314 12th Street Ordered to Stop Work.

"Hereby ordered to immediately stop all work at the above premises, because of a Violation of Section BC3301.2 of the Administrative Code and/or the Zoning Resolution of the City of New York or because work was being performed in a dangerous or unsafe manner."

Violation # 073108CEX02AD5 7/30/2008
DOB Property Profile
IMBY Development Watch: 314 12th Street


















































314 12th Street back in February before demolition.

I Love Lucy's Vegas Style Auto Spa.

Conveyorized Tunnel Wash-n-Ride
This is a good place to get your boat washed while visiting the dearly departed in the Green Wood Cemetery. It's right across the street. It's also one of the few places left that still allows you and your whole family to remain seated in the car while it's being cleaned. I always take my kids along for the ride and ask for the "extra specials por favor" not included in your basic wash. For a few bucks more they will squirt two crazy streams of pink and turquoise mystery fun foam on your front windshield. I'm not really sure what it is that I'd just paid for, but it definitely adds to that over the top visual presentation that I require from both my automobile hygienist and nouvelle cuisinartist.
At or should I say in Lucy's Vegas Auto Spa, nothing is going to be served up on a bed of coddled baby greens. No homemade ginger infused tire dressing. You get lathered cream sauce, heavy handed pools of soapy cream sauce.
Elsewhere in the pampered Park Slope, Mommy and Me Organic Car Wash Classes are being ergonomically taught straight out of Martha Stewart's Plating Handbook, but not at Vegas Auto Spa, and not my kids. They're getting their car washed Old World Wisconsin Salad Style. That's an entire head of ice burg lettuce served severed in two the same way Lucy washes my car... Slathered over in creamy chunky blue cheese dressing, and generously garnished with loads of dime sized bits of real bacon. Brushless wash? Synthetic boar's hair vent wands? Chamois? We simply don't need no stinking chamois!
Get Armor All'ed While-U-Wait $4.95
Warning: Watch Your Step! When you and your loved one's eventually get out of your car at the down stream vacuuming station, (that's extra) be prepared. The asphalt has acquired a very slippery glazing of sorts (not unlike the kitchen help in a Red Lobster seafood restaurant) from all the years of detailing chemical over spray.

Hint: Hard time keeping the little ones busy while the technicians finish vacuuming? Put their tiny fingers to work fishing the loose change from the debris clean out containers. Usually find enough for a Happy Meal.

There's no place like home: 338 22nd St. in the Green Wood Heights

“If I ever go looking for my heart's desire again, I won't look any further than my own back yard. Because if it isn't there, I never really lost it to begin with.” Dorothy—"The Wizard of Oz."

My heart's desire currently includes elaborate role playing scenarios involving vibrant Komatsu Excavators, their hydraulic bucket arms fully extended, resting in emerald fairytale-like bucolic settings. Of coarse my fetish isn't totally satisfying unless I'm also wearing my blue-and-white checkered gingham cotton pinafore dress just like the one little Judy Garland wore in the Wizard of Oz...

Technicolored
Peeping through roughly hewn, um, peepholes, gosh that's just extra frosting on my big ol' red velvet cake. Not sure if I am willing to share with you just yet how all these empty cat food tins fit into the bigger picture...

Maybe it's your turn to share now. Cowardly Lion guy, you first.

585 6th Avenue starts a diggin'.

Clean Fill Awaits>Excavation begins on new 24 unit building.

As seen on 6th Avenue: Tractor trailer trucks line up this morning.




IMBY LINK: 585 6th Ave. DOB property profile.

"A peek inside the "Virtual Folder" of 585 6th Avenue"

Stop Work Order Lifted at Armory Plaza.

Back to work for the Armory Plaza Players. Seems everything has been resolved to the Brooklyn Department of Building's satisfaction and they have rescinded their Stop Work Order. The architectural plans have been corrected to show the lot line windows and I believe enough tests were done on the section of the foundation wall in question to settle the "tangent piles not in line with grade beam" question.

Cinder Blocked

400 15th Street Progress Report: Street wall shot. The red brick building on the far left is what remains of the Rojas Bakery, 404 15th Street, which currently has two living units over a commercial garage/bakery space. The side lot line windows of the two apartments are currently being bricked over. On the far right is 396 15th which was severely damaged during the construction of the new building's foundation and had to be extensively rebuilt. The front and side facades had to be removed and then replaced from the ground up. There are Stop Work Orders violations for both 396 and 404 in place currently.

















