Bill would force illegal driveway owners to restore curbs

From Brooklyn Daily:

Local pols are pushing for a bill they say will reclaim on-street parking spaces from greedy property owners who illegally cut curbs in front of their homes to create unauthorized driveways.

The legislation, introduced last month by Councilman Kalman Yeger (D–Bensonhurst) and co-sponsored by Councilman Justin Brannan (D–Bay Ridge), would require property owners to correct curb cuts created without a permit within 30 days. If the curb isn’t fixed, the Department of Transportation must do the work within six months, at the property owner’s expense, similar to a law that requires property owners to maintain sidewalk defects.

“What we’re saying is that if you do not fix the curb, the city will fix it and bill you,” Yeger said. “It requires the government to help the people out a bit.”

The bill is a response to property owners who illegally cut curbs to install driveways in front of their homes, removing on-street parking for fellow drivers. Illegal curb cutting has become rampant throughout Bensonhurst, Dyker Heights, and Bay Ridge recently, leading fed-up neighbors to complain that current laws aren’t doing enough to address the problem.

The Department of Buildings can issue violations to property owners who cut curbs without a permit, but there isn’t a law on the books that requires owners to restore the curbs. Yeger’s bill would change that, giving the city the power it needs to fight back where it currently has little, according to Marnee Elias-Pavia, district manager of Community Board 11.

Brooklyn CB is fighting back against illegal curb cuts

From Brooklyn Daily:

The mayor must step in to force city agencies to crack down on selfish Bensonhurst homeowners who take away already-scarce street parking spots by illegally cutting their curbs and paving their front lawns into driveways, according to the neighborhood’s district manager.

“The [Buildings] violations are all bark, no bite,” said Marnee Elias-Pavia.

Pavia sent Hizzoner Community Board 11’s recommendations for how agencies should punish offending homeowners in an April 18 letter after board members unanimously adopted the resolution to do so at its April 12 general meeting. In the letter, Pavia outlined the decades-old problem and its environmental impact — made worse by the fact that the Federal Emergency Management Agency classified some affected areas as particularly susceptible to flooding, which the proliferation of concrete and lack of grass promotes, she wrote.

“Our topography creates a bowl effect and prevents tidal and storm water absorption,” she wrote. “We must address the lack of absorption created by the removal of front yards in the northern portion of the district to increase absorption and resiliency.”

CB11 demands that the buildings agency make inspecting and even re-inspecting properties with alleged illegal curb cuts and driveways a higher priority — especially for flood zones — and to notify the community board when properties receive violations for illegal curb cuts or driveways. The letter also wants the city to improve inter-agency communication by having the Department of Buildings coordinate with agencies in charge of roads, parks and environmental concerns.

“There needs to be a sharing of information [among the agencies] — there’s an environmental impact, so the Department of Buildings should be sharing with the Parks Department,

Pavia also wrote that the city should increase and enforce fines for violations, push homeowners to use permeable pavements on legitimate driveways to help drain stormwater, and require homeowners to fix curb-cut violations before selling their properties — among other suggestions.

Illegal driveways continue to get built

From the NY Post:

Brazen Brooklyn residents are selfishly paving illegal driveways on their front lawns and creating unauthorized curb cuts — eliminating scarce parking spots.

“Most of them I’ve seen go from a lawn to a driveway overnight,” fumed Michael Buhse, 55, who lives on 79th Street between 19th and 20th avenues in Bensonhurst, where the problem is especially bad.

Buhse says he sometimes gets home from work at 1 a.m. and has to drive around for 30 minutes or more to find an open parking space.

Some homeowners cut the curb themselves, but most just drive over the short curbs onto freshly paved-over lawns — and then pitch a fit when anyone parks at the curb and blocks them in.

Worse still, the NYPD has no record of which driveways are legitimate.

So if a motorist parks at a curb and blocks an illegal driveway and the homeowner calls the cops, officers will ticket the car and force the driver to fight it in court, NYPD sources told The Post.

Woodhaven's paving problem

From CBS 2:

Officials said the main reason paving over your yard is banned is so residential areas have green space.

