The Garaufis house: From classic to crappy

From the Times Ledger:

Work on the historic home formerly belonging to federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis is nearly complete with none of the original features of the classic 19th century structure remaining and complaints continuing to mount.

A modern brick structure with multiple entrances has risen in the place of the large, stately home that originally belonged to the Lawrence family, who owned an estate covering most of what is now Bayside and left a legacy which preservationists have attempted to maintain.

A neighborhood feud began in April 2016, led by Bonnie Skala Kiladitis, as the property was purchased and plans for renovation were posted on the city Dept. of Buildings site by the new owner with a permit requiring at least half the original structure be retained. Work on the four-story house, however, quickly took a turn for the extreme. Within days, the home had been reduced to the first floor.

The most recent violation on the property shows people have been living in the home without a certificate of occupancy for which the DOB cited them on Nov. 5.

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.

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.

Judge Garaufis' house completely destroyed

"April 7th Update. ....... Here's the skinny on what's happening with the Judge's house. Looks like they're dismantling the whole thing as you can see by the latest pictures though we did meet Lisa, the daughter of the people who bought it. She's a real estate agent herself and seems very nice and though she said it was just a remodel she confirmed that it's going to be a brick building.

Now you see it - Now you Don't.
Update for April 11th, 2016. Well, as you can see, it's gone
Walked by it today to see that it's 30 seconds from completely vanished."

Let's recall that this was supposed to be an alteration, with only a small part of the building to be demolished, as per the ZD1 diagram.

Above from Bayside, Queens Facebook group

Destruction of Judge Garaufis' house proves need for landmarking

"This house, along with all of the houses on 40th Avenue from All Saints Church to 223rd Street, were included in a proposed historic district. It was ignored by then-Councilmember now-convicted felon doing jail time Dan Halloran. The current Councilmember, Paul Vallone, is also generally opposed to protecting our neighborhoods from destruction, as can be seen from his support to not allow the Douglaston Historic District Extension (along Douglaston Parkway north of the LIRR) to go forward. His press release stated that "landmark status imposes undue restrictions on the rights of homeowners to renovate, modify, or even sell their properties as they wish." This is total NONSENSE and typical of an elected official who got most of his campaign contributions from the real estate industry.

As for the specifics of this property: I just looked up what the plans are for "renovating" it. The house will be utterly destroyed. It will look like a brick box from the outside with an addition to the rear. Also, the property will be subdivided to include another detached brick box immediately next to it.

When Tony Avella, myself and the community worked to rezone Bayside a decade ago, it was only part of the story: if you don't landmark buildings or create historic districts along with it, zoning only has limited power to regulate what happens in your neighborhood. Yes, we stopped some of the worst abuses from occurring by changing the zoning in many areas from R3-2 and R4 (multi-family attached buildings) to R2A and R1-2 (detached one-family houses only). But, as can be seen, any property larger than the minimum like this beautiful house can immediately be subdivided and utterly destroyed." - Paul Graziano

More house destruction photos here.

And here's another example of the destruction of Bayside:

This is why something asinine like a "landmark compromise" as suggested by the Queens Chronicle won't work to preserve architecture that has historical and aesthetic value. The law needs to be have teeth to be effective.

More mentally ill to roam the streets

From the NY Post:

Here’s some scary news: The Cuomo administration is preparing to shove thousands of mentally ill New Yorkers out of supervised settings — where they can be forced to take their medication — into far less restrictive, far more dangerous “community housing.”

This, despite two recent cases of people being fatally shoved from subway platforms — both allegedly by crazy people.

Albany, under pressure from the Obama administration, recently ordered psychiatric facilities not to place any discharged patients in adult homes, where staff can ensure they take their meds.

Instead, they’ll be placed in “community housing,” without full-time supervision.

This is part of the state’s plan to essentially empty adult homes into community-based “supportive” apartments, leaving up to 6,000 people — including those with schizophrenia — to live on their own, with minimal supervision.

Granted, the move isn’t entirely voluntary: The Obama administration has made clear in numerous states — including New York — that it wants to shut adult homes entirely, saying they illegally segregate the mentally ill. It’s prepared to sue to make that happen.

And if Albany doesn’t move, it could find itself back in front of none other than the imperious federal Judge Nicholas Garaufis, who in 2011 effectively ordered the immediate dismantling of the adult-home system — summarily rejecting every effort by Albany to reach a compromise.