One down, one to go. Side windows being cinder blocked over.





















An old photo showing the the underpinning of 404 15th and the new poured foundation for 400 15th St. There is a single story extension in the rear of 404 that had to have its old brick wall completely removed and replaced with cinder block.














This older photo of the new building from the rear shows the building's enclosed parking garage which will be accessible from a ramp on 15th Street. There is a also a cellar space below this level that raises a few feet above grade.



















The back yard space covering the parking garage below.















It looks as if this 2nd story rear yard area will be used as a private terrace for the future condo apartments. This is a only a guess, but it looks as if the rear facade will be setback to the point where the cinder block wall begins to rise along the shared side lot line.
Just Wondering
If you recall this developer won his financial hardship appeal before the Board of Standards and Appeals after the rest of the south Slope was down zoned to R6B. (400 remains grandfathered in under the old R6 zoning rules.) Does anyone know if they have some kind of variance allowing for this kind of total lot coverage? I am referring to the 18 +/- foot high cinder block wall built on the rear lot line of the adjoining 16th Street properties. Could it be that they are not building as tall as they could under R6 in exchange for more lot coverage? Are there any rear yard requirements? Does the 30' set back rule still apply for this type of enclosed parking facility?

Unbuilding 406 15th Street?

On June 2nd 2008 a complaint #3266938 was registered with the Department of Buildings regarding: SIDE WALL OF NEW BUILDING APPEARS TO BE ERECTED OFF FOUNDATION WALL.

The next day, June 3rd, after the building was inspected a FULL STOP WORK ORDER violation was served.
Inspector Gregory Harris made these comments at the time:
"LOT LINE WINDOWS, TANGENT PILES NOT IN LINE WITH GRADE BEAM AS PER APPROVED PLANS SWO RESCIND BY.BORO COMM. APPROVAL"

DOB Violation #060208C0701GH / 247309


It appears that the ongoing DOB audit of the Armory Plaza building may be finding some inconsistencies. It now appears there is quite a bit of work needed to bring the building into compliance... on paper. Does this mean the newly amended plans retro-actively justify the as-built current structure? As for #8 on our list (lateral load resistance), they couldn't possible be talking about the remedial bracing installed in the backyard of 1502 8th Avenue could they? If so, will this structure be permanent?
The STOP WORK ORDER remains in effect.

POST APPROVAL AMENDMENT FOR DOCUMENT 03 ------------------ * PROFESSIONALLY CERTIFIED * ----------------- AUDIT: C - OPEN ISSUES 06/25/2008 Last Action: PLAN EXAM - APPROVED 07/02/2008 (P)

REVISED DRAWINGS SUBMITTED HEREWITH TO INDICATE THE FOLLOWING:
1. RELOCATION OF COLUMNS ON ALL FLOORS.


2. OFFSET OF EXTERIOR WALL 7' FROM FOUNDATION WALL.


3. CHANGE OF LOAD BEARING MASONRY ELEVATOR AND STAIRWELL WALLS TO STEEL FRAMED BRACING STRUCTURE.

4. REDUCTION OF NUMBER OF 1ST, 2ND AND PORTION OF 3RD FLOOR.

5. CHANGE OF LOAD BEARING MASONRY FRONT WALL TO STEEL FRAMED STRUCTURE.
6. ADDITION OF MACHINE ROOM AT A 1ST FLOOR LOCATION.

7. MODIFY ALIGNMENT OF TANGENT PILE FOUNDATION WALL FOR THE 12FT EAST-WEST RETURN PORTION FROM THE EASTERN PROPERTY LINE. THE LINER WALL AT THIS LOCATION WAS THICKENED FROM 4 INCHES TO 14 INCHES.

8. DIAGONAL ANGLE BRACING STRUCTURE ADDED TO FRONT EXTERIOR WALL FOR LATERAL LOAD RESISTANCE OF BUILDING.

In my back yard: Bumble Bees

Utopiary
This year has been a surprisingly spectacular one for our tiny Brooklyn back yard cottage garden. For some reason, our Mini Versailles is performing above and beyond all our wildest expectations. All season long the flowering bulbs and pernnials have consistantly looked down right magnificent, despite the lack of personal involvement on our part.

