anal self-cast poured concrete newel posts. They forgot to reverse the letters and numbers in the mold and so the word "WELCOME" came out backwards.

Ahhh, symmetry!

This Old House Dumpstered

2012-01-06T14:11:00.002-05:00

Building is being dumpstered. 548 6th Avenue is leveled to grade, literally, because she appears not to have had any basement and or cellar.

Newel Composted

Stoop

2011-12-25T01:43:00.003-05:00

Ho Ho Ho

Gowanus Waste Transfer Site Rising.

2011-12-22T16:56:00.002-05:00

From the mouth of the Gowanus Canal: Have not updated my previous report on the ongoing construction of the NYC Department of Sanitation's Marine Transfer Station in more than a year. Extensive pile driving over the Summer and Fall has been completed and now iron workers are hustling the steel. Roof decking was being installed when I took these photos from the upper deck of Home Depot's parking garage, the best place to check out the action.
More on this state of the art facility can be found here. LINK

Stoop 'n chute

2011-12-21T16:20:00.003-05:00

Wishing all my merry readers a very special South Slope Stoop 'n Chute.

Brooklyn's Park Avenue Boarded

2011-12-15T12:24:00.005-05:00

69 Vanderbilt Avenue Hermetically Sealed. Hard to believe it but a a Full Vacate Order has been in place since March of 2009. There are no plans filed for either the demolition or restoration of this wood row house. Environmental Control Board violations show that the property's owner has failed to maintain the building to the point where it has collapsed in on itself, with beams falling into the cellar and the front porch structurally unsound. Those familiar with this house will fondly recall the frugal inhabitant's questionable DIY skills. I seem to remember the porch railings having been reinforced with recycled bed frames in years past.
The two well maintained frame houses on the right show what might still be possible. I don't know, sounds like the building's bones might have already turned to jelly.
Two vacant lots in the very near vicinity have been developed in a much more modern direction.

Posh Park Avenue Address Structurally Unstable

Surprised by the very professional house sealing.... Most of the windows had been without glass even when people lived there.

In Red in the Shadow of The BQE

Stoop

2011-12-08T17:30:00.000-05:00

Stoopmetrical Twins

Stoop

2011-12-08T17:27:00.000-05:00

Ahhhhhhhhhhh!

Stoop

2011-12-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

Prospect Avenue

The Future Looks Blight

2011-12-06T23:40:00.004-05:00

Past performance is a pretty good indication or guarantee of future South Slope performance.

Here's a lazy follow up to my last posting on 548 Sixth Avenue... Looks like that partially dismantled, woody two story is still waiting on its zoning approval and building permits. Seems the first attempt has been disapproved by DOB plan examiners.

Outlook not so good
If the Green-Wood Heights architectural firm of official record, GEE2000 Architect, P.C., eventually gets its way with the DOB, then I foresee a 40' tall, 4 story, 4 family, masonryesque building rising on the 25 foot wide lot. The purple fluid inside my Magic 8 Ball seems to have all but dried up, but I might could tell you that our future building will have off street parking for at least one car. What can we expect?

Built samples from the portfolio of GEE2000 Architects, P.C .....................................................................................................................................

South Slope Wood Frame Stripped Bare

2011-10-31T12:56:00.001-05:00

Stripped of most of her exterior cladding, 548 Sixth Avenue shows off her modest bones. Forensic architectural historians might want to check out the early Twentieth Century building materials and techniques openly on display before she is demolished and a new four story, four family building takes her place. Judging by the size and placement of the boarded up windows, I imagine some kind of commercial establishment might have been the original occupant. The interior, it seems, has already been completely gutted.

Tax records show the property was sold 5/27/2011 for $780,000. The lot is adjacent to 6/15 Green, the large community garden started in 1987. There are no demolition permits approved as of right now. Seems they are waiting for some zoning approval relating to changing the use from a 2 family to a four family.

Corner detail

How many layers? The protruding nails indicate the depth of the various layers of siding applied over the building's lifetime.

Side wall

IMBY Weekender: Millerton, NY

2011-10-30T13:00:00.002-05:00

Sugar Frosted Fall Foliage

Skunk's Misery Road

Two Oaks Down

S T O O P

2011-10-27T13:31:00.001-05:00

A M B E R L I G H T

Remove and Replace

2011-10-25T22:08:00.002-05:00

Vacated 1504 8th Avenue restores its side wall after undergoing extensive foundation repairs. The apartments are in the process of being redone.

After large structural cracks formed throughout the building the entire rear facade and half the side wall was removed.

In my back yard: Light and Air

2011-10-24T22:45:00.006-05:00

Golden Cinder Honey Blocks at Dawn: 400 15th Street progresses from the inside out.

We have lost our panoramic Brooklyn skyline, one dominated almost entirely for the last century by the monumental 14th Regimental Park Slope Armory.

Traded it all in for this. When you live at the bottom of this man made valley surrounded by these stacked concrete masonry units, your sun rises a little later than it used to.

Construction workers still begin their day at 7AM.

In My Back Yard: Geotechnical Investigations and Subsurface South Slope Exploration

2011-09-16T12:14:00.011-05:00

IMBY... In My Back Yard returns to its roots with this construction update. For those familiar with THE STORY you will be glad to see that we are moving on with the remediation of our damaged crack houses.

After five fucking years of endless soul-killing litigation in the Brooklyn civil court system before the Honorable Justice Laura Jacobson, my neighbors and I have embarked on another financially and emotionally draining journey, hiring what seems like all the king's horses and all the king's men to put our Humpty Dumpty houses together again.

First this, then that, then this.
So you finally find a respected general contractor(s) you like for the job, but they all tell you that foundation repair on 100 year old brick rowhouses is complicated to say the least. The builder tells you he needs detailed drawings, an approved plan, a set of DOB approved marching orders to know how to bid for the job. He tells you that he requires the professional advice of a licensed engineer. Someone who has a vast knowledge of all the possible technological solutions currently out there to remedy your particular shit-storm of a problem. The one best suited to your individual foundation site.

So now you hire the services of an Engineer. But Engineers work with hard facts and data. They need to know what's what. So your engineer contracts out the specialized services of a geotechnical engineering firm. We need someone with a thorough understanding of the principles and practices of subsurface soil investigative techniques in order to determine the current soil conditions and, in our case, how our properties have been affected by the haphazard excavation and construction of the Armory Heights Plaza's three story underground parking garage.

A truck mounted boring rig is the first piece of heavy equipment to show up on a construction site, sometimes even before it starts to look like one.

Leading the Industry Since 1957
So that's where we are today. Let me introduce you to the Soil Mechanics Drilling Corporation of Seaford Long Island. They will be performing our subsurface exploration demonstration for today.

The Standard Penetration Test with a Split Barrel Sampler.
This is what is known in the geology business as "The Farmer's Daughter".

First the equipment. Take note frugal homeowners. Limited access to the site (say the enclosed backyard of a Brooklyn row house) unfortunately requires the use of a portable drilling/boring rig. This means all the individual parts of the drilling rig have to be taken off a truck and lugged to the boring site, in this instance through one's kitchen, then assembled out in the backyard. Afterwards the rig has to be broken down and brought through the kitchen again and out to the street, where it gets loaded back on the truck. That, as they say... costs a premium.


The portable drilling rig, assembly required.

Your standard "Donut Hammer".

Briggs and Stratton engine equipped with rotating cathead.

The Parts Diagram for the S.P.T

Opening the borehole. Concrete hole saw cuts right through 5 inch thick patio making way for the iron sampling rods. During the construction of the parking garage this entire patio slab migrated away from the rear wall of our house.

The three man crew sets up and operates the rig. It took all of three hours to set it up, perform the test sampling, and break it back down. In Brooklyn it's actually bad news if they strike oil.

Ready to start. Wrapping the rope around the spinning cathead.

Split Barrel Sampler: The two haves of the barrel shown separated revealing the soil sample.

The biopsy

The threaded ends allow for the fastening of both halves of the barrel.

The soil samples are removed and placed in glass jars for study back at the lab. This sample taken from approximately 20 feet deep revealed dense peat-like organic matter. You could actually see what looked like plant material; bark, seeds, stems, within the the sample. Evidence of some type of long ago bog-like geography perhaps? Maybe a sheep pasture?

The sample box. All combined Soil Mechanics performed a total of 6 boring tests. Besides the actual collection of these samples a written descriptive log was maintained documenting the entire process from start to finish.

Once back at the lab, the extracted boring samples are analyzed, and then a geotechnical report will be issued by Soil Mechanics Corp.
Our engineer will use this information to design, if needed, an underpinning plan to stabilize our compromised foundations. Our general contractor will work with the engineer to come up with some kind of estimate as to the cost of the repairs. Anticipating what the engineer is going to prescribe to remedy our ailing homes? I fear that I already know what he is going to say. There is seldom good news. Stay tuned...

Safe Slope Take Back Our Streets Rally September 14th at 8pm

2011-09-12T09:50:00.015-05:00

Link to Safe Slope Facebook page LINK

Updated police sketch of man suspected in as many as seven assaults and attempted rapes in the South Slope, Greenwood Heights, Sunset Park neighborhoods.

Lest we forget...
The terrifying March 20th assault captured on a neighbors home surveillance tape.

After the Huricane: Skunk's Misery Road, Millerton, NY

2011-09-07T05:59:00.001-05:00


August 29th, 2011 From the top of Skunk's Misery, Irene's painterly exit.	s

After the Hurricane: Skunk's Misery Road, Millerton NY

2011-09-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Contributary
The tiny creek that flows down the mountain along side Skunk's Misery Road is normally just a few inches deep all year long, but the rains from Hurricane Irene have caused the water to rise 4 feet, in some places jumping the banks.

The Last Hurrah. Leaving Millerton

2011-09-03T06:17:00.003-05:00

Backyard Bouncy Castle Birthday Party. School starts next week...Back to Brooklyn.

From the series Buildings at Work: The Forensic Engineering Unit

2011-08-25T00:39:00.002-05:00

The Forensic Engineering Unit is an elite team of engineers charged with assessing the structural stability of buildings during major emergencies and overseeing the repairs of these structures. The video is narrated by the Unit's Executive Director, Timothy Lynch, P.E.

The Unit has four forensic engineers on duty. They each handle somewhere in the neighborhood of 120 "uncontrolled construction incidents" per year. That's a lot of shit covered fans to clean up after.

For those readers who have been following OUR story, I actually met Mr. Timothy Lynch, P.E. after the Armory Plaza excavation debacle back in 2007 after much of the damage had already been inflicted on our properties.

1504 Eighth Avenue in Brooklyn had been served with multiple emergency vacate orders after literally cracking in half and Mr. Lynch was put in charge of protecting the public's safety at the site. We, the surrounding property owners, were afraid our buildings would be next to fall into the hole and were seeking a time out until someone could reassure us that the excavation contractor/developer knew what he was doing. We were seeking an explanation as to why after repeated complaints noone actually did anything. There was a meeting. As I recall it didn't go very well.

The Buildings Department ultimately decided at the time it was more dangerous to leave the site in its current fucked up condition than to delay the work and risk the clusterfuckation of the entire block. A partial stop work order violation allowed the project to continue with some major changes in the way the pilings were to be installed. They also brought in another engineering firm to oversee the completion of the foundation.

We didn't know this at the time, but our fears were correct. The whole site was dangerously close to imploding in on itself. We learned later that engineers detected that the pilings were caving inward.

Cracked 1504 Eighth Avenue teeters above the braced excavation, site of the future Armory Plaza Apartments 406 15th Street.

Attorney for the Armory Plaza developers, Ravi Batra, pictured center w/lapel flag pin, pleads his client's case to DoB Engineers.

Summer Hours

2011-08-03T23:41:00.005-05:00

Submit: If you can't already tell, IMBY's on vacation. Expect more stoop photos. Reader generated content is highly desired... Feel free to submit to IMBY@NYC>RR>COM.

Evidence: In the mean while, thank Imbyleaks for furnishing us with this gruesome crime scene photo. Looks like the victim, whom authorities declined to identify at the request of relatives, may have been eviscerated elsewhere and then dumped here in the Slope. Police are not saying whether this handiwork is that of a Gang Bashing or just another example of Pinata on Pinata ethnic violence.

Anvil 10-10 to be dropped on South Slopers Tonight

2011-08-03T08:59:00.000-05:00

NYC Health Department Will Spray Pesticide to Reduce Adult Mosquito Populations Tonight.

To reduce mosquito activity and the risk of West Nile Virus, the Health Department will spray pesticide (Anvil 10+10) from trucks in parts of Greenwood Heights, Park Slope and Windsor Terrace in Brooklyn, on Wednesday, August 3, 2011 between the hours of 8:15 p.m. and 6 a.m. the following morning, weather permitting. In case of bad weather, application will be delayed until Thursday, August 4, during the same hours. The Park Slope Weather Report is saying there currently is a 50% chance of rain tonight which should postpone the spraying. Remember to turn off your air conditioners and keep your kids inside until this poison wears off, especially if you are invertebrates.

Opposition: No Spray Coalition Flyer

Stoop

2011-07-03T07:39:00.001-05:00

85% Bittersweet

Stoop

2011-07-01T08:00:00.002-05:00

17th street

Outsider

Stoop

2011-06-28T12:00:00.000-05:00

Stairway to Heaven: Brooklyn Stoops from the South Slope and beyond.

400 15th Street Pours

2011-06-27T12:36:00.010-05:00

In my back yard... Seven years and counting construction chugs right along on 400 15th Street, an 18 unit, 5 story residential building rising between 7th and 8th Avenues. Today a milestone. Concrete is poured for the fourth floor slab.

From the IMBY ARCHIVES, a collection of historic photos showing progress over the last 7 years.

The sad beginning: 404 15th St. (Rosa's Bakery) on the left and 396 15th St. is on the right. The mud puddle in the middle is 400 15th St. Photo taken shortly after excavation malfunction showing the foundation, basement, and ground floor walls of 404 already replaced . Both buildings suffered sever damage and eventually had to have their adjoining sidewalls completely redone before work could re-start on 400 15th Street. The iron work pictured is bracing the cracked wall of 396.

The Blumpkin: This is may be my most favorite photo from the archives. Chaos and order, the contractor working both ends of the site, simultaneously building and unbuilding buildings.

Disaster: 396 15th Street loses its wall. Temporary steel supports hold up the roof and floors until underpining for a new foundation can be completed. 396 is currently for sale.

Foundation Reflecting Pool

Idle Building makes the DOB stalled construction site list. December 2009 HPD orders the unsupported cinderblock walls removed. The building was picked up in July 2010 by a new developer, Fox Realty Properties, LLC.

Litigation Turd.

Sections of this literary saga have been highlighted by IMBY's editorial board for whatever whim or reason they see fit. Reading through one gets the idea that real property development can become a real shit storm.

Decided on September 10, 2010
Supreme Court, Kings County

400 15th Street, LLC, Plaintiff,

against

Promo-Pro, Ltd., et al., Defendants.

20651/06

Attorney for Plaintiff:

Patrick Sullivan, Esq.