Residents said another reason for the zoning change is so there would be proper drainage after a rain fall — preventing water from flowing from a driveway into the street.

A problem because although some of the converted driveways aren’t eliminating curbs, they are limiting parking.

Homeowners posted ‘no parking’ signs so people won’t block their illegal driveways.

To curb cut or not to curb cut?

From PIX11:

Martin Grillo can't believe after decades of serving the city, he says he now has to fight for a driveway to his home.

Grillo has been a paramedic in New York City for 38 years.

He was there on 9/11 and he helped victims who lost their homes to flood waters during Hurricane Sandy.

While he was helping, his home was being ravaged by flood waters.

Now, as part of the Build-it-Back Program, he says, the city promised him a curb-cut driveway that would flow underneath his home to his door.

"I have good and bad days. I can't always walk. I need this driveway," Grillo said.

After 9/11, he has trouble breathing and walking. A driveway would make it easier for him to get in and out if his home, and help him with parking.

"Why don't they just do what they said they would do?" Grillo said.

But after more than a year battling several city agencies, he says he is getting no action and no respect.

Large parking lot created on sidewalk

There are a bunch of complaints for this house at 161-04 Sanford Avenue, but let's focus on the driveway permits, since that's been a theme lately. Looks like they were stopped in 2007, but resumed work shortly after:

Take a look at the Google Street View. It's a doozy!

Illegal curb cuts need to be curbed

From DNA Info:

A Queens neighborhood is the king of illegal curb cut complaints.

South Richmond Hill logged more than 200 complaints of illegal curb cuts or driveways, double the amount from last year, and far higher than any other neighborhood in New York, according to an analysis of 311 data.

Illegal curb cuts often arise in neighborhoods far from Manhattan where many homeowners have cars. Rather than trying to find street parking every day, some residents opt to cut the curb, remove lawns and create their own driveway — without getting permission from the city.

Brooklyn residents recorded the highest number of complaints this year, with 822 — nearly 10 percent of them logged in Bath Beach and Bensonhurst. Queens, which has about 300,000 fewer residents than Brooklyn, came in as a close second citywide, with 760 complaints.

Sinkhole may be cause for wall collapse

From NBC:

A Queens family thinks a nearby sinkhole on the street is the reason a giant hole opened up under their home, forcing them out. But they say the city has been no help in getting the sinkhole fixed. John Chandler reports.

Trees felled at Keil Brothers site

From the Queens Courier:

The former site of the Keil Brothers gardening center in Bayside Hills isn’t a place for timber anymore.

Five city-owned trees and about 40 shrubs saw the buzzer last week, resulting in complaints from residents and fines from the Parks Department.

The trees were cut by the current owner, 48 Garden Realty LLC, according to Community Board 11 leaders who told The Courier that the Parks Department informed the board it has issued fines to the firm. The owner has begun a process to turn the lot into residential homes, according to the board.

“He probably took down the trees thinking he is going to make driveways,” Community Board 11 District Manager Susan Seinfeld said.

Street tree destroyed, but Parks doesn't care

The description contained in the montage put together by a reader says it all. What looks to be a recently planted street tree was removed for a driveway.

For the record, DOB didn't see anything wrong here, either.

Google Street View reveals Ciafone-mobile

31-76 38th Street. This one grabs attention not for illegal signs hanging off the building, but because John Ciafone's campaign van is parked on the paved-over front lawn and sticking out onto the sidewalk. The curb cut was unauthorized as well. The joke of it all is that Ciafone's wife, Gina Argento, paid a $500 fine and the issue was marked "resolved" after legalization papers were filed. The fact that the illegal driveway led to an illegal parking pad was not an issue, I suppose.

Stumped in Hollis

From: Deen, Gibran A
Sent: Thursday, January 17, 2013 10:38 AM
To: 'pbilbo@cb12queens.org'
Subject: Hurricane Sandy Damage....

