Home alterations found responsible for city housing shortage, including luxury housing

 

 

THE CITY 

 New York is a city that’s seemingly always under construction. But for all that building, some richer neighborhoods haven’t added a single new home overall in the past decade — and have even lost units.

That’s because so many people combined apartments or homes into one dwelling, the total for new housing dipped below zero, according to a new analysis by the Department of City Planning.

The Upper East Side’s stagnation was particularly stark, the study shows. The area saw more than 2,000 residential units built since 2010. But because so many alterations took place there over the same period, much of the neighborhood lost housing.

Overall, the area added fewer new residential units over the past decade than 57 of the city’s 59 community districts, the report said.

The news came to no surprise to Barry Schneider, an Upper East Sider for 54 years who lives in a condominium building on First Avenue that he estimates has lost about 20 units to combination renovations since he’s lived there.

“It’s fairly common,” he said. “The apartment directly below us combined two floors. The apartment directly to the south of us, next door, they have a combined apartment.”

 Howard Slatkin, deputy executive director for strategic planning at the Department of City Planning, believes this type of analysis is important to help New Yorkers to grasp the forces affecting the housing supply.

“People see housing demand when it spreads vertically — when buildings pop up, when you see new construction — but what they don’t see is that the demand for housing also spreads horizontally,” he said. “In the absence of those new additions, as affluent people take more space and larger residences for themselves, what you get is a reduction in total housing units.”

The report includes alterations of all kinds, from relatively simple two-apartment combinations to mega-mansion projects like Russian billionaire Roman Abromavich’s four-townhouse complex on East 75th Street.

It also includes those places where alterations actually added units, such as in Queens’ Ozone Park, where creating multiple apartments within a single-family home is common.

Borderline crap sits undone

The St. Nicholas church-to-crap conversion is taking a while.

Everything at this corner is currently an eyesore.

Once again, all this for a supposed 3-family house.

St. Nicholas Ave church-to-crap

I missed the unveiling of this rendering back in 2015 when Curbed put it out there. But I had the misfortune of passing the site recently and saw it on their sign. Yikes.

Believe it or not, this is supposedly going to be a 3-family home.

Brooklyn homeowner repeatedly breaks the rules

From Brooklyn Daily:

The city must crack down on a Marine Parker who is repeatedly violating the rules as he builds an addition on his Kimball Street home, neighbors are demanding.

Officials have issued two stop-work orders on the home after inspectors caught the owner building bigger than he was supposed to. But work was allowed to continue once, and now neighbors fear the homeowner will continue to break the rules and get away with it.

“Before you blink this is going to be done and be a giant monstrosity. We got to get to the bottom of how this person submitted plans and got away with building something different,” said James McDonald, who lives next door and started a petition that has garnered more than 200 signatures.

The home — between Fillmore Avenue and Avenue S — is zoned for a maximum height of 35 feet. The Department of Buildings issued two stop-work orders on the home, the first in September, when inspectors found owner David Avraham was building a third story contrary to approved plans, which were only for the alteration of two existing floors. Avraham then re-submitted plans calling the third floor an attic space, and the city rescinded the stop-work order in November, according to an agency spokesman.

But inspectors ordered construction halted again a week later when they noticed work on the back of the home was larger than what was in the approved plans. The city partially rescinded the stop-work order to allow owners to make emergency repairs to the roof, but then fully reissued it on Dec. 8 once the repairs were completed, the spokesman said.

Neighbors described the structure as an eyesore and said it would set a bad tone for future construction, but they are also worried about safety.

McDonald is worried the construction is shoddy and that someone will get hurt as a result — things appear to be falling off the structure and onto his lawn, he said.

Abandoned Bayside house is a concern

From the Times Ledger:

An abandoned property in Bayside Hills has the neighboring residents itching with discomfort.

The home at 215-06 49th Ave. has sat for four years in disrepair with three different building permits posted on the construction fence. The latest is an Alt-1 permit issued in April 2016 for work on the cellar and the second and third floors. There is currently a stop work order on the building for civil penalties due on multiple violations, the Department of Buildings site shows.

The property, however, shows no signs of human intervention. Weeds have grown above the level of the fence and mosquitoes have established dominance in the air while raccoons terrorize people just taking their garbage out to the street at night.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) stood with Bayside Hills Civic Association President Michael Feiner and about 15 residents last Friday to discuss the poor quality of life for neighbors resulting from the neglect and asked the city Department of Health and Hygiene, Buildings and Sanitation to act in the interest of public health and safety.

Residents have reached out to the owner, known by the name Woei Chen Lee, repeatedly without success.

DOB has new category of ALT-1 permits?

From the Times Ledger:

Work has been allowed to continue on the land where the Bayside house formerly owned by federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis once stood.

A stop work order for 218-15 40th Ave. was issued in July due to the Alt-1 permit being revoked for work that exceeded the scope of the original plans. The violations have been dismissed, according to a Department of Buildings spokesman, and a new Alt-1 permit was issued in mid-August and took effect in mid-September.

It was not clear why the violations were dropped.