Law Offices of Patrick J. Sullivan, PLLC

92 Willis Ave., 2nd Floor

Mineola, NY 11501

Attorneys for Defendant Colonial:

Adam Schwartz, Esq.

McElroy, Deutsch, Mulvaney & Carpenter, LLP

Wall Street Plaza

88 Pine Street, 24th Fl.

New York, NY 10005

Carl Klotz, Esq.

P.O Box 654

Hawthorne, New Jersey 07507

Attorney for Defendant Promo-Pro:

Joseph Morrone, Esq.

Morrone & Associates, P.C.

155 Farmingdale Road

West Babylon, NY 11704

Carolyn E. Demarest, J.

In this action by plaintiff 400 15th Street, LLC (plaintiff) against defendants Promo-Pro, Ltd. (Promo-Pro) and Colonial Surety Company (Colonial) alleging a breach of contract by Promo-Pro and seeking to recover on a performance bond issued by Colonial, defendant Colonial moves for summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's complaint as against it.

BACKGROUND

On April 13, 2005, Promo-Pro, a contractor, entered into a contract (the Contract) with plaintiff, as the owner, to perform certain construction work involving the building of an 18 unit condominium at 400 15th Street, in Brooklyn, New York. The Contract was in the form of American Institute of Architects (AIA) Document A101-1997, and incorporated the terms of AIA Document A201-1997, General Conditions of the Contract for Construction (the General Conditions), by reference. The Contract provided for a contract sum of $3,865,000,[FN1] with plaintiff required to make progress payments to Promo-Pro based upon applications for payment submitted to the architect by Promo-Pro and certificates for payment issued by the architect. In addition to the progress payments, plaintiff was to make two advance payments to Promo-Pro of $50,000 when Promo-Pro obtained the building permit, and $50,000 at such time as 198 piles were in place and passed all controlled inspections.

The General Conditions set forth in section 14.1.1, entitled "Termination By The Contractor," provided that Promo-Pro could terminate the Contract if, among other reasons, plaintiff had not made payment on a certificate for payment within the time stated in the contract documents. Section 14.2.1 of the General Conditions, entitled "Termination By The Owner For Cause,"permitted plaintiff to terminate the Contract for cause if, among other reasons, Promo-Pro failed to prosecute the work promptly and diligently, failed to make prompt payment to subcontractors or pay for materials or labor in accordance with the applicable subcontract, or violated any material provision of the contract documents. In the event of termination for cause under section 14.2.1 of the General Conditions by plaintiff, plaintiff was required to give Promo-Pro and its surety seven days' written notice, and, if no cure was effected, it could then terminate Promo-Pro's employment.

Pursuant to section 14.2.3 of the General Conditions, if plaintiff terminated the Contract for one of the reasons stated in section 14.2.1, Promo-Pro was not entitled to receive further payment until the work was finished. Section 14.2.4 provided that if the costs of finishing the work and other damages incurred by plaintiff, not expressly waived, exceeded the unpaid balance of the contract sum, Promo-Pro was required to pay the difference to plaintiff. Section 14.3.1 of the General Conditions allowed plaintiff to suspend the work under the Contract for convenience for such period of time as it determined to be necessary.

Section 14.4 of the General Conditions, entitled "Termination By The Owner For Convenience," provided, in section 14.4.1, that plaintiff was permitted to terminate the Contract for convenience and without cause. Section 14.4.2 of the General Conditions provided that upon receipt [*2]of written notice from plaintiff of such termination for plaintiff's convenience, Promo-Pro was to cease operations as directed by plaintiff in the notice; take actions necessary, or that plaintiff may direct, for the protection and preservation of the work; terminate existing subcontracts and purchase orders; and execute such confirmatory assignments as plaintiff might request, and simultaneous with plaintiff's payment of all agreed amounts, assign to plaintiff all of Promo-Pro's rights and obligations under covered subcontracts and purchase orders. Section 14.4.2 of the General Conditions further provided that, in case of such termination for plaintiff's convenience, Promo-Pro was entitled to receive payment for work executed, and costs incurred by reason of such termination, along with Promo-Pro's fee on the work not executed.

Section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions, entitled "Claims for Consequential Damages," expressly provided that plaintiff and Promo-Pro "waive [c]laims against each other for consequential damages arising out of or relating to this [c]ontract." Such provision stated that this mutual waiver included "damages incurred by [plaintiff] for rental expenses, for losses of use, income, profit, financing, business and reputation, and for loss of management or employee productivity or of the services of such persons." Section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions further stated that this mutual waiver was also applicable, without limitation, to all consequential damages due to either party's termination in accordance with article 14 of the General Conditions.

On May 5, 2005, Colonial, as surety, issued a performance bond on behalf of Promo-Pro, as principal, and in favor of plaintiff, in connection with the Contract. The performance bond, which provided that the Contract between Promo-Pro and plaintiff was made a part thereof, had a penal sum in the amount of $1,000,000. Colonial's obligations under the performance bond were to be triggered in the event that Promo-Pro was "declared by [plaintiff] to be in default under the contract," with plaintiff having performed all of its obligations thereunder. The performance bond provided that in the event of such a default by Promo-Pro, Colonial could promptly remedy the default, or complete the Contract, or arrange for a Contract between a bidder and plaintiff, making available, as work progressed, sufficient funds to pay the cost of completion less the balance of the contract price.

On May 16, 2005, Promo-Pro began to perform work under the Contract. However, almost immediately after Promo-Pro began its performance, differing site conditions were discovered at the project. Specifically, Promo-Pro and Leonid Krupnik, plaintiff's engineer, discovered weak soils which required an alteration of the construction plans. Despite Leonid Krupnik's issuance of certain directives which sought to resolve the issues associated with the differing site conditions, damage was caused to structures situated on adjoining properties.

According to plaintiff, Promo-Pro failed to perform the excavation and underpinning operations at 400 15th Street in accordance with the contract specifications. Plaintiff claims that due to Promo-Pro's negligence in the performance in the excavation and underpinning operations, the brick wall directly adjacent to the project site and located at 396 15th Street cracked, became unstable, and required complete replacement. On August 4, 2005, due to the collapse of the adjoining property at 396 15th Street, Scott Jensen (Jensen), the owner of that adjoining property, brought an action against plaintiff, Promo-Pro, and others (Jensen v 400 14th Street, LLC, Sup Ct, Kings County, index No. 23960/05) (the Jensen action). Although the Jensen action was ultimately settled, during the Jensen action, Jensen obtained injunctive relief which prevented ongoing work on plaintiff's construction project for over a month, delaying the progress of the project. [*3]Additionally, plaintiff paid substantial costs for repairs to Jensen's property. Promo-Pro's work also caused damage to the adjoining property located at 404 15th Street, and Promo-Pro was required to repair a supporting wall at that property which was in danger of collapsing.

According to Gennady Borokhovich, a co-owner and the general managing partner of plaintiff, in addition to the problem with the damage to the adjoining properties, there were chronic delays by Promo-Pro with respect to its performance of work at the project. Borokhovich asserts that while excavation was supposed to take 15 days and be finished by the end of May 2005, it took Promo-Pro over seven months, and was never completed by Promo-Pro.

Promo-Pro did not complete the foundation by July 22, 2005, in accordance with the project schedule. On November 16, 2005, the project site was re-zoned from an R6 zoning district to an R6B zoning district. In order for the project to have been exempt from the new Zoning Resolution Amendments, the entire foundation needed to have been completed on the date of the re-zoning. Since, as of November 16, 2005 (the effective date of the Zoning Resolution amendments), Promo-Pro still had not completed the foundation work, the project's prior New York City Department of Buildings' approval was rescinded, and a stop work order was issued by the New York City Department of Buildings, dated November 22, 2005. Borokhovich asserts that this resulted in more delay, and required plaintiff to hire attorneys to appeal the zoning change to the New York City Board of Standards and Appeals. While this appeal challenging the down-zoning was ultimately successful, Borokhovich claims that this cost plaintiff significant legal fees, as well as costs resulting from the delay, such as interest, insurance, plaintiff's project manager's fees, and other costs.

Borokhovich further claims that Promo-Pro owed money to subcontractors and its own project manager, Joseph Priore, and that, due to Promo-Pro's poor management, it even borrowed money from plaintiff. In November and December 2005, plaintiff began to believe that Promo-Pro was using assets from plaintiff's construction project to fund other unrelated projects. According to Borokhovich, plaintiff nevertheless permitted Promo-Pro to continue work on the project until the end of the year, due to the extreme time pressures that it was facing.

During Promo-Pro's performance under the Contract, it submitted three applications for payment. Payment Application No. 1, which covered the period from June 1, 2005 through June 30, 2005, set forth that the total sum for the amount of work completed as of that date was $207,500, and subtracting 10% for retainage ($20,750), Promo-Pro claimed to be owed the amount of $186,750. Payment Application No. 2, which covered the period from July 1, 2005 through August 31, 2005, set forth that the total sum for the amount of work completed as of that date was $444,000, and subtracting 10% for retainage ($44,400) and the previous payment of $186,750, Promo-Pro claimed to be owed the amount of $212,850. Payment Application No. 3, which covered the period from September 1, 2005 though October 31, 2005, set forth that the total sum for the amount of work completed as of that date was $543,000, and subtracting 10% for retainage ($54,300) and the previous payments of $399,600, Promo-Pro claimed to be owed the amount of $89,100.

Checks dated between May 2, 2005 and December 17, 2005, produced by plaintiff, show payments to Promo-Pro, totaling $388,450. In addition, plaintiff paid $82,426 directly to Marine Bulkheading, Inc., a subcontractor of Promo-Pro, which installed the foundation piles for the Project; Marine Bulkheading, Inc. claims that it is still owed an additional $45,976 (for a total cost of $128,402 for its work). Plaintiff also paid $13,400 directly to Promo-Pro's subcontractor, Well [*4]Construction, and $19,724 to Promo-Pro's subcontractor, Suffolk Building Materials, totaling $33,124. Thus, the total paid by plaintiff to Promo-Pro, inclusive of the sums paid or owed to Promo-Pro's subcontractors, was $549,976.

By letter dated January 3, 2006, Promo-Pro informed plaintiff that it was electing to terminate the Contract, pursuant to section 14.1.1 of the General Conditions, because plaintiff had not made payment on a certificate for payment within the time stated in the contract documents. On January 6, 2006, plaintiff met with Promo-Pro, at which plaintiff's architect requested that Promo-Pro submit a proposal to resolve the contract dispute. By letter dated January 6, 2006, Promo-Pro proposed that it would continue the work up to the completion of the foundation, and that it would submit a proposal with the cost estimate to complete that work to the architect for approval. Promo-Pro's proposal requested that plaintiff pay it up to date for all approved payments, that plaintiff deposit the amount required for the completion of the foundation in an escrow account, that plaintiff release payments to it in a timely fashion after approval of progress payments by the architect, and that plaintiff approve all pending change orders. Promo-Pro further proposed that it and plaintiff would try to solicit a contractor for the balance of the work, and that they would mutually agree that after the completion of the foundation, the Contract would be terminated for convenience by both parties.

By letter dated January 16, 2006 to Borokhovich, Priore, Promo-Pro's project manager, stated that he had learned that Promo-Pro wished to discontinue its relationship with plaintiff in connection with the project. Priore noted that Promo-Pro "ha[d] been unable to fulfill its contractual obligations since the construction began in May of 2005," and offered his own services in order to continue the project to completion.

By letter dated January 18, 2006 to Promo-Pro, plaintiff's counsel, Todd L. Herbst, Esq., informed Promo-Pro that Promo-Pro's election to terminate the Contract pursuant to section 14.1.1 of the General Conditions was rejected because plaintiff had paid Promo-Pro, and that such stated termination was without force or effect. Herbst, in this letter, further stated that "[w]hile [plaintiff] has grounds to terminate [Promo-Pro for cause] under [s]ection 14.2.1 of the [General Conditions], it currently elects to terminate Promo-Pro Ltd [for convenience] under section 14.4.1 of the [General Conditions] and under Section 6.3 of the Contract." Herbst, in this letter, advised Promo-Pro that plaintiff was "[t]hereby . . . formally terminated for [plaintiff's] convenience, subject to [plaintiff's] further investigation into [Promo-Pro's] performance and reclassification to a termination for cause." Herbst, in this letter, stated that Promo-Pro would be "advised in writing by [plaintiff] of what actions [it] should take in connection with [its] termination, but [it was] expressly forbidden at [that] time from cancelling any subcontracts or purchase orders that [it] may have entered into in connection with the [p]roject, and from removing any materials, equipment, tools, supplies, or other construction related objects from the [p]roject [s]ite." Herbst also stated that "[n]otwithstanding that [plaintiff] ha[d] declared a termination for convenience, Promo-Pro [would] remain liable for its performance to date, including the results of its actions and all exposures arising therefrom." Herbst further stated that plaintiff "expressly reserve[d] all of its rights against Promo-Pro, Ltd." This letter was not sent to Colonial.

By letter dated January 18, 2006, in response to plaintiff's request, Promo-Pro submitted a statement of accounts, requesting payment in full immediately for a balance due of $368,878.13. Thereafter, Promo-Pro did not perform any further work under the Contract. By letter dated February 7, 2006, which was sent to both Promo-Pro and Colonial, Herbst stated that "[b]ased on [*5]a preliminary investigation[, plaintiff was] now satisfied that Promo-Pro, Ltd. ha[d] materially breached its principal obligations under the [Contract] . . . including without limitation Promo-Pro['s: ] . . . failure to perform the [w]ork in accordance with the [p]lans and [s]pecifications, and with applicable law; . . . failure to exercise due care in the performance of the [w]ork causing damage and destruction to adjoining property owners [and] . . . resulting in the issuance of a stop work order by government authorities; . . failure to promptly and diligently [perform] the work; and failure to pay subcontractors and suppliers." Herbst further stated that "[b]ased upon these and other breaches[, plaintiff was] elect[ing] to convert its termination for convenience to a termination for cause and [was t]hereby giv[ing] Promo-Pro Ltd. . . . and Colonial . . . seven (7) days' written notice to cure pursuant to [s]ection 14.2.2 of [the General Conditions]."

On or about June 5, 2006, plaintiff entered into a contract with Metrotech Construction of New York City (Metrotech), pursuant to which Metrotech was to perform the scope of work left unfinished by Promo-Pro following the termination of the Contract (the Metrotech Completion Contract). The Metrotech Completion Contract had a contract price of $3,265,000. Plaintiff also entered into an Additional Work Order (the Metrotech 396 Contract) on or about November 21, 2006, pursuant to which Metrotech was to perform remedial work at 396 15th Street, Jensen's property, one of the adjoining properties that was damaged during the time that Promo-Pro was performing its work under the Contract. The Metrotech 396 Contract had a contract price of $350,000. The work under the Metrotech Completion Contract was never completed. Plaintiff has produced proof of payment to Metrotech for work performed by Metrotech under the Metrotech Completion Contract, in the amount of only $389,325.04.