This past Spring with all the construction related damage to the garden's hardscape, we regretfully threw in the trowel, or the spade, or whatever gardeners throw in right before they give up and call in the cement truck and/or the nearest Astro-Turf dealer. Anticipating THE END TIMES were near, we just stopped gardening. Two green thumbs down, way down.

But now of coarse, seeing that she is growing so well on her own, we couldn't not help but to start and pull some weeds, stake up the occasional droopy stem, and cut back those invasive Flowering Quince suckers. Other than these last inning minor interventions, our own private Eden has been thriving on neglect.

Even our prized, mathematically precise topiary ring, composed of 8 miniature boxwood spheres (rigorously maintained in the past by thrice annual manicures) is more or less maintaining its meticulous geometry. Except for a single wayward patch of white Echinacea that has jumped the broken brick path and gone ahead and wedged itself between two of these tiny shrubs, every bush is staying out of each others way, and keeping their branches to themselves.

Perennial Drumstick Alliums by the dozens have attracted all manner of flying insects. Bees, hornets, and wasps fill the airspace above this purple patch like the skies surrounding Laguardia Airport on a Thanksgiving weekend.

During the early afternoon it's possible to count at least a half dozen Bumble Bees with in a single square yard of blossoms. They seem to prefer the nectar of the Coneflower and the newly opened Hosta blooms to anything else.

Fuzzy Wuzzy
You can click on any one of the photos below to enlarge. Check out the pollen grains attracted to the electrostatically charged hairs covering the bee's fuzzy body parts.

Green Anoles on Vacation

From a detail of Gian Lorenzo Bernini's sculptural master piece The Rape of Proserpina.

Below, a mating pair of Anolis Carolinensis.

From the NYTimes: Audit Says DOB Follow-Up on Buildings Is Lacking

Reposted from the NYTimes

Audit Says Follow-Up on Buildings Is Lacking 

By SEWELL CHAN 



The city’s Department of Buildings, which has already been the object of intense scrutiny over fatal construction accidents and accusations of corruption, is facing more criticism.
On Tuesday, City Comptroller William C. Thompson Jr. released an audit finding that the department had repeatedly failed to make sure that hazardous conditions were fixed. Among the notable findings:

 ¶The department failed to reinspect 20 percent of the properties due for reinspection as part of its Hazardous Re-inspection Program, because inspectors could not gain access to the properties.

 ¶The department failed to reinspect 5 of 14 buildings with three or more still-open hazardous violations for more than 11 months. The buildings were selected as part of its Multi-Hazardous Re-Inspection Program.

 ¶The department has not strengthened its existing programs or used its power to issue building permits as an effective enforcement tool.

 “It is simply unacceptable that D.O.B. has permitted buildings with multiple open hazardous violations to go un-inspected for years,” Mr. Thompson, who is expected to run for mayor in 2009, said in a statement. “Even by D.O.B.’s admission, these are the worst cases, yet it has stood by and let the violations go unchecked and put New Yorkers at risk. The Department of Buildings’ violation enforcement is crucial to ensuring that buildings in the city are being constructed safely and pose no risks to area residents.”

 The audit found that the department’s efforts to follow up on violations “were less than adequate not only because of deficiencies in the execution of its programs, but also because the agency is limited in its ability to compel property owners to remedy violations on their property.”

For example, in September 2007, the department issued 1,449 hazardous violations citations through an entity known as the Environmental Control Board.

Follow-up inspections found that 845 properties had no new violations, while 312 of the hazardous conditions still existed, resulting in additional citations. For the remaining 292 violations, inspectors could not gain access to the properties.

Mr. Thompson’s office found that inspectors left the required form, requesting that the property owner call the department to reschedule the reinspection, for only 100 of the 292 properties.

Mr. Thompson said the department should ensure that inspectors are leaving the forms and do more to follow up on the buildings in question.

 The auditors also looked at the department’s Multi-Hazardous Re-Inspection program. The audit reviewed 14 buildings that had at least three hazardous violations still open during the time period studied. The citations had been issued from September 2003 to December 2004. Of the 14, eight had corrected the violations, and six had yet to be resolved.

 Of those still unresolved, as of March 2008, the department had not taken any action for 11 months since at least April 2007 for five of the six buildings. In one case, the last recorded action was in October 2005 — two and a half years earlier.