To Whom It May Concern……
Good Morning, my name is Gibran Deen and I live at 89-20 196 St. Hollis, NY 11423
Super storm Sandy wreaked havoc on many New Yorkers and I was one of those folks. My family and I did not suffer much significant damages, we were very lucky and fortunate. Nonetheless, the storm brought down a very big tree that was in the front of my home. It left us without power for several days, damaged me and my neighbors vehicles; fortunately our homes were spared. NYC parks personnel subsequently responded and removed the tree leaving behind the massive tree root / stump. The tree root is sitting above the road surface and my driveway making it very difficult for my vehicle to enter and leave. I reached out to the parks department but no response was provided as to when the tree root/stump will be removed. I’m writing to you in hopes that someone might be able to advance my request and have this obstacle removed as soon as possible.

Thanks

Yes, it's still there...

Here's what Parks says: Stump removal

All stumps remaining from tree removal operations performed by Parks are recorded and registered. Stump removals are dependent on the availability of funding. We currently have a backlog of stumps awaiting removal. If you are a property owner who would like a City-owned stump removed, we have two options for you to consider:

You can request a new tree via 311 or our tree service request system, and if the stump is less than approximately 30 inches in diameter, our planting contractors will remove the stump during a new tree planting process.

You can obtain a tree work permit from Parks and hire a contractor to remove the stump at your own expense. If you prefer this option, permit applications and instructions are available on our Working On or Near Trees page.

SROs in a 69th Street hovel

I'm not sure they have enough "for rent" signs on this property at 59-15 69th Street, but they slightly beat the giant "TUTORING" sign that used to hang from the second floor

Now you gotta wonder if it's even possible to drive a vehicle down that ramp to the garage. I guess we don't need to find out since this complaint was recently called in.

And back in 2008, a vacate order was served after SROs were found there.

Thank you "Baron Development, LLC" for ass-raping the neighborhood.

Inconsiderate crap

"249-27 88th Road

This is new - that's not a driveway, plus he's blocking the sidewalk. It also means that there are too many people in this tiny 2-bedroom triangle house.

They don't even own the house - they are section 8 renters (yet they own a BMW). This house has thousands of dollars in unpaid violations.

House is also starting to sink/settle. The front steps are lopsided now.

This house was featured previously on your blog." - Anonymous

Brownfield housing still causing problems

From the Queens Chronicle:

A housing and hotel complex project off the Long Island Expressway in Fresh Meadows has neighbors fuming over lack of maintenance, shoddy workmanship and fear of future flooding.

The project’s address is 183-15 Horace Harding Expressway, but the 18 two-family houses that were completed over a year ago are located on adjacent 183rd Street and Booth Memorial Drive, residential streets with well-maintained homes.

Neighbors complain that there is no maintenance of the site, which features a large hole in the middle where the hotels are to be constructed. It was dug so that the project could be grandfathered in prior to a downzoning of the area.

Nearby residents say the hole attracts raccoons and other animals, while nearby barrels are filled with rainwater that they fear are breeding grounds for mosquitoes. The construction fences on the Horace Harding and Booth Memorial sides are flimsy and the one in the rear can be easily moved. Vandals have already stolen decorative metal balls atop railings on the houses.

Christine Haider, first vice chairwoman of Community Board 11 and president of the nearby Harding Heights Civic Association, says she’s “extremely concerned” about how the development is being built. “There are so many problems, it’s very frustrating,” Haider said. “The developer can amend plans until construction is finished.”

The most troublesome issue to neighbors is the driveways, which were designed too steep for the underground garages. The Department of Buildings did not approve it so the owners, Century Construction Group Corp., headed by brothers Chris and George Xu, raised the grade of the driveways, which eliminated the garages.

“They repitched it, eliminating the garage, so there’s no room for two cars as planned,” Haider said. “We fear that they will try to put a third family in the basement since they added a window where the garage door was to go.”

Oh come now, when have you ever heard of a developer doing that?...

It seems like just yesterday that this was a brownfield.

Familiar story: Vehicles near schools park illegally

From The Forum:

Anthony Shillitani says he just can’t take it anymore. The street he lives on, 109th Street between Rockaway Boulevard and 109th Avenue, is a nightmare of congestion and illegal parking. He can’t come home to his own driveway because invariably someone blocking it—without fail he says it’s someone, most likely a parent, from the Vincent Fowler School down the street.

