In July of 2004, a crew descended on this odd-shaped triangular building at the intersection of Gettysburg St, Braddock Ave and 92 Rd (224-50 Braddock Avenue) and started demolishing first the interior, then the exterior. By the time DOB showed, most of the exterior walls were town. ALL WITHOUT PERMITS.
Besides the illegal demolition, and the construction fence constantly falling down and, in some cases, totally blocking the sidewalk (this is one block away from Public School 33), the workers continued.
It was only after the construction company, Erin Construction, was caught, did they decide to file for a new building permit. This is something none of these developers want to do, that means higher taxes.
It took months for DOB to come out and inspect for the illegal work being done despite the Stop Work Order. They finally came to inspect after the SWO was rescinded, with no indication about how all that work managed to get done anyway.
Considering that it's such an odd-shaped lot, there really isn't much that could be done with it. It's just too bad the architectural details that were used on the second story residential addition weren't also used on the commercial section down below.-RSD
3 comments:
Looks like it's going to be an ugly news stand or convenience stop.
The message to all builders from DOB seems to be.......Go ahead and break all the laws you want......by the time we catch you, it's built and we won't ask you to tear it down! Pay us a few dollars in fines and all is forgiven. We live in a completely lawless wild west of a borough!
Is it not interesting that, up until recently, even a small building of utilitarian function had at least vestigial elements of style and distinction.
It looked pleasing to the eye.
Today, everything is brutal, ugly and above all, cheap. The understanding is that, as the surrounding community is filled with passive morons, anything you do to their community is ok.
If they don't like it, they can move. Others, desperate for anything, can take their place.
That is a bit chilling. A borough filled with desperate people happy for anything.
Once that becomes the prevailing wisdom, it will never attact anything to improve it.
And it will never change until swept away by urban renewal.
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