Finally, the auditors examined the department’s self-certification audit program, which requires that 10 percent of randomly selected properties be reinspected. The audit found that the department did not check on compliance for one-third of the 1,628 self-certifications randomly selected.

Furthermore, of the 31 cases in which the department did find violations that were not corrected, it “took no further action and did not issue false certification violations against 17,” or 55 percent of the cases.

 In a response, the department said it had already begun to carry out the 11 recommendations of Mr. Thompson’s report, saying, “The content of these recommendations has helped the department review and strengthen our procedures."

A peek inside the "Virtual Folder" of 585 6th Avenue

Plans have been partially approved with the DOB to begin developing one of the last remaining vacant pieces of open land in the south Slope, the large parking lot located at 585 6th Avenue. You can expect a 5 story, 32,719 square foot building with 24 housing units on this R6B zoned lot. With various setbacks and bulkheads, that somehow turns out to be more, but never less than, the 50 ft tall height restriction . There will be balconies. There will be off street parking.
The architect will be FELIX TAMBASCO from the Brooklyn firm SEARS TAMBASCO ARCHITECTS, PC.




































The oath an architect takes when their work is to be Professionally Self Certified:

I HEREBY STATE THAT I HAVE EXERCISED A PROFESSIONAL STANDARD OF CARE IN CERTIFYING THAT THE FILED APPLICATION IS COMPLETE AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS, INCLUDING THE RULES OF THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS, AS OF THIS DATE. I AM AWARE THE COMMISSIONER WILL RELY UPON THE TRUTH AND ACCURACY OF THIS STATEMENT. I HAVE NOTIFIED THE OWNER THAT THIS APPLICATION HAS BEEN PROFESSIONALLY CERTIFIED. IF AN AUDIT OR OTHER EXAM DISCLOSES NON-COMPLIANCE, I AGREE TO NOTIFY THE OWNER OF THE REMEDIAL MEASURES THAT MUST BE TAKEN TO MEET LEGAL REQUIREMENTS. I FURTHER REALIZE THAT ANY MISREPRESENTATION OR FALSIFICATION OF FACTS MADE KNOWINGLY OR NEGLIGENTLY BY ME, MY AGENTS OR EMPLOYEES, OR BY OTHERS WITH MY KNOWLEDGE, WILL RENDER ME LIABLE FOR LEGAL AND DISCIPLINARY ACTION BY THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS AND OTHER APPROPRIATE AUTHORITIES, INCLUDING TERMINATION OF PARTICIPATION IN THE PROFESSIONAL CERTIFICATION PROCEDURES AT THE DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS. LOT A.K.A. 591 SIXTH AVENUE.

Hope for the best, prepare for the worst.
Here at IMBY, I can think of no better time, from an adjacent property owner's point of view at least, to have to endure the construction of a new building next door to your home. The level of protection being provided by the Department of Buildings is probably at it's highest in years. Foundation, excavation and underpinning work of course is still the most critical time in the whole process, but at least you can be reassured that if your house starts to wander from it's old foundation, you are only a phone call away from having the DOB's special team of forensic engineers come to your rescue and issue a stop work order, and another, and another, and another, until the foundation contractor finally gets it right.

Hertzberg Charged

THE NEW YORK TIMES IS REPORTING:

Engineer Is Charged in Fatal Wall Collapse

By SEWELL CHAN

Published: June 20, 2008

A licensed engineer was charged Thursday with filing fraudulent plans with the city’s Department of Buildings in connection with a Brooklyn construction site where the collapse of earth and debris killed a day laborer in March.

The owner of the site was indicted on June 12 on manslaughter charges in connection with the collapse. The charges come at a time when the authorities are placing intense scrutiny on construction safety after a string of fatal accidents at building sites.

The engineer, Abraham Hertzberg, 86, of Kings Point, N.Y., faces nine first-degree counts of offering a false instrument for filing, a felony. If convicted, he could face up to three years in prison on each count.

Mr. Hertzberg’s lawyer, Kevin Keating of Garden City, N.Y., said his client would plead not guilty. “The D.A. conceded in court today that Abe Hertzberg has no responsibility for the tragic death of this individual,” Mr. Keating said. “He was not charged with manslaughter or any other charges like that.”