Controversy about the house began brewing in April after neighbor Bonnie Skala Kiladitis noticed the renovations to the four-story house taking a turn for the extreme. Within days, the home had been reduced to the first floor.

An Alt-1 permit requires at least 50 percent of the original structure to be retained during the renovation of any home. The DOB, however, reissued an Alt-1 in this case on the basis that the foundations were still intact and because the building plans had been revised and approved for an Alt-1, a DOB spokesman said. He pointed out that it is at the discretion of a plan examiner to determine how much of the original structure needs to remain to call for an Alt-1.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) has kept an eye on the situation with the property and said the DOB informed him the new Alt-1 permit is what is known as a Big Alt-1 and allows renovation to exceed the usual 50 percent required to be retained.

New permit needed for Garaufis house

From the Times Ledger:

Construction on the house formerly owned by federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis at 218-15 40th Ave. in Bayside had a stop work order slapped on it in July due to revocation of the owners’ Alt-1 permit after the once stately home was torn down.

A spokesman for the city Department of Buildings said the owners have filed for a permit for an entire new building, but have not yet been approved.

The owners of the property were ordered to file for a new work permit in June, a DOB spokesman said. They no longer qualified for an alteration permit and were required to apply for a new building permit if they were approved. But according to a July 14 filing on the DOB website, the department revoked the Alt-1 after an inspection and a stop work order was placed on the site.

The Department of Buildings said the owner, who goes by the name Lisa, had originally filed for an Alt-1 permit restricting renovation to less than 50 percent of the original structure. The plans submitted to the DOB depict an update which would extend the front of the house a few feet. However, neighbors began to worry as the roof was torn off, followed by the top floor of the three-level structure. Finally, the home was reduced to ground level.

Garaufis’ house is believed to have been built circa 1890 and was the one of the personal residences of the Lawrence family, influential members of the early Bayside community. A study conducted by Bayside Historical Society Treasurer Paul Graziano found the Lawrence Estate eligible for the National and State Register of Historic Places. This recognition, however, carries no protection from demolition or alteration.

Ridgewood: Where anything goes!

Feast your eyes on this monstrosity. This is 482 Seneca Avenue in Ridgewood. It actually is turning out to be less hideous than originally planned. Those bay windows are special.

This is an "ALT-1" job (note the piece of original wall at ground level). I was amused by the sandwiching of a mezzanine between the 4th floor and the roof (not allowed), but listed on the Schedule A as between the 1st and 2nd floors. It's also clearly a 5 floor building instead of 4 as listed on the permit.

Ridgewood rowhouse on steroids

What we have here is a 2-family house being "altered" into a 6 family house. A story is being added and units are being subdivided. This will no doubt look incredibly stupid when all is said and done. Plenty of complaints as well.

Garaufis house destroyers forced to get new building permit

From the Times Ledger:

The former home of U.S. District Court Judge Nicholas Garaufis has made headlines in recent months because of backlash over renovations deemed more than excessive by neighborhood residents.

Now, the city Department of Buildings has ordered the owners to file for a new building permit before construction can continue at 218-15 40th Ave.

The original building plans showed that only the front of the house was to be renovated with additional construction.. But neighbors watched in despair back in April as the roof was torn off and the inside gutted, according to Bonnie Skala Kiladitis, who grew up across the street. Eventually the house was reduced to ground level.

Garaufis’ stately house is believed to have been built circa 1890 and was the one of the personal residences of the Lawrence family, influential members of the early Bayside community. A study conducted by historic preservation consultant Paul Graziano found the Lawrence Estate is eligible for the National and State Register of Historic Places, a recognition that carries no protection from demolition or alteration.

A notice to revoke on the building permit was issued to the owners at the end of April, which would force them to answer objections with the DOB for renovating beyond the limits of the alt-1 permit.

A DOB spokesman has since said the owners will be required to file for a new building permit before moving forward with their building plans, and not an alteration permit.

It is not immediately clear whether any fines will be levied against the owner, a recent New Jersey transplant who identified herself by the name Lisa, but a spokesman from Vallone’s office said the councilman is drafting legislation to prevent work on sites that have a “notice to revoke” on building permits to continue while waiting for an answer to objections.

“We are currently drafting a piece of legislation that would make it so a developer/homeowner would not be allowed to continue work during the period between receiving a notice to revoke and answering the objections that warranted that notice. The bill will be introduced in the fall. We felt that receiving a notice to revoke is significant enough to warrant a stop of work. If you are allowed to continue work while awaiting to answer the objections, the notice to revoke is really more like a ‘notice to finish your work as fast as possible.’ Our goal is to give the DOB as many tools as we can to address issues like these when they come up,” the spokesman said.

You generally aren't getting a notice to revoke without first getting a stop work order, so I'm not sure what this proposed legislation would accomplish. The problem is enforcement.

DOB may revoke Garaufis house permits

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Department of Buildings has issued a 10-day notice of revoking permits to the owners of the property that used to host the house formerly owned by federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis in Bayside.

Issued on April 20, the notice informs the homeowners of the Buildings Department’s objections to the construction and gives them 10 days to respond. If the property owners do not resolve the agency’s objections, the permits are revoked.

