Saturday, January 13, 2007

What Stop Work Order?

Another problem at 59-27 69th Street/69-06 59th Road in Maspeth. This used to be a one-family house with a large yard. Now it's two (self-certified) 2-family houses. Also, the beginning of the new driveway on the right starts not at the curb, but at the sidewalk, at the site of what was a street tree. Early one Sunday morning, a group of workers came and removed the tree with a chain saw. No permit, no worries. A DOB stop-work order has existed on this property since 2005, however, the buildings were completed in 2006 and now have "for sale" signs in front of them despite the fact that they have no certificates of occupancy.

The properties are also advertised for sale for $699K and $799K on the developer's website: Plaza Homes

This is a block that is chock full of Queens Crap as evidenced by the houses to the right of the corner house. Who's buying this crapola? And a better question - does anyone believe that these are really two-family houses?

This shouldn't be a problem for the developer. They may simply file for the permits after the fact and maybe pay a small fine and DOB will pretend like none of this ever happened.

10 comments:

Anonymous said...

The slap-on-the-wrist fines have to stop. DOB says 'oh, well, its already there now so I guess we have to allow it.. that will be $50 please' It sends a clear message that obeying the law is just optional.. it's a polite request.. a recommendation. Illegal buildings should come down or the developer pays fines of six figures or more. Repeat offenders should be banned from receiving new permits and face jail time. Otherwise the city will become overrun with feces like this.

Anonymous said...

Someone should start a vigilante group with a bulldozer and just rip some of these things down in the middle of the night. Since the laws and codes don't matter anyway and builders do what they want, we should just do what we want.

Anonymous said...

Now boys, behave yourself. Starting a vigilante group to rip down "butt-ugly" mostrosities would constitute an act of "architectural terrorism". These clusters of sardine cans (to be later divided into dormatories?) are sorely needed throughout Queens to house the "illegals", prostitutes, drug dealers, and oh yes, maybe a couple of "real" terrorists! Wev'e got 2 "private clubs" in my neighborhood (one was a brutal murder scene) that have since been connected by an underground tunnel! What do use suppose may be going on in there? Do you think that ICE (Immigration & Customs Enforcement) might do a better job of finding out than the DOB or the local cops?

Anonymous said...

So, we have a dozen or so weekly and daily papers covering Queens. Common, guys, lets see if you can report on this in the same loving fashion that you report on development projects?

We don't want to relegate your free paper to the bottom of bird cages, do we?

Anonymous said...

I tried to put a copy of the "Courier" in the bottom of my Parrot's cage but I had to quickly remove it! He wouldn't stop screaming, "Tacky rag...tacky rag...tacky rag"!

Anonymous said...

Sounds to me like you need to give your bird some sneps to calm down.

Anonymous said...

I tried substituting all of the other Queens weekly papers to line the bottom of my Parrot's cage but he won't "go" on these either! He keeps on saying, "Full of poop....full of poop"! He doesn't think much of the dailies" either! I'm going to try some of those real estate hand-outs next.

Anonymous said...

How about some city planning studies? No, better not. They are already full of sh*t.

Anonymous said...

Uureka! I found a solution to my Parrot's problem! Somebody just informed me that during England's war with Napoleon (1812) that likenesses of Bonaparte were the subject matter most often painted on the bottom of "chamber pots" so that "gentleman" might relieve themselves upon his image! Who's picture might you suggest as appropriate for the bottom of my bird's cage?

Anonymous said...

I can suggest at least a dozen developers and politicians. Let me think about it and I'll get back to you!