On July 12, 2006, plaintiff filed this action against Promo-Pro and Colonial. Plaintiff alleges that Promo-Pro breached the Contract by its failure to perform the excavation and underpinning work in a proper manner and by its failure to timely complete the foundation work. Plaintiff claims that Colonial is required, under the performance bond, to indemnify it against all losses and damages arising out of Promo-Pro's failure to perform all of the terms and conditions of the Contract.

In plaintiff's response to Colonial's interrogatories, plaintiff set forth its claim for damages as including $310,000 for additional construction costs, $150,000 for legal fees, $100,000 for a two point loan extension fee, $156,000 for additional interest on its construction loan, $1,600,000 for a loss due to down-zoning,[FN2] $65,000 for property damage at 404 15th Street, $350,000 for property damage at 396 15th Street, $139,000 for the moving expenses of 396 15th Street, $100,000 for an additional construction management fee, $100,000 for additional architectural costs, $15,000 for engineering work, $20,000 for monitoring and controlled inspections, $60,000 for insurance, and $5,000 for taxes.

On May 12, 2010 Colonial filed this motion for summary judgment, which was presented in oral argument on June 16, 2010. In order to prevail on its motion, Colonial "must make a prima facie showing of entitlement to judgment as a matter of law, tendering sufficient evidence to [*6]eliminate any material issues of fact from the case" (Winegrad v New York Univ. Med. Ctr., 64 NY2d 851, 853 [1985]).

DISCUSSION
In support of its motion for summary judgment, Colonial points out that plaintiff's January 18, 2006 letter advised Promo-Pro that, in spite of plaintiff's grounds to terminate Promo-Pro for cause pursuant to section 14.2.1 of the General Conditions, it was electing to terminate Promo-Pro for convenience pursuant to section 14.4.1 of the General Conditions. Where a contract is terminated for convenience, the owner, and not the surety, is responsible for the costs associated with completion of performance, and the owner cannot recover for the cost of curing any alleged default (see Williams Green Constr. Co., Inc. v United States, 477 F2d 930, 938 [Ct Cl 1973], cert denied 417 US 909 [1974]; Paragon Restoration Group, Inc. v Cambridge Sq. Condominiums, 42 AD3d 905, 906 [4th Dept 2007]; Tishman Constr. Corp. v City of New York, 228 AD2d 292, 293 [1st Dept 1996]; Fruin-Colnon Corp. v Niagara Frontier Transp. Auth., 180 AD2d 222, 233 [4th Dept 1992]).

A performance bond is " to be construed in accordance with its terms'" (Caravousanos v Kings County Hosp., 74 AD3d 716, 2010 NY Slip Op 04723, *2 [2d Dept 2010], quoting Walter Concrete Constr. Corp. v Lederle Labs, 99 NY2d 603, 605 [2003]). Colonial's performance obligations, pursuant to the terms of the performance bond, were to be triggered only upon Promo-Pro being declared in default under the Contract. Thus, since a termination for convenience is "not based upon any fault or negligence on the part of [a] contractor"(Best Foam Fabricators, Inc. v United States, 38 Fed Cl 627, 640 [Fed Cl 1997] [internal quotation marks and citation omitted]), Colonial's obligations under the bond were never triggered upon such termination by plaintiff for convenience. Colonial therefore contends that the complaint against it must be dismissed.

A surety's liability arises out of the liability of its principal, and is collateral to the obligation assumed by the principal (see Venus Mech. v Insurance Co. of N. Am., 245 AD2d 559, 559 [2d Dept 1997]; Fidelity NY v Aetna Ins. Co., 234 AD2d 261, 262 [2d Dept 1996]; Dimacopoulos v Consort Dev. Corp., 158 AD2d 658, 660 [2d Dept 1990]. Therefore, "unless a creditor reserves its rights against a surety, or the surety consents . . . a voluntary release by the creditor of the principal with knowledge of the suretyship relation between the debtor[ and the surety] discharges the surety" (63 NY Jur 2d, Guaranty & Suretyship § 253; see also Compagnie Financiere de Cic et de L'Union Europeenne v Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Inc.,188 F3d 31, 34 [2d Cir 1999]). Plaintiff contends, however, that in its January 18, 2006 letter, it reserved its rights against Colonial, as well as against Promo-Pro, to reclassify its termination for convenience to a termination for cause, by stating that Promo-Pro was "formally terminated for [plaintiff's] convenience subject to [its] further investigation into [Promo-Pro's] performance and reclassification to a termination for cause." In its letter, plaintiff further stated that it was expressly reserving all of its rights against Promo-Pro. Although the letter contained no reservation of rights against Colonial, and there was no mention of the performance bond, section 14.4 of the General Conditions, which sets forth the process for termination by the owner for convenience, did not require that the owner provide notice to Colonial of termination for convenience since such termination would not result in any liability under the bond. Colonial argues that plaintiff's termination of Promo-Pro for convenience was binding and could not be altered and effectively released both Promo-Pro and Colonial.

Plaintiff argues that its reclassification of the termination for convenience as a termination for cause was proper because it required additional time to review Promo-Pro's work prior to making [*7]a final determination as to the basis for the termination. In arguing that termination for convenience may be converted to termination for cause because termination for cause may be later converted to termination for convenience, plaintiff relies upon the case of Millgard Corp. v E.E. Cruz/NAB/Fronier-Kemper, J.V. (2003 WL 22801519, *5 [SD NY 2003]), and upon the presence in some construction contracts of enforceable clauses which provide that a termination for cause may be automatically converted to a termination for convenience if the termination for cause is found to be unjustified because the contractor was not in default under the termination for cause provision (see Postner & Rubin, New York Construction Law Manual [2d ed] § 4:4, at 163).

Although both Millgard Corp., and the enforceability of the aforementioned clauses not present here, involve the reclassification of a termination for cause to a termination for convenience, they do support the plaintiff's argument that the designation of termination for cause and termination for convenience are not immutable, but can be changed. In Millgard Corp., the court held that the general contractor was "not bound by its initial rational[e] for termination [of the plaintiff subcontractor], provided that (1) it was not acting in bad faith, and (2) [the subcontractor] did not change its position in reliance upon the initial reason given for termination" (id.). The Southern District declined to grant summary judgment, finding numerous issues of fact to be determined at trial, including whether the general contractor had provided the subcontractor with reasonable notice with respect to the termination.

A failure to provide proper notice relieves a surety of liability under a performance bond (see Gulf Ins. Co. v Fidelity & Deposit Co. of Md., 16 Misc 3d 1116[A], 2007 NY Slip Op 51440[U], *4 [Sup Ct, NY County 2007]). However, section 14.4 of the General Conditions, which sets forth the process for termination by the owner for convenience, did not require that notice be given to the surety. Only section 14.2, which sets forth the process for termination by the owner for cause, required plaintiff to give Promo-Pro and Colonial seven days' written notice if it were terminating Promo-Pro for cause, providing an opportunity to cure prior to termination. Plaintiff did not send Colonial the January 18, 2006 letter in which it noticed termination for convenience while reserving its right to terminate for cause. Thus, Colonial could not have changed its position in reliance thereon. Moreover, the reservation to change the termination to one for cause clearly refutes any suggestion of bad faith on plaintiff's part. Once it made its determination that termination should have been for cause, plaintiff fully complied with section 14.2 by sending the February 7, 2006 letter on seven days' notice to both Promo-Pro and Colonial, informing them that plaintiff was converting its termination for convenience to a termination for cause and providing an opportunity to cure. It is noted that Promo-Pro had initially elected to terminate the Contract on January 3, 2006 based upon plaintiff's alleged breach in failing to make timely payments and negotiations had taken place in an effort to resolve the differences between the parties even before plaintiff sent its notice of January 18, 2006.

This court finds that, having met the standard set forth in Millgard Corp., plaintiff is not barred from converting its termination for convenience into a termination for cause and its election to do so, upon proper notice to both defendants, is effective. In most circumstances, such termination for cause would raise issues of fact regarding the parties' performance under the Contract, precluding a summary determination. However, as plaintiff has not sustained any compensable damages recoverable under the performance bond, Colonial's motion must be granted. [*8]

"The purpose of a performance bond is to insure that a contract will be completed consistent with its terms" upon a default by the contractor (U.W. Marx, Inc. v Mountbatten Sur. Co., 3 AD3d 688, 691 [3d Dept 2004]). "[A] surety bond attaches to the principal contract and must be construed in conjunction with it" (Carrols Equities Corp. v Vilnave, 57 AD2d 1044, 1045 [4th Dept 1977]). "In the event of a contractor's default, the surety's obligation is to either complete the work or to pay the obligee the amount necessary for it to have the contract completed" (U.W. Marx, Inc., 3 AD3d at 691; see also United States Seaboard Sur. Co., 817 F2d 956, 959 [2d Cir 1987], cert denied 484 US 855 [1987]). "Liability of the surety is generally limited to the amount of the bond and as provided in the contract" (U.W. Marx, Inc., 3 AD3d at 691). Thus, plaintiff is barred from recovering from Colonial in excess of the $1,000,000 performance bond.

Here, the "balance of the contract price," which limits the measure of Colonial's liability, is defined in the performance bond as "the total amount payable by [plaintiff] to [Promo-Pro] under the Contract and any amendments thereto, less the amount properly paid by [plaintiff] to [Promo-Pro]." Since the original contract price was $3,865,000 and plaintiff claims that the total amount it paid to Promo-Pro and directly to Promo-Pro's subcontractors is $549,976, the contract balance is $3,315,024.

However, the Metrotech Completion Contract, which encompassed the remaining scope of work under the Contract, was for the contract sum of $3,265,000, $50,024 less than the $3,315,024 contract balance calculated from numbers submitted in plaintiff's own memorandum of law. Thus, inasmuch as plaintiff procured a completion contract at a lesser cost than the contract balance, plaintiff has not shown that it sustained any recoverable damages from Colonial in the completion of the Contract (see City of Peekskill v Continental Ins. Co., 999 F Supp 584, 586 [SD NY 1998], affd 166 F3d 1199 [1998]).

Plaintiff contends, however, that the damages flowing from Promo-Pro's failure to timely complete the project and its role in the collapse of the Jensen property exceed the cost of the original contract price. Plaintiff argues that Promo-Pro, and by extension, Colonial, is liable for the damages resulting from the collapse of Jensen's building, including the amounts spent to stabilize and repair the Jensen building so that its construction project could continue, and costs incurred for related delays, totaling $737,259.43. Plaintiff argues that this liability of Promo-Pro and Colonial for the damages to Jensen's property arises directly out of the Contract since section 10.2.1.3 of the General Conditions provided that Promo-Pro was required to "take all reasonable precautions for [the] safety of, and . . . provide all reasonable protection to prevent damage, injury or loss to . . . other property at the site or adjacent thereto, such as . . . structures and utilities not designated for removal, relocation or replacement in the course of construction." Plaintiff also cites applicable law regulating a contractor's liability for property damage to third parties (see Administrative Code of City of NY § 26-299; RLI Ins. Co. v King Sha Group, 598 F Supp 2d 438, 445 [SD NY 2009].

However, although Promo-Pro may be held liable for property damage to third parties, "a surety's obligations are limited to those it undertakes in its bond" (Varlotta Constr. Corp. v Sette-Juliano Constr. Corp., 234 AD2d 183, 183 [1st Dept 1996]; see also U.W. Marx, Inc., 3 AD3d at 691). Thus, the liability of a surety under a performance bond is not always the same as a contractor's liability to the owner (see Matter of Frontier Ins. Co., 73 AD3d 36, 42 [3d Dept 2010]; Varlotta Constr. Corp., 234 AD2d at 183). [*9]

Plaintiff's claims for costs associated with the alleged damage to adjoining properties, i.e., to 396 15th Street and 404 15th Street, are not properly directed to Colonial. Rather, such claims for property damage caused to a third party's property are properly recoverable as against an insurer under a commercial general liability policy (see e.g. McGroaty v Great Am. Ins. Co., 36 NY2d 358, 365 [1975]; Corbetta Constr. Co. v Michigan Mut. Liab. Co., 20 AD2d 375, 380 [1st Dept 1964] affd 15 NY2d 888 [1965]; Wolk v Royal Indem. Co., 27 Misc 2d 478, 487 [Sup Ct, 2d Dept App Term1961]). The Contract required Promo-Pro to obtain both a surety's performance bond as well as a commercial general liability policy.

A surety's performance bond and an insurer's commercial general liability policy provide two different scopes of coverage. A performance surety is to be held liable, upon the default of its principal, for the costs of completing the Contract or conforming the principal's defective work to the terms of the Contract, whereas the general liability insurer is liable for accidental damage caused by the insured to property owned by third parties (see J.Z.G. Resources, Inc. v King, 987 F2d 98, 103 [2d Cir 1993], cert denied 510 US 993 [1993]; Transportation Ins. Co. v AARK Constr. Group Ltd., 526 F Supp 2d 350, 356 [ED NY 2007]; Bonded Concrete, Inc. v Transcontinental Ins. Co., 12 AD3d 761, 762 [1st Dept 2004]; Parkset Plumbing & Heating Corp. v Reliance Ins. Co., 87 AD2d 646, 647 [2d Dept 1982]).

Here, the plaintiff's losses resulting from damage to the adjacent properties cannot be recovered under Colonial's performance bond since they are costs associated with third party property damage claims, not related to completion of the Contract. Such claims should be directed to plaintiff's liability insurers. In fact, plaintiff has admitted to submitting claims to its insurers for these very same losses. Plaintiff concedes that it had liability insurance, and that its insurer, together with Promo-Pro's insurer, ultimately agreed to pay a significant sum to Jensen to settle his claims in the Jensen action in or around February 2010.

Plaintiff argues that its payments to Jensen were reasonable and necessary actions taken to mitigate damages and proceed with the project. Plaintiff's citation of law with respect to its duty to mitigate damages (see e.g. Federal Ins. Co. v Walker, 53 NY2d 24, 35 [1981]), however, is irrelevant to the issue at bar. The fact that an owner mitigated damages does not create a claim of damages against a surety that does not otherwise exist. Any remedial work performed on the adjoining properties was beyond the scope of the Contract, as evidenced by the fact that plaintiff entered into a separate contract with Metrotech (i.e., the Metrotech 396 Contract) for the performance of such remedial work. Thus, plaintiff cannot recover for the costs of remedial work for the property damage to the adjoining properties, or the additional costs and fees associated with such work, such as its claims for the moving expenses of 396 15th Street (so that Jensen could move his business from 396 15th Street to another location), Jensen's rent at his new business property, an additional construction management fee, and additional architectural costs.

Plaintiff also seeks to recover damages for its losses due to the change in the Zoning Resolution, consisting of its delay damages, its payment of attorneys' fees to appeal the zoning change, and its payment of additional interest, insurance, and other carrying charges. Plaintiff cannot recover upon these claims because they constitute consequential damages, which plaintiff specifically waived pursuant to section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions. While plaintiff contends that this exclusion in section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions was specifically limited to damages incurred by it for "rental expenses, for losses of use, income, profit, financing, business and [*10]reputation, and for loss of management or employee productivity or of the services of such persons," such contention is without merit as a plain reading of the section reveals that it applied to all "consequential damages arising out of or relating to this Contract."

