BSA overrules DOB

The city's Board of Standards and Appeals has reversed a 2006 Department of Buildings ruling that allowed two extra floors to be built on top of two East Village tenement buildings. The BSA ruled that the additions to the five-story buildings, at 515 East 5th Street and 514-516 East 6th Street, violate the state's Multiple Dwelling Law in regard to safety and elevator requirements. Adding the two floors requires the landlord, Benjamin Shaoul, to install elevators in the rent-stabilized buildings, which he has not done.

Appeals board says extra floors in East Village buildings are illegal