Construction noise complaints on the rise

From NY1:

Developers are apparently giving New Yorkers headaches, according to a rise in noise complaints filed with the city.

A report from the state comptroller says the number of complaints logged with 311 more than doubled since 2010.

For example, at the Chapin School on the Upper East Side, residents have called and complained more than 100 times about the ongoing construction.

Many of the complaints come before or after normal construction work hours, which are between 7 a.m. and 6 p.m.

Special permits from the buildings department allows work after hours, but the comptroller says those permits are not being given out responsibly.

Fedderization along Metropolitan Avenue

This was an empty lot used primarily for parking cars. Now it's a development site.

55-35 Metropolitan Avenue is ugly as hell, Fedders and all, but its saving grace is that it is only dumping 2 more units into the mix instead of 8 or 10.

Why match the existing rowhouses on either side when you can just dump a big steaming pile in the middle and make your development stick out like a sore thumb?

Block the air and light of the tenants to the east and make sure the people living to the west are greeted by a giant wall as they exit their homes.

And why would this development qualify for an after hours variance permit? It's a standard development project.

And why do they need pile drivers?

Naturally, NY Yimby is cheering this on. (Their commenters aren't, however.)

DOB determines that 16-unit building is a 2-family house

From Cleanup Jamaica Queens:

With so many incompetent and corrupt NYC agencies, none deserves to be at the top of the list than the Department of Buildings, just because when they are incompetent or taking bribes, loss of life can happen. Back in February, 50 people were arrested in the DOB on bribery schemes.

Just to prove their incompetency, I recently filed a complaint with DOB in regards to an apartment building (16 units) at 89-28 170th Street going up on my block and doing illegal work on a Saturday without a variance permit. This happened before but of course when I filed that complaint, DOB eventually went out on a Saturday, saw no work being done and closed the case (how about going out when the damn complaint is filed). Well with the recent complaint (10.17.15), I took photos, described what was going on and here was the status from DOB (no variance permit required for 1-2 family dwelling):

Now does this look even remotely like a fucking 1-2 family house? From the above overview, it seems the lazy inspector did not even bother to go out, but just looked at their own site and saw that 1-2 family house classification from Department of Finance (which was never updated) even though that 1-2 family house had been torn down over 10 years ago.

The loophole here is that this lot has been subdivided and the 16 units are considered individually as eight 2-family homes, not a 16 unit apartment building, by the DOB. Why it's ok to work on a 2-family house without a variance permit, is a good question.

Peace and quiet coming soon?

From the NY Post:

Catching Zzzz’s could get a lot easier if the City Council passes a bill limiting the hours construction workers can operate.

The proposal, now being pushed by council members Dan Garodnick, Rosie Mendez and Gale Brewer, would make it harder for construction companies to get permission to work late nights and early mornings.

“After-hours construction work, while sometimes necessary for emergency work, is the bane of many New Yorkers’ existence,” Brewer said. “We need to ensure that after-hours work only takes place when absolutely necessary.”

The bill’s authors are unsure of how many after- hours variances are granted annually, but Mendez’s office said it received 686 complaints about them in the past six years alone.

As it is now, crews can work around the clock if they secure a variance from the Department of Buildings. It isn’t hard to get one because companies abuse an “undue hardship” dispensation, Garodnick said.

“The rules need to be clearly laid out and they need to be followed,” he added.

Under the proposed law, the hardship category would be eliminated altogether, and contractors would be forbidden from working before 7 a.m. and after 8 p.m. on weekdays, or before 11 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on Saturdays — except in emergencies and when public safety is at risk.