Plaintiff's claim for the two point extension loan fee and additional interest, which resulted from its refinancing of its construction loan, also constitutes a claim for consequential damages expressly excluded by section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions. Similarly, damages for engineering work and monitoring and controlled inspections are consequential damages which fall within the exclusion of section 4.3.10 of the General Conditions since such claim seeks "[l]osses that do not flow directly and immediately from an injurious act but that result indirectly from the act" (Black's Law Dictionary [8th ed 2004]). It is noted that the General Conditions specifically excluded engineering and architectural controlled inspections from the contract sum.

CONCLUSION

Thus, inasmuch as there were no damages sustained by plaintiff which may be legally compensated under the performance bond, Colonial cannot be held liable to plaintiff. Consequently, summary judgment dismissing plaintiff's complaint as against Colonial must be granted (see CPLR 3212 [b]).

This constitutes the decision, order, and judgment of the court.

ENTER,

J.S.C.

Footnotes

Footnote 1:A change order issued by plaintiff on October 3, 2005 states that the contract sum was increased to $3,895,000. However, plaintiff disputes that this change order actually increased the contract sum since it was actually an agreement to repair the wall at 404 15th Street, which had become damaged during Promo-Pro's performance of excavation and underpinning operations.

Footnote 2:Plaintiff states that it has withdrawn this $1,600,000 claim for a loss due to down-zoning since it successfully litigated this issue and preserved the prior zoning. However, plaintiff still seeks the related costs associated with the zoning change in its attorneys' fees and expenses to appeal the zoning change, and additional interest, insurance, and other carrying charges.

South Slope Super Mega Flip POWERBALLS Update

2011-06-24T07:24:00.001-05:00

A reader has just informed us that the asking price for our little friend 429 11th Street has just gone up an additional $199,000. Brooklyn Properties has the listing for $1,599,000, up from last weeks $1,400,000. Me likes the broker bravado.

There are now interior shots suggesting that at least 50% or more of the area of the building has been worked on. (Permit Speak)

I suggest you attend the open house this Sunday, June 26th from 1 to 3pm and report back on frenzied bidding war fistycuffs.

Kool-aid will be served in the Zen Garden.

Link: South Slope Super Mega Flip.

The NY mega millions jackpot is now $1.599 Milllllllllllllllllllllion

Meanwhile, back at the DOB...Unfinished paperwork.

Slope Single Family Demo

2011-06-22T21:47:00.001-05:00

By the sea.

Stoop

2011-06-17T11:40:00.001-05:00

17th Street: Roaring

South Slope Super Mega Flip.

2011-06-16T10:17:00.005-05:00

At just 170" wide, 429 Eleventh Street (center) enthusiastically hits the free market. Last purchased in February 2011 for $475,000, the developer BZI Realty Corp. has it listed in today's New York Times for... in my best Mega Millions Jackpot voice impersonation.... 1.4 million dollars.
That's 1.4 milllllllllion dollars.

DOB records indicate 1,114 buildable square feet on this diminutive 877 square foot lot. I believe that puts this little firecracker just north of the $1000 sf mark.

Get it Done. ~~Together.~~

When stop means go, go, go.

Despite multiple DOB FULL STOP WORK ORDER violations currently in place, this baby has miraculously completed itself.

IMBY LINKS:

11th Street's Scape

Two SWO's, One House.

Carnival FUN SLIDE

2011-06-05T22:45:00.003-05:00

Millerton, NY

Exhilaration.
I noticed working for a traveling carnival may be the last job on Earth where cigarette smoking is still tolerated around young children.

They may be able to make the case that cotton candy actually acts as a filter, removing 99.99% of the tar and nicotine contained within second hand smoke.

Memorial Day

2011-05-30T22:33:00.000-05:00

Brooklyn Travel & Leisure

2011-05-28T06:59:00.000-05:00

In my back yard.

Rally to Save Firehouse Engine Company 220 Today and Tomorrow.

2011-05-25T07:25:00.006-05:00

Wood Frame Row House Fire: ENGINE COMPANY 220 responding to this smoky blaze on 16th Street back in March of 2010. link

Save Engine 220!

CITY COUNCILMEMBER BRAD LANDER RALLIES TODAY MAY 25TH AND THURSDAY MAY 26TH

“Save Engine 220” morning rally: Wed, May 25 at 11am

with Public Advocate Bill deBlasio at 530 11th Street

“Save Engine 220” evening rally: Thurs, May 26 at 7 pm

with Assemblymember Jim Brennan at 530 11th Street

Mayor Bloomberg is proposing to close FDNY Engine 220 fire company at 530 11th Street in Park Slope, the engine company that keeps much of Park Slope & Windsor Terrace safe.

If the Bloomberg Administration is allowed to proceed with this closure (1 of 20 he is proposing around the city), arrival times at fires will increase dramatically in our neighborhood. According to stats provided to the City Council, the first arrival time would jump from 3:38 to 4:08 seconds (a 19% increase), and the second arrival time would go from 4:08 to 5:24 (a 30% increase). An extra minute to get an engine company to a fire can be the difference between life and death.

Mayor Bloomberg has his priorities in all the wrong places. Closing 20 firehouses would save $55 million, while the City's 'rainy day' fund has $1.9 billion on reserve. The mayor supports giving a new tax break to millionaires and billionaires (by opposing extension of the existing NYS millionaire's tax), and increasing spending on consultants by over $100 million, while putting lives at risk.

CLICK HERE FOR BRAD LANDER"S LINK TO SEND THIS SAMPLE EMAIL TO THE MAYOR.

Dear Mayor Bloomberg,

I was very angry to learn of your plan to close FDNY Engine 220 at 530 11th street in Park Slope. I am writing to demand that you restore funding for E220.

This fire company keeps my family, and me, and much of Park Slope & Windsor Terrace safe. If you proceed with this closure, arrival times at fires will increase dramatically in our neighborhood – a 30% increase in the time before water is getting on the fire. An extra minute to get an engine company to a fire can be the difference between life and death.

There are many other choices you can make, rather than seeking to save $55 million by putting lives at risk. I would support an extension of the existing “millionaire’s tax,” (which would bring the City hundreds of millions), dipping into the City’s “rainy day” fund (which has $1.9 billion on reserve), or freezing spending on external consultants (which you are proposing to increase by $100 million in this year’s budget).

Please get your priorities straight, and don’t put lives at risk in our community. Save Engine 220.

Sincerely, _____________________________________________

Hell hath no fury... New Restuarant Served.

2011-05-20T10:40:00.005-05:00


1657 8th Avenue, Brooklyn A 311 contractor smoking complaint from "Mom" alerts Buildings Department inspectors to unpermitted renovation work in progress. Although architectural plans were pre-filed, seems contractors may have jumped the gun and started work without the necessary paperwork in hand. A Stop Work Order violation was served back on March 29th, and now with permits in place, has been rescinded. Word says the new eating and drinking establishment is going to be Italian. FYI, As of July 2008 all smoking has been banned from construction sites with initial fines ranging from $1,200 to $2,400 per violation. Smoking observed at a building site, the presence of cigarette or cigar butts, or failure to post required no-smoking signs are all reasons for violations to be served.

Protection Money
On a final note, anyone who is undertaking any kind of renovation or new construction work might be interested in the services of this company... DOB Alerts.

Let's be real, times have changed in Brooklyn. The live and let live attitude towards undocumented renovation work has passed. For better or worse, gone are the days when people with DIY skills could do work on their property without fear of an inspector showing up based on some disgruntled neighbor calling 311 to complain.
From the DOB Alerts website...
DOB Alerts will alert you of any complaints registered with the NYC Dept of Buildings so that you can solve the problem before a NYC Building inspector shows up with a summons or stop work order. Whether you’re a property owner, manager, developer, or contractor, you can save time, money, and avoid all the trouble with DOB Alerts.

"Along with phone and e-mail alerts, our sophisticated on-line system grants you the ability to view each property's complete complaint history, providing a wealth of information. As soon as someone contacts NYC's 311, we'll let you know, so that your project can move ahead safely and quickly, thanks to the power of knowing before."

LOL, "Thanks to the power of knowing before"... a.k.a. in old school... "being tipped off".

Two SWO's, One House: Deep Shit Edition.

2011-05-19T18:03:00.003-05:00

Park South Slope, Brooklyn. Measuring in at just over 1,114 square feet, diminutive 429 11th Street awaits an Alt-2 slathering of fresh stucco and minor partition work.

The Building's Department has dropped a Stop Work Order deuce on the new owner BZI Realty Corp., first for performing acts of construction contrary to their approved plans and then secondly, for getting caught working against that first SWO violation. Environmental Control Board fines now total $38,500!!! That's something like $34.50 per square foot if you trust my math. Of coarse there is a good chance that they beat the fines as the respondent of record appears to be dead. ECB says All penalties must be paid and plans must be amended, or else.

Here's 429 in all her asphalt shingled glory daze... Yes those are real vintage fiberglass awnings.
I think Corcoran had this as an "estate sale/bring your contractor" listing for $549,000 back in September 2010. Records indicate BZI Realty Corp. purchased the one family home for $475,000 back in March 2011. There was an outstanding tax lien for $8,241.50 on the books as well.
Check out this old IMBY post to see how this little trouble maker sits on a lot that's just 800 square feet.

Transom Saints.

Priorities: They may have let the house go to hell, but the Virgin Mary's concrete grotto never goes with out a fresh coat of heaven.

The Deuce.

And now for the paperwork...

Carmela Aglione has left the building.

As lawsuit drags on, 1504 8th Avenue finally rebuilds.

2011-05-16T13:14:00.003-05:00

July 26th will mark the five year anniversary of 1504 8th Avenue's crack induced Vacate Order. If you recall back on that day in 2006, eight families were forced out of their apartments and onto the street after the Brooklyn Buildings Department determined that the huge masonry cracks spotted running up the front, side and rear facades of their building had become imminently perilous to their life.
The DOB issued Vacate Order is currently still in effect while the building's owner, Arnold Rosenshein, seeks financial restitution in Kings County Supreme Court before Justice Laura Jacobson.

According to a multi-million dollar civil lawsuit the owner, Arnold Rosenshein, and his engineer Sheldon Pulaski, P.E. allege the damage to his building occurred during the bungled excavation and construction of the adjacent Armory Plaza Apartments at 406 15th Street. According to engineering reports, improper drilling and caisson installation techniques were used by the developer/builder during the excavation of the Armory Plazas' 60' deep, three-leveled underground parking garage which extends right up to the shared rear property line.

BACK IN 2007: 1504 8TH AVENUE HAD ITS REAR AND PARTIAL SIDE BRICK WALLS REMOVED IN ORDER TO LIGHTEN THE LOAD ON THE BUILDING'S DAMAGED FOUNDATION. THE OWNER PLANS ON REPLACING THE REAR WALL WITH A LIGHT WEIGHT STUCCO MATERIAL AS SOON AS THE REPAIRS TO THE FOUNDATION ARE COMPLETE.

This month remedial work began on stabilizing the disturbed soil and repairing what's left of the severely cracked rear and side foundation walls. Atlantic Drilling rig and highly pressurized grout injection equipment are on site.

Drilling and Underpinning along rear corner of 1504 8th Avenue.

Section of Drill Bit

South Slope: SUV Strikes Multiple Pedestrians

2011-04-15T16:01:00.003-05:00

Shortly after 4pm, the driver of this silver SUV apparently lost control and jumped the curb at the intersection of 8th Avenue and 15th Street, stopping just short of the iron fence out front of the Park Slope Armory Sports Facility. The vehicle finally came to a stop after it wedged between the base of the utility pole and a large tree. The impact tore the front left side wheel completely off. Witnesses are saying that as many as 4 people waiting on the sidewalk were struck.
I saw two women, one with her legs bandaged in wooden splints, being loaded into waiting ambulances.

The driver (wearing white and gray striped shirt and jeans standing next to the police officer) did not appear to be hurt.

This intersection, site of frequent accidents, is particularly dangerous as many drivers race down from Bartel-Pritchard Square on 15th Street trying to beat the stop light only to be hit by rush-hour traffic speeding down 8th Avenue exiting off the Prospect Expressway. Just a few months ago, a new stop light was installed four blocks up 8th Avenue at 17th Street near PS10.

When your neighbor is a curb cut.

2011-03-29T10:59:00.002-05:00

Curb Appeal 157 16th Street: Corcoran has the listing for this "quaint and cozy" single family wood frame house renovated back in 2003-04. I'm a big fan of these little shacks. They clean up rather nicely. Homes like this one used to be the affordable alternative for someone wanting to buy rather than rent. In 1993, when I first started to look to buy in the South Slope, you could pick up a house just like this for around $150,000. The current owners are asking $609,000, comparable to what you might pay, more or less, for new condo construction around these parts. But then there is the location...

Coming and Going: Existing driveway and cub cut directly next door will serve the 9,300 square foot parking lot for both newly constructed condominiums 169 16th Street and 182 15th Street. Karl Fischer's plans says 31 off street parking spaces to service the 60+ residential units.

The drive... The Vue.

Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Floor Plans

"A" marks the spot. Asphalt Jungle: A missed opportunity to restore the neighborhood's "Green Donut". That's a significant amount of rainwater diverted to the city sewer system and the Gowanus Canal instead of seeping back into the soil. Check out this mapping link to Oasis NYC to see how your donuts rate.

In black and white, crunching the numbers.

During Foundation Construction: The view from in front of 182 15th Street. Follow the green construction fence to the right and that's 157 16th Street in the distance between the blue and green houses. Click on any photo to enlarge.

Uneeda Biscuit Building Crumbling

2011-03-24T22:43:00.002-05:00

541 Fourth Avenue/146 15th Street is crumbling, threatening to take its vintage cracker advert with it.

"The National Soda Cracker, Uneeda Biscuit."
You can barely make out the National Biscuit Company's "In-Er-Seal" logo just to the left of the 2nd floor window. In 2009, Nabisco discontinued making the century old Uneeda biscuit out of concern that the product was not as profitable as its other lines. The Uneeda biscuit, with its patented waxpaper In-Er-Seal wrapping, made grocery store cracker barrels obsolete.

15th Street side: The roofs have caved in over these three unused garages.

An open mortar joint runs the height of the building where the front and side facades meet. Exposed wooded support beams span the gap over the bricked up vacant store front. There is also a serious bulge in the wall along the 15th Street side where most of the brick mortar has washed away over time. The rear wall has also been compromised.

Brooklyn's Fourth Avenue suffers from delusions of grandeur. Massive new construction from Henry Radusky and Bricolage Designs looms over the Prospect Expressway just around the corner.

I smell DEMO.
This vacant three story, mixed residential and commercial use building is located on a 20'x90' corner lot zoned R8A with a C2-4 commercial overlay. The C of O indicates a ground floor medical office with two apartments above, Any real property developers out there wishing to give the South Slope another finger building should make this owner an offer she can't refuse.

