From the Daily News:City officials have sued a Cobble Hill homeowner because his crumbling historic brownstone and neighboring carriage house are dangerous and could collapse.
But Henry St. homeowner John Quadrozzi claimed the unwieldy city bureaucracy has delayed his renovation efforts for years.
The walls of the 1852 brownstone are badly cracked and there are holes in the adjacent stable's roof; city officials have warned Quadrozzi to quickly fix the hazards.
The Landmarks Preservation Commission took the unusual step of filing a lawsuit against Quadrozzi this month because the vacant buildings are in the Cobble Hill Historic District and must be kept in top condition by law.
The suit charged Quadrozzi has "failed to maintain these historically significant buildings in a state of good repair despite repeated requests," over four years.
The commission is seeking immediate repairs and fines of $5,000 a day dating back to March 2009.
A lawsuit is a weapon rarely used by the commission, but it was seen as a last resort to save the rundown relics, a commission spokeswoman said.
Quadrozzi landed on the Landmarks Preservation Commission's radar in 2001 when he began a pattern of submitting incomplete paperwork for work permits.
The concrete mogul denied he has neglected the properties, insisting he's made repairs to shore them up and surrounded the three-story house with protective netting and scaffolding.
But he's also racked up $25,900 in unpaid Buildings Department fines for the unsafe conditions and for working without a permit.
1 comment:
Can anyone see LPC sueing for anything in Queens?
Interesting.
No only is the landmark law unfairly applied to wealthy areas (although the program is supported by taxes paid by everyone) but it seems to be applied differently in different areas.
Ummm ...
aren't there laws on the books banning both these things?
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