Before
After
Several weeks ago, a construction fence went up around 156-10 32nd Avenue, a quiet block in Broadway-Flushing across the street from Bowne Park. The house's new owner, Jian Wen Zhu, had recently applied for an alteration permit known as an "ALT 1" which specifically states that over 50% of the building must be retained, including the basement or cellar. In other words, an alteration permit means just that: an alteration to an existing building, not a new building.
Two days later, the building was more than 50% demolished; within another two days, almost the entire building had been removed, except for two exterior wall stubs.
Paul Graziano, candidate for the 19th Council District, had contacted the local homeowner association as well as State Senator Tony Avella, and wrote a "Zoning Challenge" to the Department of Buildings, as it was clear that the architect on record, Ling Li, had self-certified a project that violated the R1-2A zoning - New York City's most restrictive - which covers much of Broadway-Flushing.
After a series of 311 calls were made and official complaints were lodged by residents of the area, the Buildings Department sent an inspector, who stated that 'No violation warranted for complaint at time of inspection; site is fenced, gated and secure with permits posted and current for ALT 1 - no workers on site.'
"This was an outrage," Graziano stated, "as the complaint that was filed with 311 called for a Stop Work Order, as the demolition for the house far exceeded what an ALT 1 permit allows and the permit itself should not have been granted as the floor area was over what is allowed under the R1-2A zone. The 311 operator had listed that the complaint was concerned with safety, and the Buildings inspector responded to that instead of what they were supposed to."
One week later, the Department of Buildings finally responded to the correct complaint, after much pressure from Senator Avella, Graziano and local residents. On Thursday, July 18th, a Full Stop Work Order was served to the owner for demolition contrary to approved plans. However, the contractors at the site continued to work on Friday, July 19th and Monday, July 22nd.
On Monday morning, Graziano and a resident involved with the homeowners association confronted the foreman of the construction crew - which numbered at least a dozen - and engaged him in a heated exchange which lasted for more than 10 minutes. The foreman stated that he was allowed to work and "do maintenance" to the property, and that they hadn't done anything wrong. When pressed as to why there was a Stop Work Order and they were still working, he stated that "the house had some extra rot in it so we had to take down more of it than we thought." He followed this statement with a discussion about how this was America and it was the owner's right to build what he wanted.
That afternoon, again pressed by Senator Avella, Graziano and the homeowners association, the property was inspected by the Buildings Department a third time. A violation of the Stop Work Order was issued for "failure to obey stop work order" and a $5,000 civil fine was levied.
Now, the owner must apply for full demolition and new building permits as well as file new plans, which must be approved by the Department of Buildings.
"I'm glad the Department of Buildings finally did what they were supposed to do," said Graziano, "but it shouldn't have taken so long. More importantly, this house, along with all of the other teardowns that have occurred in the last decade, would have never happened if Broadway-Flushing had become a New York City landmark historic district as more than 85% of the residents have supported. The homeowners association and residents of this area have spent significant time, money and effort to protect their century-old neighborhood from speculative developers."
All of Broadway-Flushing was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and was downzoned in 2009 with the most restrictive "anti-McMansion" zoning in New York City (R1-2A and R2A), both of which were authored and designed by Graziano.
"Last week's victory against the developer who tried to break the restrictive covenants and split a corner property is wonderful and the Stop Work Order is welcome," Graziano stated, "but if Broadway-Flushing had been landmarked almost a decade ago as it deserves, neither of these - nor other - bad development situations would have happened. The house at 156-10 32nd Avenue was a beautiful house and there was absolutely no reason to tear it down in the first place. Should I be lucky enough to be elected by the people of the 19th Council District in November, landmarking Broadway-Flushing and our other historic neighborhoods in the 19th Council District will be one of my absolute top priorities to make sure this doesn't ever happen again."
Stop Work Order / Civil Penalty for 156-10 32nd Avenue can be viewed here:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001648878
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001651663
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/ComplaintsByAddressServlet?requestid=7&allbin=4109856&fillerdata=A
Two days later, the building was more than 50% demolished; within another two days, almost the entire building had been removed, except for two exterior wall stubs.
Paul Graziano, candidate for the 19th Council District, had contacted the local homeowner association as well as State Senator Tony Avella, and wrote a "Zoning Challenge" to the Department of Buildings, as it was clear that the architect on record, Ling Li, had self-certified a project that violated the R1-2A zoning - New York City's most restrictive - which covers much of Broadway-Flushing.
