Wrecking Brooklyn MMG Style

Late night mechanical demolition of 406 15th Street by our gang over at the Armory Heights Plaza. This audaciously unsafe job was signed off by the Buildings Dept. despite overwhelming protests by neighboring home owners at the time.


Brian Kates of the Daily News writes about our friendly home wrecker Ms. Grasso and her Staten Island based demolition company, MMG Design, or MMG Construction or what ever it's being called this week. Mr. Kates figures she owes the city something like $1.4million in unpaid vile-lations. Ms. Grasso doesn't recall owning a demolition company.




She's infamous over here in the south Slope, especially on 15th and 16th Streets.

Apparently, according to ECB records, MMG works without permits. MMG forgets to officially notify the neighbors when they are to start work. MMG doesn't post their contractor identification info out on the construction fence. Maybe because MMG doesn't know how to build a fence that will actually support the DOB paper work and remain standing for any length of time. MMG doesn't provide workers with safety equipment and harnesses. MMG uses unlawful scaffolding and uncertified workers to install scaffolding. MMG works against DOB stop work orders. MMG works on weekends and after hours. Housekeeping? The sites are often crowded and piled high with combustible debris.

Sidewalk sheds? Dumpster permits? MMG doesn't use any means of dust control. MMG will often use a back hoe with out proper mechanical demo permits. MMG fails to safeguard neighboring persons and property. MMG routinely forgets to water proof adjoining properties after exposing their side walls and foundations to the elements.

And now we find out that MMG does not pay their fines.
Check out for your self. Posted in numerical order, by address, a few of MMG's ECB violations. Feel free to send me any I missed and I will add them to the list.
Because the Devil is in the Details...
5 Roebling Street
11 Frost Street
156 16th St.
156 16th St.
156 16th St.
156 16th St.
172 Skillman Avenue
172 Skillman Avenue
172 Skillman Avenue
186 Green St.
187 23rd St.
187 23rd St.
187 23rd St.
187 23rd St.
187 23rd St.
178 15th St.
178 15th St.
182 15th St.
182 15th St.
202 8th St.
202 8th St.
202 8th St.
202 8th St.
202 8th St.
206 N. 12th St
206 N. 12th St.
206 N. 12th St.
206 N. 12th St.
206 N. 12th St.
206 N. 12th St.
224 16th St.
228 16th St.
228 16th St.
277 19th St.
277 19th St.
335 Greene Avenue
335 Greene Avenue
339 Greene Avenue
390 14th St.
390 14th St.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
546 4th Ave.
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
568 Union Ave
781 Dekalb Ave.
781 Dekalb Ave.
950 St. Johns Place
950 St. Johns Place
1154 45th St.
1156 45th St.
1463 E. 8th St.
1653 E. 2nd St.
1653 E.2nd St
1653 E. 2nd St
1653 E. 2nd St
1653 E. 2nd St
1653
1653
1653
1653E. 2nd St.
1824 E. 4th St.
3360 Shore Parkway


Other construction related stories by Brian Kates.


"So many ways to beat the system

And few places have witnessed it more often than south Park Slope."

"A rare victory for residents over shameless deception."


"Danger & ripoffs are on the rise

How hot construction biz brings a black market, scams & death."


"Sitting helpless as damage continues."

She's back!

Big shout out to fellow Brooklyn Blogger One More Folded Sunset who 
on more than one occasion, enlightened me.

Betty Rubble is back. 
She's been called a house wrecker of ill repute, the royal mother of illegal mechanical demolition-her drag queen names might as well be Miss Blanche DeBris or Miss Eva Destruction- but most South Slopers know her simply as Marie Grasso, MMG Demolition Inc. the  ECB unpaid fine scofflaw-ess.

This time she's the documented Superintendent/Site Safety Manager for Best Buy Demo, Inc.  The 2010 start up company NYC permitted to complete the hand demolition of 315 12th Street in the South Slope.  Not sure how someone with a herstory of blatantly disregarding the well being of the public and its property can be licensed as a site safety manager.... One of the many  requirements is to "Have good moral character so as to not adversely impact upon your fitness to perform the duties and responsibilities" of a safety manager.
  

Ms. Grasso's MMG Demolition Company is famous for what DOB leadership refer to as having a "disruptive business model".   According to ECB violation records, MMG works without permits. MMG forgets to officially notify the neighbors when they are to start work. MMG doesn't post their contractor identification info out on the construction fence-Maybe because MMG doesn't know how to build a fence that will actually support the DOB paper work and remain standing for any length of time before falling over and breaking pedestrian's collarbones.
MMG doesn't provide workers with safety equipment and harnesses. MMG uses unlawful scaffolding and uncertified workers to install scaffolding. MMG works against DOB stop work orders. MMG works on weekends and after hours.
Housekeeping? The sites are often crowded and piled high with combustible debris. Sidewalk sheds? Dumpster permits? MMG doesn't use any means of dust control. MMG uses contaminated fill.  MMG will often use a back hoe with out proper mechanical demo permits. MMG fails to safeguard neighboring persons and property. MMG routinely forgets to water proof adjoining properties after exposing their side walls and foundations to the elements.

Laid Over

Site Deconstruction Supervisor Grasso actually had the honor of having a Bad Actors bill named after her-"The Grasso Bill"- introduced by Councilman James Vacca (D-Bronx).  Int. 0379-2010 is a Local Law proposed to amend the administrative code of the city of New York. It sought to bar the city from granting permits to contractors and developers who have outstanding fines, civil penalties or judgments greater than $25,000.  These ECB charges or fines can be from a variety of sources not just Buildings violations.  Currently the DOB can't with hold permits for unpaid fines, but they could if they were given the power to. 