The objections at the construction site, according to the DOB, are “Garage must be demolished,” “2nd floor joists to roof were demolished — revise demo and floor plan to match field conditions,” “Revise first floor layout,” “Revise asbestos report to ensure consistency with scope of work,” and “Aggregate width of balcony shall not exceed 50% of the width of the building wall it protects.”

The ALT-1 permit that the property’s owners were using to build requires that 50 percent of the original structure be maintained, a rule that has clearly been violated, as the house was torn down.

According to Flushing-based zoning expert Paul Graziano, the property’s owner will have trouble fighting the 10-day notice.

“The more likely scenario is that they will have their permits revoked and they will have to file for a new building,” Graziano said.

The new building permit, he added, is more expensive to apply for than the ALT-1 permit.

This is not a new building, Bushwick edition

Apologies for the poor photography on this one (I was a passenger in a moving vehicle at the time).

Before

So the Department of Buildings has decided to okay this obvious new building project at 399 Knickerbocker Avenue as an alteration. There's nothing left here but partial walls.

Now

Remember this as you get nickeled and dimed to death by the city with fines, fees and taxes for everything under the sun.

Alteration permits cost A WHOLE LOT LESS than new building permits. The city is throwing millions upon millions of dollars in revenue down the drain on a yearly basis in order to unofficially subsidize development.

Tell your elected official to stop using you as a piggy bank when there's so much wasted opportunity to collect real money to pay for needed services.

DOB transparency bill passed

Laurie Cumbo

From The Real Deal:

A new law requires the Department of Buildings to give city officials a heads up when a new building is proposed for a neighborhood.

Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill into law Monday ensuring that the department alert the City Council and Community Boards via email on a weekly basis after an application for a new building or for an alteration requiring a new certificate of occupancy for a building is filed. The bill also requires the department to email notices of rejected applications and also post all this information on its website every week.

Council member Laurie Cumbo, who co-sponsored the bill with Council member Fernando Cabrera, said that the law will increase transparency — a boon to neighborhoods like Downtown Brooklyn where new projects sprout up on a daily basis.

"Minor interior alterations" shut down in Flushing

This past Thursday at 30-35 150th Street.

DOB responded that day and issued a Stop Work Order.

That's some alteration!

You may recall this Middle Village house from a November 2013 post entitled "Expanding the Farmhouse". I promised to follow up on this "alt-2" project when the final product was revealed. Well, here goes:

Interesting alcove above the front door. It's purpose? Dunno.

Yes, I can see how this would be classified as a minor alteration.

Old Spartan Restaurant to be completely transformed

This building was the Spartan Restaurant on Grand Avenue in Maspeth. Here it is as it appeared in the movie "Goodfellas" in 1990.

After the owner, long time civic leader Peter Chahales died, the restaurant was sold and became a catering hall. First it was Russian, then Glatt Kosher then it was the Lido, whatever that was.

Now it's behind a giant green construction fence, undergoing its latest incarnation.

As what? My best guess, based on what the rest of the Grand Avenue strip is noted to contain, is a massage parlor, nail salon, cell phone store and 99-cent paradise.

Fugliness on 80th Street

The things people do to their homes never ceases to amaze me. Here we are at 62-51 80th Street in Middle Village. The owner was hit with a partial stop work order last week because of the unsafe scaffolding.
The permit they have is for: NEW 2 STORY PLUS CELLAR BRICK & BLOCK ADDITION TO EXISTING 1 FAMILY RESIDENCE. This will in effect eliminate most of their yard.

Why not just buy a bigger house?

More change to Broadway-Flushing

"Broadway-Flushing...make room for Malba...coming your way within 5 years! This is that other stately center hall colonial that is getting a "horizontal side extension". Keep sitting on your hands, Paul Vallone, and watch your classy nabe become Mc Mansionville. Located...west side 167 St towards Crocheron." - The Flushing Phantom

An oily mess in Flushing

"A few months ago, a major house alteration began at 149-15 33 Ave in Flushing, making the house approximately double its current size. On December 22 a Stop Work Order was issued. It has since been lifted and construction/digging recently began on March 26.

On April 2, I noticed after one of their dump trucks with attached trailer was lifting the dump portion and maneuvering, there's a pretty big oily mess, either oil or hydraulic fluid, all over the street and sidewalk on my corner now.

Hope it doesn't cause a car accident from sliding due to an inability to stop, especially if wet when it rains." - anonymous

UPDATE 3:30pm

More change a-comin' to Broadway-Flushing

"According to the Ferrignos....founders of BFHA....this house won design award when it was built.

Fresh holes just dug for construction or demolition perimeter fence.

Another Broadway tear down coming up? Located southwest corner 164 St & 35 Av. Adjacent to an existing empty lot resulting from older tear down. This is within the Rickert Finlay covenant area.

Part of fence already up along 164 St."

- The Flushing Phantom

So what's going on here? Luckily, this is NOT a teardown. Permits reveal that they're building a 2nd floor. But then again, they were just planning to "raise the roof" of another Broadway-Flushing building, but that's not what happened. Let's keep an eye on this one. - QC