Anthony Shillitani in front of his driveway where the vehicle of a parent completely blocks his driveway.

Shillitani is not alone in his dilemma. Residents in communities in every neighborhood who live near public schools continued to be plagued with the problems brought on by excessive traffic, both pedestrian and vehicular, as well as busses that the school population brings with it.

It is more than three years since he says he first went to the office of Senator Joe Addabbo for help. Following the visit with the senator, he received a note in March of 2009 signed off on by Addabbo and announcing that the street, 109th between Rockaway and 109th Avenue would be subject to closure twice a day for roughly an hour to alleviate the problems fueling Shillitani’s complaints. The letter promised that the only ones who would have access to the street during the time periods specified would be school busses and residents. The letter also said that the senator had contacted all necessary parties in the matter including the school’s principal, the 106th Precinct and the DOT. It said the changes would take place sometime in April of 2009.

Double parked busses blocked from their spots at the curb make passage for vehicles impossible.

And Shillitani says that all the promises in the letter started out “like a house on fire.” Traffic agents made their way to the street issuing summonses for double parked cars and blocking his private driveway. “I was really hopeful that the abuse was at an end.”

Within a week, however, all signs of closing the street had vanished. The principal, Ms. Biondollilo pulled her personnel in off the street leaving no one to man the posts, forcing the street to remain open.

Since then, just over four years ago, the street has remained open and his pleas for help, whether to the school’s principal or to the senator’s office have been left unanswered.

Stop blocking the sidewalk!

"Hi Crappie,

On 146-01 23rd Avenue in Whitestone, NY there's a driveway with a garage at the end of the lot.

This family always park their car(s) in that driveway leaving both gates wide open thus completely blocking the sidewalk consequently forcing pedestrians (children going and coming back to and from school, runners like me, people coming from supermarkets and laundromats with their shopping carts, people walking their dogs) to either take the street or to change sidewalks by crossing the middle of the block exposing them to an accident.

As many other New Yorkers they have no concern for the safety and welfare of others." - Whitestone Walker

Illegal curb cut & driveway in Elmhurst

"The above pictures are taken from my mother’s neighbor’s home (54-01 80th Street – at the corner of 54th Avenue). He actually created this driveway. He painted the curb yellow, created a concrete ribbon driveway, and has a sign “No Parking.” Totally illegal. He parks commercial vehicles from his fish business in the backyard. The DOB does not respond to complaints filed. It’s not a priority and they will not take additional complaints until the other complaints have been investigated. The complaints were filed in January 2012. So, we get to look at the commercial box trucks decorated with graffiti, along with the exhaust fumes leaking into the rear bedroom windows at 4:30 a.m. Monday-Saturday.

Maybe someone can help us on your end. Thank you, kindly." - anonymous

Elmhurst is not alone.

FDNY vehicle mystery

"Why is an FDNY truck parked overnight in a private driveway? Is this legal? It's happening at 31st Drive and Astoria Blvd." - anonymous

Cars on sidewalk endangering kids

From Fox 5:

It's a curb-jumping controversy that has parents in an uproar in Queens. After a third grader was nearly hit by a car driving on a sidewalk, parents want it to stop before it's too late.

On 113th Street and 71st Road in Forest Hills, parents say they have an extra worry every time they take their kids to school at P.S. 196: they are concerned about getting hit by cars driving up onto a sidewalk that is a main route for most of the children and that's also used as a driveway and parking lot by cars from the Touro College Graduate School of Education and the Bnos Malka Academy.

We tried to talk with the academy to see what they had to say, but they refused to speak with us. I did speak with the property manager from Touro College, who insisted the sidewalk parking and driving were in compliance with city codes.

We did some checking around with the city. The Department of Transportation referred us to the NYPD.

The NYPD said it is now aware of the situation and will speak with school authorities to rectify the problem.

This is mainly DOB's responsibility. And dollars to donuts, they won't do a thing about it.