 Unfortunately, after testimony from just about everybody from ConEd to Big Real Estate and the Construction Industry the bill was "tabled" in 2011 as being too complicated to enforce and to disruptive to the forward economic progress of our great City.  That leaves hundreds of millions of dollars of ECB debt uncollected.  Here's a proposal for ECB fines generated during new construction...Deny issuing Certificates of Occupancy to any new building with any unpaid judgements against them.   

click to engorge, Marie Grasso on the job

 Up on the roof of 315 12th Street, a worker dismantles.

IMBY Archives:  Wrecking Havoc-A partial list of unpaid fines can be found here.

Link to testimony Committee on Housing and Buildings  INT. 0379-2010

MMG DeConstructive Criticism

Stopping Work
Demolition has begun on 390 14th Street by Staten Island's own Mother of all Destruction, Marie Grasso and MMG Construction.
A STOP WORK ORDER for failure to safegaurd the public and property had been issued on 10/30, then...
a PARTIAL RESCINDED STOP WORK ORDER to remove debris and secure the site was issued on 11/02...
then on the same day according to information on the B.I.S. web page, the STOP WORK ORDER was fully RESCINDED. That's some pretty fast "paper" work and an excellent job at keeping the wrecking ball rolling. So fast that they didn't even have time to post any of this official documentation out front on their construction fence as of yet, including the original demolition permit. I wish we could get that kind of service from the D.o.B. but then maybe we aren't as good of customers as MMG is. Can anyone explain what happened to the DoB violation? I'm not sure how these kind of things work.

Wrecking Havoc

Here's a company, a house wrecker of ill repute, who's bad record precedes itself. If Ms. Lancaster, and her Department of Buildings is serious about "disrupting the business models" of bad girl companies that routinely, blatantly, disregard the safety of the public and property, why not start by suspended MMG's ability to secure new permits in Brooklyn until further notice.

Brownstoner "More Shenanigans at 339 Greene Avenue"

Park Slope Courier- "2 Hurt, Yet 16th St. Demolition Continued" by Charles Hack

Starting from a clean asbestos-free slate.
Once the 25'x100' lot, with its existing two story wood frame house, is cleared the owner and developer 390 Sim Development LLC, has plans to build a 4 story, 47' tall residential building with 6 units of housing.

Sitting helpless as damage continues

BY BRIAN KATES
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER 

 

Monday, May 28, 2007, 4:00 AM

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Work next-door has heavily damaged his property, Anthony Ciccone says.

See also:

• So many ways to beat the system
• A rare victory for residents over shameless deception
• Building Boom-Doggle Part 1

Anthony Ciccone's Ganmar Electronics has been at 224 16th St. in south Park Slope, Brooklyn, since 1972. With a condo going up next-door, his building shows cracks in the brickwork and stains from flooding in his basement.

"It was like a faucet coming through the wall," he said. "There was half a foot of water on the floor. I had to move all my equipment out."

Ciccone has sued the new condo's developer for $1 million, claiming sloppy work on that foundation "weakened and undermined" his property and allowed water to leak in.

Louis Tufino, who owns a house at 232 16th St., said his basement has "an inch gap in the floor and a big hole in the backyard where it's sunk." He also blames work at 226 16th St.

Back on Feb. 15, 2006, two construction workers at that address were rushed to New York Methodist Hospital when a 10-foot wall collapsed on them during demolition.

Last year, the city Buildings Department cited the developer, 16th St. Development Corp. LLC, for failure to comply with a stop-work order and for working without a permit. Twice, it issued violations for failure to safeguard public and property.

Department records also show $10,000 in unpaid fines at the site.

The agency concluded that the demolition work was being done in "an unsafe manner" by MMG Designs, a Staten Island-based company that has a record of violations in the neighborhood.

For example, at 166 16th St., MMG employee Alfonso Cruz fell from the roof and was injured. His employer was cited for "failure to carry out demolition in a safe and proper manner." The violation noted that there was "no fall restraint system."

The company also was cited for illegal demolition at 182 15th St., a condo that was cut to half its planned size after a massive neighborhood campaign.

MMG owner Maria Grasso did not return a call for comment.

 

Daily News Reporter Brian Kates has written extensively on Brooklyn's construction boondoggle.

390 14th Street breaks... ground.

BK Developers Inc. /390 SIM Development LLC/ Mark Zeldin

Another infill development is under way on 14th Street just below the brand spanking new Park Slope Armory Sports Facility in Brooklyn's far South Slope. The proposed 47' tall, 4 story+cellar+attic masonry building will have 6 dwelling units contained within 7,000sq.ft. This is a R6B zoned, 25' wide lot between 7th and 8th Avenues.






































That's it.
The off-white house with the 2nd floor deck, and large tree was recently demolished by MMG Contracting, Inc. The tree was also removed in the process.
Here are two "before" photos taken of the now demolished unattached wood frame home in all its glory. You can see that the back yard of 390 14th runs perpendicular and behind several 7th Avenue properties. These unattached frame houses sitting on 25' lots are very attractive to developers looking to build luxury condominiums. When it comes time to clear the way MMG Contracting is the "go to gal" for the Zeldin Empire.
























Complaints?
Excavation, of some sort, has begun. There are already a few complaints from the neighbors who find the contractors a little careless. Inspectors from The Department of Buildings are having a difficult time gaining access to the construction site to witness the damages first hand. Maybe the DoB's Forensic Unit will have an easier time at it later on down the road.
The red brick building in the background? That's 359 15th Street of course, in its more concentrated form.

Just for the hell of it... Not that it matters... $7,500... Two defaulted E.C.B. violations from our old friends at MMG Contracting.