Christopher was recently in Fresh Meadows on 185th Street near Union Turnpike. He took a look and the driveway is shared and doesn't even have space for a car to fit into the garage anymore.
And look at the bricks - they are just laid right in front of the neighbor's garage. And they just accept that?Ladies and gentlemen, all this can be yours for $1.3 million!
17 comments:
These rows of expansion post WW II Cape Cod houses may not be architectural masterpieces but the image of a nicely scaled charming neighborhood is pleasant to live in and walk through. When somebody takes one of these and butchers it, to create a mega monster, they show a brutish disregard for their neighbors! These abortions are too big, in proportion, to the land they squat on. It's like putting a big nose on a tiny face!
This house screams tenement and its back yard, once an oasis, is now a parking lot.
We are noticing that more and more cars are being parked in common entrance ways to garages, or they are being blocked by things like steps, as in this example.
This is a clear violation of fire regulations, as firefighters need access to the building during an emergency.
Once again, money trumps safety, the press is quiet, and the public is passive.
Thank you, Queens Crap.
If that's a shared driveway, that other homeowner should immediately check to see if there are any restrictions on the deed to prevent the partial blockage of that driveway.
Does anyone have an address on this property?
"This is a clear violation of fire regulations, as firefighters need access to the building during an emergency."
I don't believe that's true. If it was, all attached homes would be illegal.
Please come up with the appropriate rules to validate your comment.
The last poster is incorrect. You can't block a driveway, period. You can get a summons for parking in your own driveway, not because of the inconvenience to the people who may park in the back, but because it's a fire hazard. That exact scenario happened to my neighbor and he lost while fighting the ticket because of the fire code.
I respectfully disagree.
Please check with your neighbor to get the law that was cited when he received the summons, so I can follow up on that. I would love to know which city agency issued the summons, and what part of the law he was in "violation" of.
Thank you. I hope this isn't too much of a hassle.
I wish I could ask him, but he's buried in Mount Olivet Cemetery. I remember him telling me the story, however. He was a very animated little fellow.
I'm very sorry to hear that.
I've heard similar stories, and it turns out they've all had one thing in common - an unregistered vehicle in the driveway, and that's what the owners were all cited for.
Patty didn't have an unregistered vehicle. He had a 15 year old caddy and he parked it in the street but it was so big that he blocked his own driveway, for which he got a ticket. He told me that when he went to the judge/mediator, he said, "but it's my own driveway" and the person told him it didn't matter, blocking a driveway was not allowed because it prevents firemen from accessing the back of the house in case of a fire.
Sorry, your neighbor got yanked by the mediator. Blocking a driveway is legal, as long as the vehicle is registered at that address. Many times an officer will ticket a vehicle for that, but the ticket can be defeated. It won't be the first time that a homeowner has gotten the shaft by an ECB "judge."
What you offered wasn't proof, unfortunately. I still stand by my assertion that parking a car in a driveway is not a violation of any fire code.
How about parking a car in a common area or drive behind a number of houses?
It seems that its a growing bad habit (or greed) that home owners no longer rent just their garages and back yards, but also this common area. It makes it not only difficult to park your car, but in the case of an emergency the area is effectivly blocked.
I've never had to deal with common alleys or driveways in any of the places I've lived, but personally, that would drive me crazy.
First one person parks back there in front of his garage, then another, soon, it's damn near impossible to navigate. Especially if it snows, I imagine.
Look, it might appear that it's going to be a fire hazard by parking cars in many common areas, but the vast majority of times, a fire truck isn't going to come close to fitting in there anyway.
It's best to argue the true points against certain types of overdevelopment. Using "fire hazard" because a fire truck can't get in weakens the argument. Blocking a common driveway is simply obnoxious. It may be a civil matter between neighbors, that's all.
Look at the huge steps on the side of that house. Or is that the front of the house. Can't tell, really. That restricts the neighbor's access to his own garage. That's why I think it's a violation of some deed restriction.
Unfortunately, the DOB doesn't look at deed restrictions. The neighbor probably has to take the other neighbor to court.
Being a fire hazard has nothing to do with a truck getting into the alley. It has to do with the fire personnel not being able to get past obstacles to douse the flames and evacuate people.
Then if SUVS and the like are parked around a building and jammed in a driveway area that should be clear, they will get in the way of firefighters and are clearly a hazard.
Anything that unnecessarily blocks emergency personnel (for example, an SUV parked where it shouldn’t be and getting in the way of them removing a stretcher) should not be permitted.
It certainly blocks the driver’s view and contributes to accidents and possible bodily harm.
Ah, I know the work of the listing realtor. No surprise here.
The side staircase is just inconsiderate. So the cars are all supposed to drive over the neighbor's side? I wonder how the elected officials would feel if this was their driveway?
This "do as you wish" development is really getting out of control. The developers and construction people should really be drawn and quartered. Individual taste and style is one thing, but such blatant disregard for neighbors and other's property should be severely punished.
The steps could be there for safety reasons, so you never have to worry about opening a side door into an oncoming vehicle.
Also the house may be square and geometric, but it offers the largest interior space possible.
Look, .....let's keep it simple folks....people burn when firefighters can't easily access the property. Do we all understand and agree with each other now? It's a tragedy in the making.......a fire hazzard. End of story!
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