DOB records indicate FDNY filed a complaint with the Buildings Department back on March 21st stating Re: BUIDING IS VACANT WITH OPEN CEILINGS THREWOUT WITH GARBAGE FROM FLOOR TO CEILING THREWOUT. EXTREMELY DANGEROUS CONDITIONS WITH NUMEROUS HOLES."
The spray painted yellow square with an X inside indicates to emergency service providers, (FDNY), that interior hazards exist to such a degree that interior operations may be conducted only after examination, and with extreme caution. The RO above the square stands for "Roof Open". The FDNY defines a vacant building as a structure which is considered to be completely unoccupied and all efforts to maintain the building in a livable condition have been abandoned by
the owner.

From Firefighting Procedures Vacant Building Fires ( PDF link)
"The Fire Department is charged with the protection of life and property from the ravages of fire... However, as has been emphasized, the life hazard at vacant building fires is almost solely that of our operating members... The Primary Emphasis in Vacant Building Operations is that of EXTERIOR ATTACK."

With two open ECB violations for failure to maintain the building (loose bricks and cracked mortar joints) issued back in January, and again in February, the owner appears to be in no hurry to make repairs. There does appear to be an electrical application filed for exterior lighting for a sidewalk shed, although no permits have been approved for the shed itself.

"Lest you forget, we say it yet, Uneeda Biscuit."

Being Robert Scarano

2011-03-23T22:01:00.002-05:00

I thought it important to repost Andrew Rice's New York Times story on Robert Scarano in its entirity. You can see it in it's original context here. (link to NYT)

By ANDREW RICE
The New York Times
originally published March 18th, 2011

The Supersizer of Brooklyn

Let’s begin with the mystery of the hidden bathroom.

It’s the summer of 2008. A young couple decides to buy an 800-square-foot apartment in a new condo building on the gentrifying outer edge of a fashionable Brooklyn neighborhood. The buyers go to close on the place, and as they’re signing away half a million dollars, the building’s developer, keeping a wary eye on the hovering lawyers, leans over and whispers something. There’s a second bathroom in the apartment, he says, one that does not appear on the floor plan — its doorway is concealed behind an inconspicuous layer of drywall. At first, the buyers think the developer is kidding. This is before the crash, near the peak of the market, and no one’s giving away a square inch. But the developer says no, he’s dead serious, just look. So a few days after they buy the place, the couple takes a sledgehammer to their wall.

This building was the handiwork of the architect Robert Scarano.

I first heard this particular Scarano story — one of many in a genre — from a friend, an architect, over beers at our neighborhood bar in Brooklyn. She told it the way a stockbroker might relate the misdeeds of Bernie Madoff, her professional disapproval commingled with a distinct sense of wonderment at the things the guy got away with, at least for a while. Through the mid-2000s, a period roughly coinciding with the real estate bubble, Scarano was one of the city’s most productive architects, and certainly its most controversial, an omnipresent force in the outer-borough building boom that transformed row-house streets and industrial districts into colonies of stucco and sake bars. Working on hundreds of projects, many of them small-scale buildings that could be constructed quickly, without the rigmarole of public hearings, he remolded entire neighborhoods in his steely, angular, brash — some would say garish — style.

It wasn’t aesthetics, though, that made Scarano the defining draftsman of that brief and ultimately delusional moment. It was the way he created room. In a city of cramped living, where space is guarded as jealously as Bedouin water, Scarano’s buildings were designed to stimulate a primal pleasure center. They were loftlike, with soaring ceilings that drove their heights above the roofline and their prices to levels unheard of in formerly marginal neighborhoods. Enemies of overdevelopment protested that his towering designs were ugly and out of context, while other architects groused that he was circumventing the constraints of the zoning code. Scarano countered that his competitors just weren’t creative enough, that he thought in cubic feet, not square, delivering more light, more air and more space to an eager buying public. And, not incidentally, more profit to his clients.

A hidden room, though, added another dimension — one that couldn’t be explained by craft or capitalism. Why wall off such precious space? My architect friend contacted the condo’s owner, a relative, and he agreed to show me his apartment, on the condition that I not reveal its location or his name. (He’s still uncertain of all the legalities.) On a weekend afternoon, I found the owner watching basketball in his living room, beneath a 15-foot ceiling, with the afternoon sun streaming in through a window almost as tall. Up a steep set of metal stairs, above an open kitchen, was a mezzanine loft — Scarano’s signature design element — where the man kept an office. In the loft’s far corner, next to a washer-dryer, was the beige-tiled second bathroom. A contractor had finished the door, but otherwise, it was exactly as the couple had found it behind the drywall. “There were a couple of dust bunnies,” he said, “but other than that it was a brand new shower, brand new sink, the light bulbs worked, the toilet flushed.”

The owner wasn’t sure what had happened. He knew about Scarano’s very public fall, amid myriad claims of malpractice, lawsuits and tabloid headlines that branded him a “Building Blockhead” and “Architect of Ruin?” But he had no complaints; he was happy with his surprise gift. “It was the most amazing thing,” he said. “It was like an oasis of a bathroom.”

Still, the question remained, what was it doing behind a wall?

This, to me, is what it’s about,” Robert Scarano said. “The feeling of space when you’re in the room.” On an unseasonably lovely February day, the architect, dressed in a charcoal-colored pinstriped suit, strode through an apartment in Vere 26, a high-rise building in Long Island City. A pair of sunglasses was perched on his wavy mane of hair, which matched the shade of the stainless-steel kitchen. Scarano waved his hand across the skyline of Manhattan, which embraced the room through floor-to-ceiling glass.

Along the vista, old oaks like the Empire State Building and the U.N. headquarters stood amid the fresh shoots of the last decade. It was, in fact, a period of architectural flowering. “A lot of people over the years said that New York doesn’t have a lot of good architecture,” Scarano said. Critics used to wonder aloud about the city’s lost spirit of innovation and bemoan decades of monolithic blandness — but then, around 2000, tastes changed. Or, to be more precise, developers figured out that their buildings would be more popular and profitable if they were presented as the work of great artists: “starchitects,” the marketers called them. And so, eminent names like Norman Foster, Renzo Piano and Frank Gehry were invited to leave their mark on the skyline.

Scarano had offered to meet me at Vere 26, after a long period of litigation- related silence, in order to make a categorical point: that in his own scaled-down, pragmatic, outer-borough way, he, too, deserved to be counted as an artist. For this building, set on an elongated corner lot, he was forced to grapple with zoning rules that appeared to mandate a ponderous, blocky structure. He worked around the restrictions by surrounding the building with a decorative lattice — “a sprightly frame of white painted steel,” as it was described in an approving write-up in the latest edition of the A.I.A. Guide to New York City, a canonical volume. The guide’s authors had given much fainter praise to several other Scarano buildings, but the architect seized on his very mention as a vindication. The book appeared as his business was reeling and the city government, claiming misconduct, was fighting to ban him from practicing his profession.

“People ask me why I didn’t just fold up my tent and move,” Scarano said. “We stood there under the microscope, with 10,000 watts of light on us . . . because it’s easy to stand there when you believe in what you do.”

Scarano is stubborn and pugnacious by nature, a defiant son of Brooklyn. He lives in Gravesend, in a colonial that his grandfather used to own, to which he recently added an enormous A-framed front window. In a highly stratified profession, divided between a name-brand elite of “design architects” and a vastly larger population of “developers’ architects,” who work with more mundane budgets and expectations, Scarano represents an odd amalgam. He’s a speculator’s auteur. “We were trying to really raise the bar,” he said, “for those people who were typically not as concerned about doing projects of an aesthetic note.” Whatever his buildings lack, it isn’t ambition — they’re always more than they have to be, which is precisely the trouble.

Scarano’s father was a mechanical engineer, who sent his son to City College with the intent of bringing him into the trade. Although the younger Scarano diverged from that plan, he has always prided himself on his mastery of gritty practicalities: permits, zoning, the trade in air rights, which allow building density to be transferred from one property to another. Setting up his practice in Brooklyn, Scarano developed a reputation as someone who brought an element of flair to even modest projects. He was well positioned when, in the early 2000s, affluent professionals began their mass migration across the East River. “He has an extreme talent when it comes to designing a unique piece of property,” says Elan Padeh, founder of a consulting firm called the Developers Group, which spearheaded the gentrification in neighborhoods like Williamsburg. “Zoning is a complicated process, and he was definitely a great teacher.”

Padeh and others like him acted as intermediaries between property owners — oftentimes, in Williamsburg and elsewhere, members of Brooklyn’s insular Orthodox Jewish communities — and a worldly new buyer, who might not have money for Richard Meier but still wanted a modernist habitat. Scarano began producing designs to meet this market’s demand. “His architecture attracts the eye, and there is something to be said for how that radiates to the sale side,” Padeh said. “When developers saw that, they decided that they wanted to work with Robert.” By 2004, Scarano was collaborating with the Developers Group’s clients on dozens of projects. Over the next few years, he submitted plans for nearly 250 new buildings and many more renovations.

In the space of just a few years, Scarano’s practice more than tripled in size, to 55 architects and design professionals. His business was headquartered on the top floor of a converted warehouse building, flush against the Manhattan Bridge. When the firm outgrew its space, he built an addition on the building’s roof, a geometrical riot topped by triangular trusses that were lighted in many colors at night. It was a jaw-dropping sight from the bridge.

“There’s an overriding theme in a lot of our work, which I would call this Mondrianic composition in terms of the materials,” Scarano told me. The 5,000-square-foot addition also functioned as a prominent advertisement for his theories about living large. “The volume of space and the way people feel in spaces that are more grandiose is quite different, and it affects the psyche,” Scarano said. “The idea that the zoning could be used to help create space, interesting spaces, I think was something that wasn’t really being explored.”

The purpose of zoning is to provide for restrained development. But in Scarano’s view, the city’s code was a Talmudic document, open to endless avenues of interpretation. Through a variety of arcane strategies, he could literally pull additional real estate out of the air. In the high-ceilinged warehouses of SoHo and TriBeCa, for instance, an earlier generation of gentrifiers had increased their living space by constructing mezzanines, creating the loft look that so many buyers were now after. “The population of factory buildings was unfortunately being used up,” Scarano said. “So what did we do? We created the factory aesthetic in new construction.” And he didn’t just take the aesthetic — he also adapted the zoning rules that applied to warehouse conversions. Under certain circumstances, the code classified loft mezzanines as storage space, not floor area, and Scarano assured developers their new building plans could slip through this loophole. Effectively, he said, he could fashion double-decker apartments, in buildings that were four stories for legal purposes and eight stories for marketing.

“That was the line: Go to Bob, he’ll get you a bigger building than anyone else,” says the Brooklyn architect John Hatheway, who helped lead a successful campaign for new height restrictions in his neighborhood, inspired by various projects, including Scarano’s. Developers began demanding more from their architects, or else they would just seek an audience with Scarano, who always seemed to find ways to magically enlarge a competitor’s plan. “We would see people lining up, sitting down, waiting in the waiting room to see him,” said Samy Brahimy, a developer who had been visiting Scarano’s office for years. “It was a little baffling.”

Few clients delved into the secrets of Scarano’s leger demain. “I assumed it was some combination of expertise, knowledge of the code and relationships” at the Department of Buildings, said a developer who, like many other former Scarano clients, asked not to be named because he no longer wants his buildings associated with the architect. “If people are delivering good things, you don’t want to ask questions.”

Scarano, like many in his voluble profession, has strong opinions about other architects. He appreciates Jean Nouvel for his visionary use of glass; he’s not a fan of Meier, whose work, he once said, is characterized by “a tremendous slavery to Modernism.” One building that he’s particularly fond of is the Porter House, a Meatpacking District renovation, where SHoP Architects added a zinc-paneled four-story addition to an existing Renaissance Revival warehouse. So Scarano said he was excited when, one day in 2005, “a job walks into my office that’s almost a twin of that building.”

A developer named Isaac Fischman had acquired a redbrick warehouse on Carroll Street in Brooklyn, a block from the Gowanus Canal. Over the decades, the industrial site was connected to a jute mill, a light-bulb manufacturer and a lunch-cart business, but the brownstone blocks just to the north and west were now some of the most desirable in the city. “It’s historical, it’s a three-story building, it has a lot of air rights and potential, and an unusual addition could be put on it,” Scarano said. “Well, again, what was a really cool addition to us was not a really cool addition to a lot of other people.”

In 2005, a framework of steel began to go up on top of the warehouse — and up, and up, until the cubic structure was nearly as tall as the original building. Chris McVoy watched the progress with mounting annoyance from his town house down the block. He thought the warehouse addition was grossly out of proportion, and as an experienced architect himself, he was suspicious. “I know the floor-area ratios in the neighborhood,” he said. “There was no way they could be putting that much area on that site. There was something wrong.”

McVoy wasn’t the only one who was incredulous. “It was this monstrous cage on top of a beautiful old manufacturing building,” Katia Kelly, a community blogger, said. “And on top of it, the name Scarano.” The architect’s popularity with developers had met with an equal and opposite reaction from Kelly’s crowd, which considered him a crass enabler of greed. Complaints about the Carroll Street project soon flooded the buildings department, which briefly halted it. In late 2006, though, construction restarted, and McVoy decided to examine Scarano’s plans himself.

McVoy quickly identified what he described as several “pretty glaringly wrong” floor-area calculations, in part related to mezzanines, and concluded that the building under construction was nearly 8,000 square feet too large. He took his analysis to a buildings-department official. Scarano had come up with a complex justification that involved placing parking on the basement level, but that didn’t make sense to McVoy, either. He eventually discovered that Scarano’s survey of the existing building made a key misstatement about its dimensions. (Sidebar, right.) “It’s very hard for me to believe that it was an accidental error,” McVoy said. (Scarano says that the plans were accepted by the buildings department; a spokesman for the department said that happened only after major revisions.)

Scarano boasted that he knew every nook and cranny of the zoning code, and few thought to question his expertise. He had a genial relationship with the buildings department, and he usually submitted his designs under the city’s self-certification program, an honor system instituted to save money during the Giuliani administration. This meant that, in the vast majority of cases, buildings were being constructed with the go-ahead from just one person: Robert Scarano. In neighborhoods all over the city, though, concerned citizens began to throw up obstacles.

A few, like McVoy, had the specialized knowledge necessary to scrutinize Scarano’s fine print. In Manhattan, Kevin Shea, a lawyer specializing in building-code work, grew curious about a new building on the Bowery that he walked by every day — it just looked too tall. When Shea checked, he discovered that the 16-story Bowery Tower development was being constructed under an allowance for college housing, even though no school was involved with the project. After protesters complained that the tower was clearly meant to be apartments, the project stalled, and it was taken over by new developers, who replaced Scarano, refaced the exterior with traditional brick and opened the chic Bowery Hotel. Scarano takes credit for the acclaimed result.