According to the Brooklyn district attorney, Charles J. Hynes, William Lattarulo, the owner of the construction site, hired an architect in 2005 to design plans to build a laundry at the site, at 791-793 Glenmore Avenue in East New York. The architect subcontracted the work to Mr. Hertzberg, a professional engineer with Sanchez Associates.

According to the indictment, Mr. Hertzberg had previously lost his authority to self-certify architectural designs and used a stamp belonging to his partner, Louis Sanchez, to certify them in Mr. Sanchez’s name. He also placed Mr. Sanchez’s signature on several documents filed in support of Mr. Lattarulo’s applications for building permits, according to the district attorney.

At the time, Mr. Sanchez was recovering from a severe brain injury and “lacked the physical ability to review or certify architectural designs,” Mr. Hynes’s office said Thursday in a statement.

After getting the necessary permits, Mr. Lattarulo began construction of the building. On the morning of March 12, a worker, Lauro Ortega, 30, was digging the foundation in a trench beside a house that Mr. Lattarulo also owned. The laundry’s foundation was to be much deeper than that of the house, requiring that the house’s foundation be underpinned to prevent a collapse.

According to the authorities, Mr. Lattarulo was warned by a consultant that the new foundation was unstable. Instead, the authorities said, Mr. Lattarulo told Mr. Ortega to keep digging.

Moments later, part of a wall from the house collapsed and spilled rubble onto Mr. Ortega, killing him. A second worker was injured.

Last week, Mr. Lattarulo was charged with manslaughter in the second degree, criminally negligent homicide and reckless endangerment in the case.

Robert D. LiMandri, the acting buildings commissioner, said in a statement on Thursday: “We will not tolerate anyone who puts the safety of others at risk by filing false documents and deliberately misleading the buildings department. Today’s arrest demonstrates that those who do so will face serious consequences.”

Related IMBY posts:

"Proven Disciplinary Actions from the Department of Buildings"

"Crossing the i's and dotting the t's... catching up on the paper work."

Company Hired to Test Concrete Faces Scrutiny

NY TIMES
By WILLIAM K. RASHBAUM
June 21, 2008

Manhattan prosecutors are investigating whether the leading concrete testing company in the New York area, Testwell Laboratories Inc., which has been hired to measure and analyze the strength of the concrete poured at some of the biggest construction projects in the city, failed to do some tests and falsified others, officials involved in the inquiry said on Friday. LINK

Angela Gheorghiu and Roberto Alagna to perform in Prospect Park

Metropolitan Opera: Live in Prospect Park Friday, June 20th, 8 p.m.

What you all doing Friday night? Opera anyone? I HEARD THE FIRST 35 PEOPLE IN LINE GET A FREE COUCH!
What could be more adrenaline arousing than an evening spent under the Brooklyn moon and stars with your wife and kids in the middle of a public park, after dark? I don't know, maybe for some of you the novelty has already worn off.

In any case, the clover is in bloom, the fire flies are out, and I have just enough stamps on my SLOPE CELLARS wine club card for a bottle of just about anything under $20 bucks, so time to pack up my blankets and picnic basket and head on over to Prospect Park. I won't forget my Boy Scout knife/corkscrew either like last time. (No twist tops tonight honey.)


"That's right, buy 12 and get a 13th for 99 cents."
Everyone knows that the true opera fanatics always sit way up in the cheap nose bleed sections, but Friday night all the seats are the same price, FREE. Two of opera’s biggest personalities, soprano Angela Gheorghiu (FHM magazine ranks her at number 74 in its '2006 World's Sexiest Women' chart) and tenor Roberto Alagna, will perform together on the Long Meadow Ballfields on June 20 at 8 p.m., together with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Chorus. This year's Prospect Park concert is anticipated to be one of the Metropolitan Opera’s largest outdoor concerts in company history. They're expecting an audience of 100,000!
If you miss this opportunity, you'll have to wait until New Years Eve and the Met's gala premiere of Puccini’s La Rondine. >Expect to pay a little more.

"Bleeding chunks" program planned.
The happily married couple of Gheorghiu and Alagna will sing popular arias and duets by Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti, Massenet, and others, conducted by Ion Marin.
Gheorghiu and Alagna will perform on a larger-than-normal super mega stage, surrounded by six jumbo-tron like video screens that will be strategically placed throughout the Great Meadow to maximize the viewing experience.










































Looks like they are prepared for an overflowing crowd as the Jumbo-Tron screens and speaker towers are being set up at a great distance from the actual performers. The way things are being staged, concert goers can enter just about anywhere along the Park Slope side of the park to find good seating. If you want to be close to the stage arrive at either the Park's 9th St. or 15th St. entrances.
>Tourists, just take the F train to the 7th Avenue/9th St. stop and walk uphill for two blocks.