After a series of 311 calls were made and official complaints were lodged by residents of the area, the Buildings Department sent an inspector, who stated that 'No violation warranted for complaint at time of inspection; site is fenced, gated and secure with permits posted and current for ALT 1 - no workers on site.'
"This was an outrage," Graziano stated, "as the complaint that was filed with 311 called for a Stop Work Order, as the demolition for the house far exceeded what an ALT 1 permit allows and the permit itself should not have been granted as the floor area was over what is allowed under the R1-2A zone. The 311 operator had listed that the complaint was concerned with safety, and the Buildings inspector responded to that instead of what they were supposed to."
One week later, the Department of Buildings finally responded to the correct complaint, after much pressure from Senator Avella, Graziano and local residents. On Thursday, July 18th, a Full Stop Work Order was served to the owner for demolition contrary to approved plans. However, the contractors at the site continued to work on Friday, July 19th and Monday, July 22nd.
On Monday morning, Graziano and a resident involved with the homeowners association confronted the foreman of the construction crew - which numbered at least a dozen - and engaged him in a heated exchange which lasted for more than 10 minutes. The foreman stated that he was allowed to work and "do maintenance" to the property, and that they hadn't done anything wrong. When pressed as to why there was a Stop Work Order and they were still working, he stated that "the house had some extra rot in it so we had to take down more of it than we thought." He followed this statement with a discussion about how this was America and it was the owner's right to build what he wanted.
That afternoon, again pressed by Senator Avella, Graziano and the homeowners association, the property was inspected by the Buildings Department a third time. A violation of the Stop Work Order was issued for "failure to obey stop work order" and a $5,000 civil fine was levied.
Now, the owner must apply for full demolition and new building permits as well as file new plans, which must be approved by the Department of Buildings.
"I'm glad the Department of Buildings finally did what they were supposed to do," said Graziano, "but it shouldn't have taken so long. More importantly, this house, along with all of the other teardowns that have occurred in the last decade, would have never happened if Broadway-Flushing had become a New York City landmark historic district as more than 85% of the residents have supported. The homeowners association and residents of this area have spent significant time, money and effort to protect their century-old neighborhood from speculative developers."
All of Broadway-Flushing was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2004 and was downzoned in 2009 with the most restrictive "anti-McMansion" zoning in New York City (R1-2A and R2A), both of which were authored and designed by Graziano.
"Last week's victory against the developer who tried to break the restrictive covenants and split a corner property is wonderful and the Stop Work Order is welcome," Graziano stated, "but if Broadway-Flushing had been landmarked almost a decade ago as it deserves, neither of these - nor other - bad development situations would have happened. The house at 156-10 32nd Avenue was a beautiful house and there was absolutely no reason to tear it down in the first place. Should I be lucky enough to be elected by the people of the 19th Council District in November, landmarking Broadway-Flushing and our other historic neighborhoods in the 19th Council District will be one of my absolute top priorities to make sure this doesn't ever happen again."
Stop Work Order / Civil Penalty for 156-10 32nd Avenue can be viewed here:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001648878
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/OverviewForComplaintServlet?requestid=5&vlcompdetlkey=0001651663
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/ComplaintsByAddressServlet?requestid=7&allbin=4109856&fillerdata=A
26 comments:
Thanks Paul Graziano and Tony Avella for protecting our community! This is exactly the kind of protection and leadership we need. Remember District 19 VOTE AVELLA AND GRAZIANO!!!
A vote for Paul Graziano, candidate for the 19th Council District and a vote for Tony Avella for Queens Borough President is a vote for a positive change for Queens.
Anything else, just bend over and pass the lube, because we will all be getting fucked hard and brutally.
I feel sorry for the immediate neighbors of this property. They are innocents and are going to have to live next to a hole in the ground until this issue is resolved while the owner will just shrug his shoulders. And the local fauna will have a comfortable home close to the pond for the foreseeable future.
How corrupt or incompetent is the department of buildings? An inspector cannot determine that a work order has been violated. Check the inspector's pockets for excess green or his skull for a missing brain.
Hey crapster, now that there are only three viables vying for the Queens beep office, do you have access to any legitimate polls? Where do the candidates stand?
(BTW, I don't consider a GOP candidate a viable in this county)
I do not know of any independent polls having been done.
That's incredible! A county with a population of 2.3 million doesn't have a non-partisan poll available.