“Even though I was in the industry,” Shea said, “it had never occurred to me that you could put up a building in Manhattan without getting an approval of some kind. The further I looked into it, the more crazy it looked.”

Elsewhere, others were hit with similar realizations, and the opposition came together in a loose-knit network. There was another proposed 16-story tower in Williamsburg, nicknamed “The Finger,” because neighbors said that was what Scarano was giving them. There, the architect met zoning requirements by proposing a shared outdoor deck — on the roof of a neighboring property. The owner, who sued, claimed the architect and developer had conspired to defraud him out of the rights to the space. (Scarano denied wrongdoing, and the case has been settled.) In the neighborhood around Greenwood Cemetery, a graphic designer named Aaron Brashear rallied opposition to a number of Scarano’s buildings, including one that would have blocked a hilltop view of the Statue of Liberty. Critics began to question how Scarano was counting his mezzanines as storage, when the spaces were being marketed as bedrooms, sometimes with adjoining baths.

Scarano vigorously defended himself, saying he was merely “pushing the envelope” of the zoning code’s established interpretation. The controversies over his designs made irresistible material for a multiplying chorus of boom-time news organs devoted to real estate. “Blogs tend to have these heroes and villains,” said Lockhart Steele, founder of the Web site Curbed, who gleefully cast Scarano in the villainous category. “It was like this slowly dawning realization, that all these things we found distasteful were all the work of one man.” Scarano was more than willing to mix it up with opponents. Some received furious ALL CAPS e-mails, others plaintive or ominous phone messages. On the blog Brownstoner, among others, Scarano often posted taunting comments: “Happy to see that all my good friends and critics from the crazy house are still out there” and “Ah, the wild imagination of those who are not in the know. Its [sic] fantastic to read. Get a life!”

Scarano made such comments under his own name — “who wants to go through life being anonymous?” he wrote — but ultimately, his high profile was his undoing. All the complaints and negative press roused the buildings department, which began auditing his projects. Elan Padeh quietly warned his clients that his favored architect had become a liability, and some builders began re-examining their plans.

In 2008, Isaac Fischman removed Scarano from the Carroll Street warehouse project, after the buildings department ordered the developer to stop work. For the last three years, Scarano’s skeletal addition has loomed over the area, symbolic and unfinished. “They got greedy,” McVoy says. “If they had just renovated in that time and not tried to get around zoning, the irony is they would have been done before the crash.” Fischman recently announced that all the steel will come back down, and he will convert the building to apartments while maintaining its existing dimensions. Fischman told me he lost “a serious amount of money” to Scarano-related delays. “I was one of his victims,” he said.

Scarano scoffs at the notion that any developer, Fischman included, was duped into accepting his designs. Architecture “is not so dissimilar from the accounting profession,” he said, dropping all Mondrianic pretense. “When someone goes to their tax accountant . . . they don’t tell the fellow to figure out how to not have the most deductions.” Everyone was happy until the auditors arrived, and then came recriminations. Over the past few years, numerous developers have sued Scarano, claiming he prepared faulty plans, while he has countersued to recover hundreds of thousands in unpaid fees.

In early 2006, after a meticulous review, the city filed a series of civil charges against Scarano in an administrative court, among other things claiming that he “made false or misleading statements” in submissions for 25 self-certified projects. Most of the violations concerned mezzanines. The buildings department had just promulgated new guidelines, holding that if the mezzanines had more than five feet of headroom, they could not count as storage space. A few months after the case was filed, the city settled the charges in return for Scarano’s giving up his right to self-certify. “I believe strongly and until today that my interpretations and my decisions were founded on things that were permissible,” Scarano says, contending that many of his audited buildings were eventually cleared by examiners.

Some wonder, if what he was doing was so blatantly illegal, why Scarano met with approval for so long. Robert LiMandri, the commissioner of the buildings department, said he had “no information that indicates that there was any sort of corruption” and that no employees were disciplined. Rather, he contended, the department was overwhelmed by a “frenzy” of building activity, and it relied on Scarano’s representations, which were often voluminous and confusing. At the time, the department had no way to punish him for lying. In 2007, though, state legislators, inspired by complaints about scofflaw architects, passed a law that allowed tough sanctions. “We really needed this stick to be able to say to people, look, there are no more cat-and-mouse games,” LiMandri said. The department created a new Special Enforcement Unit, focusing on Scarano as an initial target.

The city brought a new prosecution, a complicated case involving adjoining properties and supposed double counting of zoning rights, but then, in late 2008, a seemingly unambiguous bit of trickery dropped into investigators’ laps. Scarano was seeking a routine approval for a commercial building, which could not be occupied as long as an electrical pole was sitting in the middle of a new driveway. The architect submitted a curious photo of the building: shot from an off-center angle, it gave the appearance that the driveway was no longer obstructed. When the city sent an inspector to the site, he saw the pole hadn’t actually been moved. An excited buildings official e-mailed a colleague: “It is a smoking peashooter.”

At trial, Scarano testified that he tried to get his “knucklehead” client to deal with the obstructing pole, and his lawyer called the city’s repeated investigations a “vendetta.” Last March, though, the judge found that Scarano had engaged in “deliberate subterfuge” and actions “so deceptive that they call to mind out-and-out fraud.” He was given the maximum punishment — a total ban on filing any documents with the city. The sanction is currently stayed while Scarano fights it in a state appeals court, but if it’s upheld, the architect says he could be put out of business.

Many architects who know Scarano were mystified. “He’s the guy that they’re out to get, and when it comes down to charging him with something, they charge him with such a minor thing,” said Donald Weston, head of the urban-design committee of the A.I.A.’s Brooklyn chapter. To some, Scarano looks like a scapegoat for the city’s inconsistency and winking enforcement. But other architects view his violations as egregious. “I think you can’t legislate aesthetics,” said Chris McVoy, but he added, “there’s a certain public trust in these regulations whether you agree with them or not.”

Scarano’s firm has been devastated by the scandal and the housing bust. His fabulous office is now occupied by just 20 employees, he said, and even appreciative clients are reluctant to give him business, lest his name attract unwanted scrutiny. But he is hardly the only one who has suffered. Some residents of his lofts, who bought believing a broker’s assurance that they were two-bedrooms, have since learned that they count as one-bedrooms for appraisal, while others complain of faulty construction. “I am only the architect,” Scarano replies, saying he never had any control over how developers built or marketed his designs.

Scarano maintains that his reputation will ultimately rest on how his buildings hold up in the eyes of the public and critics. He revels in his inclusion in the A.I.A. Guide: if the mentions weren’t always positive, they did prove he mattered. Fran Leadon, the volume’s co-author and a City College professor, told me he struggled with how to describe Scarano’s unquestionable contributions to the cityscape. “I felt like it was a challenge to talk of them as being symptomatic of the extreme end of the building boom,” he said. “Not caring about history on a certain site, not really caring about the context, but caring very much about maximizing square footage and very much about buildings as commodities.”

Visiting Scarano’s Brooklyn projects today is like reliving the bubble’s deflation in a series of freeze-frame photos. There are completed high-rises along Fourth Avenue and a creamy white building in Bedford-Stuyvesant, where giant windows gave me a glimpse of a Saturday afternoon open house. Other buildings appeared to be ready but empty, or moldering unfinished. On the plywood that fenced in one forlorn Fort Greene construction site, a graffiti artist had spray-painted a frowning face and the word “Help.”

“A lot of people got destroyed,” said Alan Messner, a developer who built three Scarano buildings. Standing on a Williamsburg street corner, admiring the wood-paneled exterior of a condominium building called the Artisan, Messner told me he barely managed to survive after a lengthy buildings- department audit, which he credited Scarano for working through.

Messner’s building looked great, but many other projects managed to pass the review process only after extensive alterations and downsizing. Developers claim that the buildings department imposed its new standards arbitrarily. In some buildings, they were allowed to cut their mezzanines’ headroom to five feet by constructing flimsy wood platforms. (When my wife and I visited a Scarano building’s open house in 2009, a broker was quick to mention how easily such a platform could be removed.) Elsewhere, inspectors apparently accepted a veneer of plausible deniability. A mezzanine could still be a storage space, it seems, if it didn’t have a bathroom.

Hence, a builder might erect a mysterious wall.

Of course, in New York, space seldom goes to waste or waits long for rediscovery. Last year, Cody Brown and Kate Ray, recent New York University graduates and partners in a Web start-up, happened to find a rental in a Bushwick building by looking for the keyword “sunny” on Craigslist. It was maximalist Scarano: a three-story triplex with a mezzanine and several outdoor terraces. “It’s designed to make yuppies smile,” Brown told me when I visited recently. Originally conceived by the developer as luxury condos, the building was briefly leased to an ex-con who ran it as a halfway house, but the neighborhood protested, and now Brown and Ray were dividing the triplex with three other roommates, exploiting every bit of space. They were young and thrilled with the rent, and they weren’t sweating the details. “It’s like, beautiful things,” Ray said. “And then you start pulling the doorknob too hard, and it comes off.”

“There’s a secret room,” Brown told me, conspiratorially. Up on the mezzanine level, next to a pair of D.J.’s turntables, he knocked on a wall. It sounded hollow. I recounted the story of the hidden bathroom and left them to consider their options.

Down eight flights of stairs — no elevator — I walked past another building resident, a young guy in a hoodie, chatting up some women on the sidewalk. He was going to give a party, he said, and as they walked off, he shouted out how to find it: “I live in the penthouse!”

South Slope's 7th Avenue Street Tree Planting

2011-03-23T13:18:00.004-05:00

YES YOU ARE!!! As seen on Seventh Avenue Brooklyn

Don't let today's snowfall fool you, there's just eight more weeks left to our Spring tree planting season. Have you noticed our part of Seventh Avenue just got a dozen new baby street trees straight from the nursery. Their birth names?

Carpinus Betulus Fastigiata aka "Fastigate Hornbeam"
Styphnolobium Japonicum Regent aka "Japanese Pagoda"
Ginkgo Biloba Magyar aka "Ginkgo" aka "Stinkberry"
Zelkova Serrata Green Vase aka "Japanese Zelkova"
Platanus Acerifolia Bloodgood aka "London Plane"

"Who will care for me now?"

Zelkova Serrata "Green Vase" commonly known as Japanese Zelkova.

PS10 has three newly planted Japanese Pagoda trees out in front. The Regent cultivar begins flowering at a very early age, not unlike most of the children of Park Slope.

For just pennies a day...

According to the MillionTreesNYC web site, the city has planted 431,672 trees so far, but they are vulnerable and in need of stewardship.
Hey, are you especially proud of that enormous spider plant hanging in your kitchen? The one that has outlived your last three boy friends? Think you have a green thumb but don't have any place to stick it? Want the opportunity to show off your nature skills? Why not adopt a newborn street tree?

Look at all those vulnerable trees, alone, out on the street... You can click here now to start the adoption process.

RESTLESS NATIVES PETITION TO DENY THE NON-CONTEXTUAL EXPANSION OF GRAND PROSPECT HALL

2011-02-14T06:19:00.001-05:00

The Petition

PETITION TO DENY THE NON-CONTEXTUAL EXPANSION OF GRAND PROSPECT HALL (here on referred to as GPH)

We the residents, and homeowners of South Park Slope and all surrounding and affected areas, respectfully request that any proposal for an expansion of GPH that goes beyond the scope of the building code and the zoning resolution be denied based on the following.

The proposed expansion will increase the current GPH to a size that is completely out of context with the rest of the neighborhood. In 2005 this neighborhood was re-zoned to R6B zoning which caps building heights at 40 feet at the street wall and 50 feet after a setback. GPH’s proposal, as it stands, will have a building with a height of at least 110 feet, nearly three times the height and five times the bulk allowable by law.

In addition, GPH claims that there will be benefits to the community, primarily in the addition of 400 parking spots that will be available some of the time, (when they are not being used by GPH), to the local community. This claim is unsubstantiated, and is not viewed as a benefit by many in the community. We feel that the benefit of occasional parking will be more than outweighed by the downside of having such an enormous structure in a quiet residential neighborhood. Specifically:
- TRAFFIC: As currently planned, the ingress and egress from the parking garage and hotel, including heavy delivery trucks, would be on 16th Street, which is unfortunately already on it’s way to becoming a thorough-fare for trucks and other large vehicles. Due to the influx of development in the area before it was re-zoned, 16th Street between fourth and sixth Avenues has seen a tremendous increase in car traffic from the off-street parking lots that were built to accommodate some of the larger residential developments. Any parking garage that is built will increase (in this case by at by least 400), not decrease, the already overburdened traffic situation for the surrounding area with added pollution, noise and traffic, not to mention possible safety issues for pedestrians and bicyclists. Adding to this will be the inevitable large delivery trucks that will be necessary to service a mega-hotel. This will be an exponential increase in wear and tear to the surrounding streets.
- VENTILATION AND NOISE POLLUTION: How will GPH account for the dramatic increase in venting/exhaust needs that are inevitable with such a large structure, including air-conditioning for 150 rooms? Currently, when GPH turns on their exhaust/ventilation system for an event, the sound that emanates and bounces back and forth between the surrounding buildings resembles a hovering helicopter. With a hotel and parking garage that will need constant ventilation, the non-stop noise pollution will be unbearable.
- WATER PRESSURE: The infrastructure of this neighborhood was built to sustain small homes, and it has not been improved or expanded to accommodate the increase in development. The addition of water usage from 150 hotel rooms, along with the thousands of people anticipated to be in and out of the GPH at any given time, will decrease the already strained water pressure for all in the surrounding area.
- SEWAGE: Again, as the infrastructure has not been expanded with the neighborhood, 150 bathrooms, along with the thousands of people anticipated to be in and out of the GPH at any given time, the effect on an already strained sewage system will be significant and hazardous.

- SANITATION AND HEALTH SAFETY: While it would be nice to assume that GPH would attend responsibly to the waste/refuse disposal from 150 hotel rooms, current experience does not attest to such a positive outcome. On windy days, a significant amount of trash, (Sysco boxes, food wrappers, etc.) blows down the existing parking lot into the adjoining parking lot on 16th Street and then out onto the sidewalk. In addition, neighbors of the GPH have filed complaints with the Board of Health because they do not have their trash picked up in a timely manner after events hosted by GPH, and the stench from this rotting trash permeates the area including people’s homes and backyards. There have also been sightings of rodents among the trash. If dumpers were to be located behind the 150 room mega-hotel, we can only assume that the population of vermin would increase accordingly. We are also concerned about the run off trash of thousands of people coming in and out of the GPH, who will not leave all of their garbage in the facilities of GPH. Mega-hotel customers will inevitably walk out to the streets, where garbage will be dumped in already overflowing street receptacles. Our taxes will have to be used to further subsidize the Department of Sanitation in it’s already backed up efforts to keep up with the over-flowing sanitation situation in this area due to the over-development that took place before the rezoning.