325 20th Street: Contractor gets "Lynched"...again

"Failure to Provide Adequate Protection."


Surveying the damage to the back yard garden at 327 20th Street. Looks as if the shoring may have failed, leading to the cave-in and yet another Stop Work Order for Tao Construction, Inc.
A "brief" DOB history of 325 20th Street

2-16-2008 CALLER STATES THAT THE NEXT PROPERTY OVER HAS AN EMPTY LOT AND HAS DONE SOME DIGGING THAT HAS PUT HIS PROPERTY IN DANGER OF COLLAPSE AND HAS CAUSED SOME DAMAGE FOR THE PAST MONTH OR SO. BUILDING SHAKING/VIBRATING/STRUCTURAL STABILITY AFFECTED.


2-18-2008 STOP WORK ORDER VIOLATION SERVED FOR NON-COMPLIANT AFTER HOURS WORK. DOB VIOLATION ISSUED FOR FAILURE TO CARRY PERMITTED WORK
DOB Violation #:021708CNE01GA


3-17-2008 FULL STOP WORK ORDER SERVED
FAILURE TO PROVIDE PROTECTION TO ADJ PROPERTY 321 20 ST. FOUNDATION WALL HAS CRACKS/BRICK FACADE HAS CRACKS.

3-18-2008 ECB Violation Number: 34630176L TAO CONSTRUCTION INC.
Infraction Codes: B32 27-1032 FAILURE TO PROVIDE PROTECTION AT SIDES OF EXCAVATION

Description of Violation:
STOP ALL WORK. FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY PROTECT THE SIDES OF AN EXCAVATION CARRIED TO A DEPTH GREATER THAN 5 FEET NOTED: @ TIME OF INSPECTION,
UNDERPINNING COMPLETED ALONG # 327 & # 321 2O STREET AND A SHEER CUT AP

3-18-2008 ECB Violation Number: 34630177N TAO CONSTRUCTION INC .
Infraction Codes:
BP6 27-147 WORK WITHOUT A PERMIT - HAZARDOUS
STOP ALL WORK. WORK W/O A PERMIT. NOTED: @ TIME OF INSPECTION CONSTRUCTION SITE. UNDERPINNING COMPLETED ALONG SIDE LOT # 327 & # 321 20 ST ( JOB# 310087713 APPROVED FOR UNDERPINNING ONLY) JOB SITE WITH FOOTINGS IN.

3-26-2008 321 20th Street: BUILDING SHAKING/VIBRATING/STRUCTURAL STABILITY AFFECTED. LARGE CRACK IN FOUNDATION AT FRONT OF BUILDING . WINDOWS ARE ALSO SLANTING.
DOB Violation #032808CEX01MP

3-28-2008 VIOLATION SERVED PRE-EXISTING CRACKS AT 321 20th STREET BUILDING HAVE WIDENED DUE TO CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY AT ADJ. LOT

4-1-2008 BOROUGH COMMISSIONER HAS ISSUED A 10-DAY LETTER OF INTENT TO REVOKE APPLICATION NUMBER 302331616 ON 03/27/08. ISSUE DOB STOP ORDER & NOTE THE PERCENTAGE OF WORK COMPLETED.

4-5-2008 ECB Violation Number: 34643620L TAO CONSTRUCTION INC
Infraction Codes:
BL8 27-1009(A) FAILURE TO SAFEGUARD PUBLIC / PROPERTY EFFECTED BY DEMO.
Description of Violation:
FAILURE TO SAFEGUARD PUBLIC & PROPERTY AFFECTED BY DEMO OPERATIONS. UP
ON INSPECTION AT 325 20TH ST 2 STORIES BLDG IS DOWN, SITE IS GRADED, CONTRACTOR IS ASKING FOR SIGN OFF ON DEMO, ADJACENT PROPERTY 327 20TH ST.

4-10-2008 PARTIAL STOP WORK ORDER LIFT TO INSTALLED RAKERS ONLY.