But then what do you expect from the media when a county elects such losers as McLaughlin, Semineirio, Smith, Halloran, Huntley, Gallagher, Monserrate, Hevesi, etc.?
I propose that after illegal activity like this takes place, the developer lose the property, turning it over to the city and recompensing the raped community with a park amenity... $5,000? man, these fines are just a cost of doing business.
This is weird: NYS Office of the Professions does not show Li Ling, or Ling Li, as licensed, when searched by name, although it does come up under the number, 026687. WTF?
It had to take a third inspection for the DOB to recognize that something was wrong? And then the fine is only a piss-ass $5,000 (which likely won't be paid)?
This shit will continue to exist until the DOB can respond in an expedited fashion (as they do for building collapses).
I feel sorry for the immediate neighbors of this property. They are innocents and are going to have to live next to a hole in the ground until this issue is resolved while the owner will just shrug his shoulders. And the local fauna will have a comfortable home close to the pond for the foreseeable future.
Sad part is that they have a Paul Vallone lawn sign, which just goes to show you how uninformed they are.
They were actually asked by neighbors why would they be supporting Vallone when Graziano is the person who has done all of the work in the neighborhood, and the owner's response was that his wife was friends with Vallone's wife.
as usual, "Family" connections trumps common sense.
Vallone had a lot of school kids giving out his signs. People sometimes can't say "no" when it's a little kid or "wife's friend". Just remember, no one is watching when you vote. Remember who is out there fighting for you. VOTE GRAZIANO! He'll keep the community beautiful.
Chinese, of course...what do you expect, respect the law? These Asiatics do what they please, thinking that they're still in Taiwan. The Oriental way of thinking is that if they can bribe a few DOB inspectors they can get away with anything.
The "new" Oriental way of thinking is "it’s just an old building on my property I can do whatever I want"
Why would any Asian, Russian Greek whatever obeys the law when THEY KNOW they can do whatever they want with a tiny fine?
These fines need to be forfeiture of property & equipment invlvolved to commit the crime + Jail & big fines for the operator.
Like DWI and drug trafficing !
I see lots of Vallone signs driving down 33rd on the lawns of those beautiful old houses that won't be there anymore when he gets elected.
"They were actually asked by neighbors why would they be supporting Vallone when Graziano is the person who has done all of the work in the neighborhood, and the owner's response was that his wife was friends with Vallone's wife."
I am a mom at Saint Andrew's and I am so unimpressed by Vallone AND his wife. They walk around like they are so entitled. Mrs. Vallone in particular needs to eat some humble pie.
To Mrs Vallone: Being a snot rag to others won't get your husband votes honey!!!
Historic Flushing has been turned into an Asian shithole.
I was in the area tonight after having left some 4 years ago. It is so damn sad to see those beautiful homes and know they wont be there much longer.
Why not fine both the owner and the developer an amount that would hurt - say 100K? Then use that money to improve Bowne Park!
This city misses out on so many big-ticket revenue opportunities but never misses a chump change parking fine on Bell Blvd.!
The city's clandestine position is to let Asiatics in Flushing do what they please, with just a slap on the wrist if they get caught law breaking.
Our elected officials are very glad that these Orientals prevented Flushing from turning into a south Jamaica and becoming a dark brown or black toned ghetto.
This was and still is in the best interests of the property owners in the downtown hub.
It looks like BFHA has lost some of its teeth.
These developers should forfeit the land, not just $5,000. No one should be allowed to make money by raping a neighborhood.
I'm voting tony and Paul but darn it, I don't expect they'll win. F'n machine.
I'm voting tony and Paul but darn it, I don't expect they'll win. F'n machine.
Not to worry: the machine candidate has never, ever won election in the 19th Council District...just make sure you get all of your friends out to vote for Paul (Graziano, not Vallone)!
Subject them to the Chinese water torture as punishment....then seize the property!
It's the only way that these Asiatic vipers can be taught to respect our laws.
DOB should fine these people more. They ruin neighborhoods without regard for community. In Springfield Gardens large homes are replaced with up to 8 2 family buildings. Even in garden apartment sites which are rent regulated, this is occurring
Of course a bunch of Asians! They have no respect for our laws or rules! My friend told me that korea gives their people money to come to america with!! Wtf? Then on top of that they buy most of their houses through their "churches" so they don't even pay property taxes!
Post a Comment