The building does not have a residential certificate of occupancy, but that is not the immediate problem. The immediate problem is the broken sprinkler system, city officials said. The repair and partial installation, the city said, could take three months. So residents resolved to hasten the process. Twenty people updated plans for each 12,500-square-foot floor. An architect from the sixth floor, Bart Javier, digitally compiled the data to send to the landlords’ engineer, for review for the city, a crucial step in getting the sprinkler in.After Evacuation, Artists Begin an Effort to Save Their Brooklyn Haven
The hope was that the city would allow residents back in as the system was repaired. After all, the building’s floors were concrete and fireproof, and the standpipes worked again. Local politicians urged the city to bend.
“We’re sorry you were victimized,” Deputy Assistant Chief Edward Kilduff, the Brooklyn borough commander with the Fire Department, told residents at last week’s meeting. “But in an age of accountability, we’re not taking any chances.”
Mr. Brach, one of the landlords, was devastated by the crackdown, tenants said. He is also losing money. By New York standards, rents at 475 Kent are reasonable but not cheap, ranging from $1,000 to roughly $4,000.
“It was a pure loss for him in every way, a sheer disaster,” said Xan Price, a filmmaker who lived on the seventh floor. “He was sitting with his head in his hands, sobbing.”
Excuse me while I wipe the tear from my eye after reading about the financial straits of the greedy landlord who illegally converted his industrial building into housing, failed to maintain it, put hundreds of people's lives in danger and is responsible for their current state of homelessness.
Photo from NY Times
5 comments:
Thank you honest Ed Kilduff,
a member of our homeowners organization.
Some people cannot be bought off.
And this commander in the FDNY
is exemplary .
Don't blame him for doing his job.
You "artists"
knowingly broke the law along with your landlord
and will have to find new digs.
Sorry about that, no exceptions here.
It sets a bad precedent .
If NYC "looks the other way" on this issue,
it won't be long before they bend the laws on some
other much more serious matters!
“But in an age of accountability, we’re not taking any chances.”
--------
Maybe the NYFD can take over the DOB.
I call bullcrap on the FDNY and DOB. There are at least five buildings within SIGHT of 475 Kent that are similar situations.
If the city were to enforce these rules uniformly and fairly across the city, thousands would be homeless.
Finally, the FDNY had been inspecting the building for the last 10 years. Did they really 'find out' on a Sunday night that problems existed?
greedy landlord who illegally converted his industrial building into housing, failed to maintain it, put hundreds of people's lives in danger.
Landlord & tenants equally are to blame for their troubles.
But don't cry so hard yet for the landlord, in fact the landlord is getting such volumes of press that I am sure when this blows over, his noticed building will bought out hansomely for it's location and conversion possibilities.
However, a little jail time and a huge fine would prevent future thoughts of repeating this practice.
"Artists" often store potentially toxic
and flammable materials on site.
It's about time the city didn't offer a blanket OK
for these kinds of very dangerous conditions.
Bravo!
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