4-13-2008 REMEDIAL SHORING WORK UP AGAINST 321 20th ST. ONGOING TO SAFE GUARD BLDG

5-13-2008 ECB Violation Number: 34630308Y TAO CONSTRUCTION INC
Infraction Codes:
B34 27-1031 FAILURE TO PROTECT ADJOINING STRUCTURES DURING EXCAVATION.
Description of Violation:
(A)(B) FAILURE TO ADEQUATELY SUPPORT ADJOINING GROUNDS AND STRUCTURES
AFFECTED BY EXCAVATION. NOTED: AT TIME OF INSPECTION. A STOP WORK ORDER IN EFFECT V#031808CEXOINDC ISSUED ON 3/18/08. PILES DRIVEN AGAINST

5-14-2008 FAILURE TO COMPLY WITH STOP WORK ORDER.
- BUILDING VIOLATION ISSUED FOR FAILURE TO OBEY STOP WORK ORDER
Comments: SHORING FOR SUPPORT OF EXCAVATION COMPLETED AT EXP 2/4 UNDER PINNING WORK IN PROGRESS FOR BLDG AT EXP4
DOB Violation #:051308CEX01NDC

6-6-2008 FULL RESCIND OF STOP WORK ORDER. ALL PLANS WERE AMENDED AND ALL REMEDIAL WORK HAS BEEN COMPLETED AS PER SEP/EXCAVATION UNIT


6-11-2008 311 Complaint: CALLER STATES THERE IS CONSTRUCTION GOING ON AT THE LOCATION GIVEN & DAMAGE HAS BEEN DONE TO THE NEIGHBORING PROPERTY (THE BLDG & BACKYARD) ADJACENT BUILDINGS - NOT PROTECTED

6-11-2008 DoB Violation served #061208CO701RH

6-12-2008 FULL STOP WORK ORDER SERVED
FAILURE TO PROVIDE ADEQUATE PROTECTION AT SIDES OF EXCAVATION. DUE TO INADEQUATE PROTECTION PARTIAL COLLAPSE OF ADJACENT"


6-13-2008 "UPON INSPECTION, INSTALLATION OF SOLDIER PILES WAS VIEWED TO BE CONTRARY TO APPROVED PLANS. STOP WORK ORDER SEP/EXCAVATION UNIT
Contractor ordered to fill in and make level excavation.
















As Seen in the NEW YORK TIMES: "From Cracks to Falling Cranes, a Big Job for Building Inspectors"

321 20th Street: DOB Crack monitors installed over cracks in front facade.




















Thanks all those who contributed photos used in this post. -IMBY

Prospect Park Hawk Makes a Killing

That dark shaped object on the far right is the hawk. From the safe distance of the foot path, you could actually hear what sounded like bones crunching as the pigeon's corpse was being torn into shreds. During the 15 minutes that I watched the hawk eat his lunch, he never seemed distracted in the least by the small group of children and their caretakers who had stopped to behold the curious sight.

Which reminds me...Anyone see the White Squirrel around the Harmony Playground lately? Last time I saw him was last Fall. Let's hope there was no fowl play surrounding his disappearance. Maybe he moved back to the Midwest.







































City Birdwatching Links:

www.urbanhawks.blogs.com

www.yojimbot.blogspot.com

Brooklyn's Memorial Baptist Church Photo Tour

Memorial Baptist Church
1506 8th Avenue, Park Slope Brooklyn. LINK

Our post on Saturday, June 07, 2008 "Special Enforcement Needed to Save Brooklyn's Memorial Baptist Church: Recent Crack Comparison Data is in." focused on the very real physical threat to this century old church building. This week we see just what's at stake. Just what do we have to lose?















































8th Avenue Triptych




































The Choir Balcony, with it's sliding stained glass doors seen in their closed position.























The crazy quilt floor of the balcony. tiers illuminated by the light from the setting sun.




Pastor Stephen Christopher, in the organ loft.














The Pipes














































The W. B. Williams Co. 1894



Organ Stops (levers on the right and left) are identified at the Console by the names of the pipes that they control. So the Stop that controls the Open Diapason rank has "Open Diapason" inscribed on the Stop Knob. Also inscribed is a number that corresponds to the length in feet of the longest pipe within that rank, so that the organist has some idea of the pitch. link























The Wind Indicator. Why not Wind-icator?


Interesting passion...
The New York City Organ Project.