In conclusion, while we are not opposed in concept to GPH’s owners improving or looking out for their financial future, we are seriously concerned about the possible deleterious effects of their plans. If this project were to move forward, it will only do so after all the above concerns are properly and satisfactorily addressed, and after many more open and honest meetings with the community are conducted. That is, there might be many ways for the GPH to expand and thrive, which we welcome, without being done so at the expense of the surrounding community. We also request that the Environmental Impact Studies be conducted by an impartial engineering firm, which though paid for by GPH, would be chosen after review by one or more of the community groups that would be affected by the project.
Concurrent with our specific concerns regarding the effects of this project on our community, is a general feeling that any allowances made that go beyond the current building code and zoning resolution, be it spot-rezoning or variance, etc., would do nothing more than allow one entity to flout the hard-fought down-zoning laws for the sole benefit of said entity and will set a precedent for similar modifications to existing zoning laws state-wide or nation-wide. Most communities in this city have fought long and hard for rezoning which would prevent rampant non-contextual over-development. It will seem that some allowances, especially spot-rezoning, can be invented specifically to let those who are politically connected to flout the laws by which everyone else has to abide. We sincerely hope that this is a case where the merits of the argument, as opposed to connections and campaign contributions, will be the deciding factor that will benefit all those involved and affected.

Sign petition (LINK)

Previous IMBY Links:

The Grand Prospect Hotel and Parking Garage Presents Preliminary Plans

The Grand Prospect Hotel Flyer

Community Board 7 Responds to The Grand Prospect Hotel Presentation

16th Street Plowed After Snow

2011-01-27T10:17:00.001-05:00

16th Street Brooklyn

Memorial Baptist Church

Powdered Doughboy

2011-01-27T10:06:00.000-05:00

BAPTIZED BY FIRE

"DEDICATED TO THE MEN OF THE 14TH INFANTRY WHO WERE ENGAGED IN THE WORLD WAR 1917...1918"

Standing guard over the 8th Avenue entrance to the 14th Regiment Armory Sports Complex and Women's Homeless Shelter. Park Slope South, Brooklyn

Bronze Sculpture by Anton Scaaf Dedicated 1923

Windsor Terrace Two Family Membraned

2011-01-26T23:45:00.000-05:00

534 17th Street is a three story, two family house designed by Baxt Ingui Architects, PC. The architect of record is Benjamin H. Baxt Owner: Ellen Baxt This 20' x100' lot is zoned R5B. Building height is thirty feet.


Fenestration!

Before: Building Green For those of you familiar with the block's bucolic past, this is what you probably remember... This tiny brick ruin of a building sitting waaaaay back at the rear of the lot. A sixty foot deep front yard is certainly a bygone luxury.

Premeditated Deforestation

Predemolition

DIY Homebuilding.
Not to many two family homes being built from scratch these days in this part of Brooklyn. Not that much vacant land left to develop. Building new almost always means tearing down something old.

Community Board 7 Responds to The Grand Prospect Hotel Presentation

2011-01-24T23:20:00.001-05:00

Tree Sweater Weather

2011-01-21T10:02:00.001-05:00

South Slope: Sixteenth Street's tree trunks bundled up against the cold.

Resident Artist Laurie Russell

I've got a bad feeling about this.

2011-01-20T23:38:00.005-05:00

Windsor Terrace Edition, or should I say addition.

Troubled remudling job over in the heart of Windsor. This charming row of well maintained 1940 single family homes is located on 11th Avenue between 17th and 18th Streets in Brooklyn just a half block off the Prospect Expressway.

Rana Partners, LLC purchased the house, 1715 11th Avenue, in November 2008 for $510,000 and soon after filed plans to add on this second story in February of 2009. Looks like Stop Work Orders and building code violations for "Construction in Progress With Out Approved Plans" got this little project placed onto the Stalled Construction Site Hall of Shame back in April of 2010. Never fear, they have finally submitted plans for that 4 ton HVAC unit plopped up on the roof.

Here's my guess... Someone picked this house up at an estate sale under market with the big get rich quick idea of maxing out the FAR and flipping it... Pretty big mess for just an additional 515 sq. ft. of living space, no?

The nearly identical homes on this R5B zoned block stand just 14' tall and have vintage basement level garages, slate roofs, and rusticated brick walls. For flavor...

And now, The Official Paper Work... Click on image to expand.

The Grand Prospect Hotel Flyer

2011-01-18T19:07:00.000-05:00

The Grand Prospect Hotel and Parking Garage Presents Preliminary Plans

2011-01-14T01:44:00.016-05:00

Direct from last nights Community Board #7 Land Use/Landmarks Committee meeting held in the auditorium of P.S.10 Magnet School for Math, Science and Technology, IMBY presents The Grand Prospect Hotel and Parking Garage. Estimated crowd size, including CB #7 members, The Press, District 39 Councilmember Brad Lander and assorted concerned citizens... Lets say 50 people tops. General feelings openly expressed about the project, mostly positive.

The proprietor of the Grand Prospect Hall, Mr. Halkias.

Make their dreams come true, for a change.
Before we start, understand that these pre-preliminary architectural renderings are just that, very preliminary. They can and most likely will change. We're talking colored pencil here, not cinderblock. No actual Buildings Department filings have been made yet. No environmental impact, shadow or traffic studies have been executed. Soil boring tests haven't even been undertaken. What we are looking at then is what the developers, the Halkias', say is essential for their business' survival in the 21st century... What they want to continue to make their dreams come true, as they say in their flyer.

"Think of it as a magnificent cake with a cherry on top."
Dream if you may a magnificent garage... Four hundred off street parking spaces to be contained within five floors, one at cellar level and four more to be street level and higher. On top of the garage will sit the hotel, 166 rooms on seven additional stories to top off somewhere below 120 feet or eleven stories total, not including bulkheads and other permissible roof obstructions like AC chillers, cell phone antennas, and elevator control rooms of coarse.

This grand vision all depends on acquiring a crucial zoning variance upgrade from their current R6B residential zone. Possible requests may include a site specific commercial overlay up-zoning to C4-3, C4-D, or less likely C8-4.

A variance is a discretionary action by the Board of Standards and Appeals which grants relief from the use and bulk provisions of the Zoning Resolution to the extent necessary to permit a reasonable or practical use of the land. A variance may be granted, after a public hearing, when unique conditions on a specific parcel of land would cause the property owner practical difficulty and undue hardship if it were developed pursuant to applicable provisions.

In this case, according to their own lawyer, The Grand Prospect Hotel developers would have a hard time proving "undue financial hardship" in order to get a variance. GPH is a thriving business.

Public Review

Take a look for yourself at the pictures below and feel free to comment. I suggest you contact Mr. John Burns, the chair of Community Board #7s Land Use Committee directly with any questions or suggestions. Link to CB#7 email.
Public input is being welcomed at this point. You might actually play some small part in the way this turns out. Speak now or forever hold your peace.

One general impression is that some South Slopers are salivating over those 400 spaces. They would gladly live each day in the shadows if it meant there was a warm parking space awaiting their Volvos each night. My only wish is that Mr. Halkias and Doban Architecture understand that this new hotel building will essentially define our skyline forever.

Please don't make something shitty.

Grand Prospect Hall & The sunken Prospect Expressway below

The proposed 11 story hotel/garage is on the left. Existing GPH building on the right.

There's the gold, and then there's the shaft. GPH owns two homes along 16th Street it intends to demolish providing rear access to the parking garage. They are 188 and 190 16th St. Service and supply vehicles will enter the hotel from 16th St. as well. I do not recall seeing any rear elevation drawings present.

Grand Prospect Hall's current parking lot. Visible at back of lot, one and two family homes along 16th Street.

Current 16th Streetscape: The two homes to be demolished are on the far right. Left stranded in between driveways will be this recently restored/remodeled white 2 story wood frame house. Corcoran sold this house, 192 16th St. in 2007 for $1.35 million. From this photo you can see that at 2pm the low January sun casts long shadows into the middle of the street.
How far might the shadows extend from the 120' tall Hotel?

Post Script: I guess that when I wrote yesterday that the feelings expressed during the presentation were "mostly positive" I should have mentioned that there were a few people in attendance who voiced serious misgivings about the impact this new hotel will have on the already overburdened surrounding infrastructure. One individual in particular gave testament to how this section of the South Slope, 16th Street below 6th Avenue, is the ground zero for real property speculation. There are at least a dozen new buildings within a block's circumference. Hundreds of new units have or will soon be occupied straining an already taxed water, sewer, and electrical grid.

These new residents, with young children, generally more affluent then those before them, own automobiles. There is a perception by some that a serious shortage of available on-street parking spots exists now that did not exist a decade ago. This is the carrot that Mr. and Mrs. Halkias are holding out to our community in the hopes of garnering enough public support to get his zoning variance pushed through. They know the B.S.A. would never permit their project unless it had significant political muscle behind it. Here's one reason why the presentation was made... To judge the neighborhood's temperament. Otherwise they would have gone strait to the Board and made their appeal. Just a short five years ago, the South Slope had one of the fastest downzonings for any neighborhood in recent NYC history. The folks at The Grand Prospect understand the power the community wields and it seems neighborhood opposition to the proposed hotel/parking garage in it's current configuration is now mounting.

To be continued...

PBS Discovers Park Slope Armory

2011-01-06T22:53:00.003-05:00

Very nice look at the Park Slope Armory Sports Facility.
If you haven't been inside yet, here's what you're missing.

The City Concealed: Park Slope Armory

The City Concealed: Park Slope Armory from Thirteen.org on Vimeo.

Nuts in the Snow

2011-01-03T00:02:00.012-05:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR FROM IMBY

In My Brooklyn Backyard: Lunar Eclipse

2010-12-21T11:56:00.001-05:00

Total Lunar Eclipse
This is what I saw standing in my Brooklyn backyard on Tuesday December 21st, 2010 at 3:17 in the morning EST.
Latitude: 40.66208540915283 Longitude: -73.9831714332103

Park Slope Section of Brooklyn on Eve of Important Movement.

2010-12-19T23:14:00.026-05:00

Another IMBY W.W.W. Train of Thought Leaves the Station.

link: The Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide, February 3rd, 1917

Park Slope Property a Specialty

The author of this editorial article, Charles Edward Rickerson was in "Real Estate and Insurance" according to Empire State Notables, but I think he was essentially a well known Brooklyn broker operating in The Slope with an office at 227 Flatbush Avenue. The New York Times has about a half dozen paragraphs in their archives records listing his recent property sales. link The Real Estate Record has many, many, more listings where he leased prominent area townhouses.

I found this great hand written letter he had sent to then Brooklyn Borough President (1940-1961) John Cashmore, offering up the idea of using Ft. Greene Park as a possible site for a new Brooklyn Dodgers' stadium. If you recall, in 1957 Dodgers owner Walter O'Malley was threatening to move the team if they didn't get a new ballpark.

January 4th, 1957 Mr. Rickerson does the math selling Ft. Greene Park to Borough Pres. Cashmore. Link

Why not build a downtown Brooklyn Ballpark?

New York politicians reacted as effectively as possible to the threat of losing their team. A meeting that included the city’s mayor Robert F. Wagner, Jr., Brooklyn’s Borough President Cashmore, the New York City’s Construction Coordinator, and the Dodgers’ owner Walter O'Malley was held to investigate how to acquire the land just to the east of the intersection of Flatbush and Atlantic Avenues in downtown Brooklyn for a new ballpark. O’Malley indicated that the Dodgers’ had $6 million available to purchase land and build a new ballpark.

Of course we all know how this story turned out... We lost out to Los Angeles, and the honorable Robert Ferdinand Wagner II was elected to a third term, but hey, he got us fluoridated drinking water and the Mets.

History is funny.

Priceless memo below. Draw your own parallels.

February 6, 1957
Internal memo from Walter O'Malley Link

Take a look at this 1957 Dodgers Autographed Baseball,
Virtual Tour

COMMENTS?

My Latest Real Estate Porn Site Addiction

2010-12-17T11:23:00.002-05:00

The Real Estate Record & Builders' Guide

Architectural Voyeurs!

Columbia University Libraries Digital Collection has scanned 54 years worth of easily accessible NYC real estate related ramblings from the weekly gossip publication Real Estate Record and Builders' Guide.

I can't tell you how much time I've spent online, but it certainly was well worth shaving my palms.

...Of Mixed Structural Character

"South of Ninth street the structural character of Eighth avenue is extremely varied all the way to its end at Twentieth street or Greenwood Cemetery. The buildings comprise flats with stores, old fashioned brick and frame two and three-story dwellings, old brownstone fronts that have seen better days and what not."-from Varying Phases of Eighth Avenue, Brooklyn.

391 14th Street Development Site Changes Hands.

2010-12-16T11:49:00.004-05:00

As Is Post Demo: 391 14th Street is located within the proposed Park Slope Historic District expansion area.

APPROVED PLANS: FRONT, SIDE, AND REAR ELEVATIONS SHOWING PASS-THROUGH DRIVEWAY FOR EXISTING GARAGES. I ASSUME NEIGHBORING PROPERTIES HAVE EASEMENT RIGHTS...

TWENTY-FIVE FOOT WIDE SEMI-DETACHED TWO FAMILY DEMOLISHED IN THE SPRING OF 2008 AS SEEN HERE IN ITS FORMER GLORY.
YES, THAT'S A LEGAL (1940) CURB-CUT PRESERVATIONISTAS!!!

Still Building in the South Slope.

How about this. Looks like 391 14th Street, LLC has sold this site with approved plans for a 5 story, 5 dwelling unit building to 391 14th St. Realty, LLC for the sum of $950,000. The deed was recorded on ACRIS 12/14/10.

The new architect of record will be CHRISTOPHER T. MENZIUSO of the firm GRASSO-MENZIUSO ARCHITECTS. Anyone know of them?

DOB Building info.

Wall Street Journal Discovers Park Slope South

2010-12-11T22:11:00.005-05:00

We appropriated this entire article for your free reading pleasure.

Attractions Multiply in the South Slope

By SHELLY BANJO
Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal.

A YMCA sports complex opened last year in the Park Slope Armory in Brooklyn's South Slope neighborhood.

Brooklyn's trendsetters have flocked to Park Slope from the beginning of the borough's renaissance into an up-and-coming haven for young families and urban hipsters.

As the area grew in popularity, so did its real-estate prices. While much of that was driven by the northern part of the neighborhood, residents say the southern end of the section is well on its way to catching up.

Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal

New restaurants are moving into the South Slope. Thistle Hill Tavern, a gastro-pub, opened in October

Dubbed the South Slope, the area's boundaries are loosely defined as Ninth Street to Prospect Avenue and Fourth Avenue to Prospect Park West, which borders the 585-acre park.

"With a mix of housing options and an added slew of amenities that continue to pop up, the South Slope has just become more accessible," says Dennis McCarthy, a broker with Corcoran Group who lives and works in the area.

While real estate prices in Park Slope as a whole have increased, there are more affordable options in the South Slope due to the mix of housing stock in the area, Mr. McCarthy says.

Multi-million-dollar brownstones and carriage houses mix with older cooperative buildings and new boutique condominiums that continue to be built.

For instance, a 1,100-square-foot, two-bedroom apartment on 16th Street near Fifth Avenue is on the market for $649,000. A few blocks down, a $1.5 million three-story brick townhouse with seven rooms is for sale.

"There's something for everyone here," says Simon Feil, an actor who lives in the area with his wife and 3-month-old baby. He says the couple moved to the South Slope from Manhattan 2½ years ago because they "got priced out of the city."

Earlier this year, the YMCA opened a 144,000-square-foot recreation arena at the historic Park Slope Armory on 15th Street, a multipurpose athletic and educational center with a basketball court and track that underwent a $16.2 million renovation. In addition, eight classrooms were built apart from the recreation area for youth and family fitness classes, and other after-school, summer camp and community programs.

It's like a backyard for the community, says Sharon Tepper, a mother of two and owner of Brownstone Nannies Inc., a child-care referral service. As many as 80 strollers can be lined up at the armory on any given day, says Ms. Tepper, who moved to the South Slope in 2001 from downtown Manhattan.

Amy Sussman for The Wall Street Journal
Thistle Hill Tavern

"You don't even need to make a play date anymore—you just go to the armory and the whole neighborhood is there," she says.

Other amenities are on their way: The 103-year-old Park Slope Library, which closed in October 2009 for renovations to improve accessibility, is set to reopen next year. Meanwhile, construction continues on the lot of the old William Butler School for a new school for the area.

Priced out of the North Slope, new restaurants are moving south. Thistle Hill Tavern, a gastro-pub run by neighborhood residents David Massoni and chef Rebecca Weitzman, opened in October. Similarly, locals Peter Sclafani and his wife, Kristen Hallett, have been steadily expanding their mini-restaurant empire. They opened Provini, a European café and wine bar, last year, joining their nearby Italian restaurants, Bar Toto and Bar Tano.

"Restaurants aren't leading indicators—they're following indicators," says Michael Cairl, president of the Park Slope Civic Council, a volunteer neighborhood association.

"There's very little commercial space on the northern end for any price and entrepreneurs are going where they can find reasonably priced space."

Amid the development and revitalization of the neighborhood, Mr. Cairl says it's up to the residents to make sure Park Slope "preserves its existing character."

For that reason, Mr. Cairl is leading the Civic Council's efforts to expand part of the neighborhood's existing historic district designation to include eight square blocks between Seventh and 15th streets between Seventh and Eighth avenues.

"We don't want huge developments in the neighborhood or buildings that look out of place," he says. "Landmark designation will preserve Park Slope for future generations and allow the city and community to consider the amount of density the neighborhood could support."

The group was successful in 2003 and 2005 in lobbying the city to restrict construction of new buildings to 55 feet on the side streets and 70 feet on Fifth and Seventh avenues.

The city's Landmarks Preservation Commission is expected to make a decision on the area's historic district expansion in 2011.

Write to Shelly Banjo at shelly.banjo@wsj.com

From Cracking Coal to Cracked Wheat Salad: Whole Foods on the Gowanus Canal.

2010-11-30T10:57:00.004-05:00

Green Light for Whole Foods Market 201_?

1924 THIRD STREET AND THIRD AVENUE's INDUSTRIAL PAST
The Gowanus Canal extended outward to Fourth Avenue. You can click on the photos to enlarge. Notice the coal yards and baseball stadium across the street.

By 1951, a block long section of the Canal had been filled in.

1996

2006

2008

2010 Google Earth View

2010
That little brown cube positioned on the corner of Third Street and Third Avenue is the landmarked New York and Long Island Coignet Stone Company building.

South Slope Stoop Series: Companion Urns

2010-11-19T19:22:00.002-05:00

18th Street

Rim Jacked in the Slope.

2010-11-07T21:27:00.001-05:00

Photo Denton Taylor

19th Street between 8th Avenue and Prospect Park West. Neighbors say they have come across this scene at least 4 times in the last few months. This past Spring thieves hit 16th Street between 7th and 8th Avenues leaving the vehicle similarly stranded on four plastic milk crates.

K.O. for South Slope's O.T.B. Horsey Set Landmark

2010-11-05T17:15:00.036-05:00

South Slope's Clubhouse Closed

Historic 493-495 5th Avenue and 12th Street. Looks like removing the stench of 30 years worth of remorse required a total gut right back down to the floor joists.

OTB Bankruptcy nydaily news link:
Mayor Bloomberg is right to fight Gov. Paterson's plan to stick city with OTB debts

How landlords can win big betting on OTB to lose.
The Real Deal

Stalled Site 400 15th Street Sold. Construction permits renewed.

2010-11-02T14:28:00.018-05:00

400 15th Street. There are currently 708 stalled sites in NYC, 326 in Brooklyn alone. LINK

Rendering: Corporate Design of America

Short Sale?
Good news for Fifteenth Street... It appears that the construction-troubled, stalled out 2004 condominium development located at 400 15th Street has been sold. According to ACRIS, a deed in lieu of foreclosure was filed between the developer 400 15th Street LLC, their bank Capital One Bank N.A., and the new buyer, Fox Reality Properties LLC back in July. The transfer documents indicates an amount of $3,831,159.61
(A Deed in lieu of foreclosure is a deed instrument in which a mortgagor (i.e. the borrower) conveys all interest in a real property to the mortgagee (i.e. the lender) to satisfy a loan that is in default and avoid foreclosure proceedings.)

The building was originally listed back in April 2009 by Maximillion Realty, Inc. for $5,599,000.

The new owner, Sarantos Plagianos, has hired the architect Cherico King, AIA of the firm KCC Architects, PLLC to complete the mothballed job. Applications have been filed and permits renewed. They will be replacing the original architect of record Robert J. Palermo of the firm Corporate Design of America, P.C. It will be interesting to see if there is any reworking of the original design. As the building stands now, it is nothing more than a two story cinder block shell on a poured foundation. No new DOB paperwork has been posted on the construction fence yet.

Grandfathered?
Existing approved plans call for 18 dwelling units within a 5 story, 53' tall structure. Fifteen off street /basement parking spaces are planned (4,200sft). There is no rear yard setback.

VESTED by BSA

"Despite unyielding community and elected officials’ opposition through three months of Board of Standards and Appeals hearings, Tuesday June 20, 2006, the BSA voted unanimously to grant the financial hardship appeals of two South Slope/Greenwood Hts. properties, 400 15th St. and 639 Sixth Ave.
The Board also unanimously rejected both properties’ BZY (foundation substantially complete) applications.

The developer/owner of the property, Gennady Borokhovich, managing member of 400 15th St. LLC is now able to continue building under the properties’ previous R6 zoning, which was changed to R6B on November 16, 2005." -From the South Slope Comunity Web Page Archives.

This job is not subject to the Department's Development Challenge Process
It appears that the approved plans can be transferred, but does anyone know if there is a statute of limitations for their grandfathered R6 zoning variance issued by the BSA?

400 15th St. Disaster Area: One of my favorite photos from the IMBY Archives... Collateral damage to 396 15th St.

Hey Fox Realty, Please be a good neighbor and introduce yourself to the many adjoining property owners on 16th Street who have been waiting patiently for the last 6 years for their rear yards to be repaired...

Demolition of the Hamilton Avenue Department of Sanitation Marine Transfer Station

2010-10-30T20:40:00.026-05:00

Solid Waste Management at The Mouth of the Gowanus Canal, Brooklyn, NY

What's going on here? Demolition of the existing decommissioned Hamilton Avenue Marine Transfer Station continues prior to the construction of a future, state of the art, containerized waste facility designed to process 4,290 tons per day (rising to 5,280 tons per day during emergency conditions) of municipal solid household garbage.

MAKESHIFT:
After 53 years of operations, Staten Island's Fresh Kills Landfill closed in 2001. It was then that NYC began using expensive, privately owned, land-based trucking companies to transport our garbage to new landfill sites farther and farther away. In the future, at least for the next 20 years, long haul trucks are out, barges and trains are back in.

The conversion of the Hamilton Avenue MTS is one of four proposed waste management facilities identified as part of NYC's Solid Waste Management Plan - NYC Department of Sanitation long term waste export program. All solid waste transfer and containerized activities will take place within the fully enclosed building. The new facility is designed for the transfer of solid waste from collection vehicles into sealed and leak proof containers for export by barge and rail. All solid waste transfer and containerization activities occur within a fully enclosed, negatively pressurized, air scrubbed, building. The facility is authorized to operate 24 hours a day, Monday through Saturday; closed Sunday, except for public emergency.

Prepare for Garbage Daze
The site is accessible from truck routes including the Gowanus Expressway, Prospect Expressway, Hamilton Avenue, Third Avenue, Fourth Avenue, 20th Street, and Prospect Avenue. The facility is designed to accommodate 36 low sulfur burning collection vehicles per hour. A maximum of 5 trucks are anticipated to have to queue on the entrance ramp at any given time. The ramp will be able to accommodate up to 10 trucks at a time.

In addition to the construction of a new facility building, the city proposes to dredge the adjacent waterway to allow for barge operations, bulkhead reconstruction, and to remove the existing over-water ramp and platform.

www.flickr.com

imbyblogspot's Gowanus Canal Superfund Site photoset

Local Truck Routes and Through Truck Routes with numbered exits surrounding Hamilton Avenue MTS facility. Take note Twentieth Street residents.

Food for thought... Related Links:

Municipal Waste Management:Focusing on Replacing Trash Trucks with Sealed Rail Containers, Improving Air Quality and Reducing Truck Traffic on Hudson River Crossings.

Nathan Kensinger Photography: Gowanus: Hamilton Avenue Marine Transfer Station

About Sunset Park Material Recycling.

Freshkills Park Blog

"Here Comes the Garbage Barge!" Red Nose Studio

South Slope's Ajami Organic Hooka Lounge Goes Up in Smoke

2010-10-28T22:19:00.003-05:00

This place really had no hope of ever succeeding on so many levels. link

I don't think City Councilman Vincent Gentile's proposed legislation to extend the current city wide ban on indoor smoking to include hookah bars, had anything to do with Ajami's closing.

South Slope Double Rainbow

2010-10-28T08:57:00.001-05:00

A rainbow!
Looking East as the sun sets over our shoulder, the corner of Windsor Place and Seventh Avenue in the South Slope.

photo by Aaron Brashear

Scientists beleive they know how rainbows are formed...

But do they reeeeeeealy know.

Lia's Ices Closed

2010-10-21T14:52:00.001-05:00

Lia's Ices and Gelato on 16th Street

FOR RENT
In the past, they tried to make it through the off season by selling soup. The space is just steps from the F Train subway entrance and across the street from Farrell's Bar and Grill. Any ideas as to what the neighborhood needs?

7th Avenue Retail: Lactation out, Cyclery in.

2010-10-20T10:42:00.007-05:00

718 Cyclery, Inc. to open new South Slope storefront "collaborative-build" bike retail and workshop space at 461 7th Avenue. Opening day November 12th, 2010.
The previous tenant, Boing!, the two year old breastfeeding outpost and babywearing sling sanctuary, has closed. Their other mother store, Boing Boing is still in business though.

One of a Kind, Hands on Passion.
The wizard of 718 Cyclery is Joseph Nocella, a LEED Accredited, Registered Architect who works for Skidmore, Owings and Merrill in New York City. He also teaches at Pratt.

Below, Joe explains his idea of the collaboratively built bike.

"In addition to the bike itself, you are learning how to put it together/maintain it. It will be 100% unique, no one else on the planet will have the same bike. Dollar-for-dollar, component-for-component, the bike you build with us will be a better bike than one pulled off the rack at a store or dropped in an online shopping cart."

Feel the Love

You can check out 718 Cyclery's 5 Star reviews on Yelp!.

Make an appointment for a consultation here. LINK

Statue of the Blessed Virgin Mary

2010-10-15T11:14:00.003-05:00

17th Street Virgin

Hail Park Slope South Apocalypse

2010-10-11T21:56:00.002-05:00

9:15pm @16th Street, Park Slope South
Micro-F'ing Storm Burst Reported, again.

Stroboscopic lightening bolts... Extremely wet rain... Violent wind gusts up to 500rpm... Hailstones the size of a angry toddler's fist... Bugaboo Frogs falling from the sky...

Millerton, NY October Diptych

2010-10-10T21:05:00.005-05:00

birch bark

pink pail

NYC Department of Buildings Enhances Violations

2010-09-14T06:37:00.003-05:00

Editor's note: The entire IMBY staff has returned from UPSTATE, emerging from it's silken chrysalis, (unpaid summer vacation) now transformed, ready and willing to report as usual to our 9 loyal world wide web subscribers.

The NYC Department of Buildings has enhanced its online Building Information System (BIS) to make your Environmental Control Board violation information more accessible to enquiring minds.

Now when you visit a "Property Profile Overview" page for a particular address, let's say 824 Friel Place in Brooklyn, and click on "Violations-ECB (DOB)" you are directed to a new, much more information packed "ECB Query by Location" page.

You will be able to view an entire summarized list of all ECB violations issued to the property, DOB Violation status, respondent info, ECB Hearing Status, Violation dates, Infraction Codes as well as any ECB penalties due. Clicking on the highlighted "Infraction Code" above the violation type will automatically download a PDF containing a "Penalty Schedule for ECB Violations".

A new guide at the bottom of the page defines terms, severity levels by class, and violation and hearing status terms. Fun Times.

So, from the example above, it looks like 824 Friel Place has 24 open-non compliance building violations. The respondent, JUST HOMES LLC, has defaulted on all 24 hearing dates and now shows a total penalty due of $151,500.00.

Park Slope Jewish Center breaks ground.

2010-09-13T00:01:00.012-05:00

Landmark 1927 Park Slope Jewish Center
1314 Eighth Ave. @ 14th Street

Brewer & Hauptman Architects

Garden Expansion

"This project explores options for the expansion of this historic Brooklyn synagogue onto an adjacent vacant site. The program includes a new accessible entrance with a spacious lobby and support spaces and a future social hall. The study proposes a new design for the original steep front steps to provide a more gracious and comfortable entrance." From the Brawer& Hauptman Architects' web site. link

You can make a donation to their Capital Campaign Fund or just keep up with the progress being made on their ungoing restoration/ construction work by following the link below.

PSJC Capital Campaign Blog

Upstate Landscapes

2010-09-12T16:13:00.004-05:00

Pine Plains, New York Intersection of Church and Main Streets.

Stone wall Skunk's Misery Road Millerton, New York.

Shroom of the Week, Oh Boy.

2010-09-12T08:12:00.000-05:00

Elaborate Fruiting Bodies.

This bracket or shelf fungi (Phylum Basidiomycota) sited on a living tree while driving along Skunk's Misery Road in Millerton, New York. click on photos to enlarge

The Mushroom Observer

Upstate Landscapes

2010-09-10T16:25:00.002-05:00

The Silent Clown Dutchess County Fair

Silos 'n Shrubs Hudson Valley Rail Trail

Shroom of the Week

2010-08-18T22:39:00.000-05:00

Definitely not in the South Slope.

(Laetiporus sulphureus) Commonly known as the "Chicken of the Woods".