DeBlasio unfairly seizing properties

From Kings County Politics:

Mayor Bill de Blasio today defended the city’s taking of more than 60 properties in Brooklyn – including those of at least three fully paid off African American owned properties worth millions of dollars – and transferring their ownership for “re-development” to non-profit and for profit companies.

But New York State Attorney General Candidate Keith Wofford took de Blasio and the entire city government to task for incompetence at best, and illegal political corruption at worst, in seizing the properties.

“What’s happening here is disgraceful and likely illegal. Mayor De Blasio lives nearby and sleeps securely at night, while his administration creates anxiety and fear among vulnerable citizens whose largest asset is ripped away without compensation or due process,” said Wofford.

Wofford went so far as to call the foreclosure proceedings “unconstitutional,” and urged the Mayor to act immediately in stopping anymore transfers under the program.

The program that the city’s Department of Housing Preservation & Development (HPD) utilizes in taking properties is called the Third Party Transfer (TPT) program, which goes back to the 1980s when New York City had many blighted and burned out properties. The program designates qualified sponsors to purchase and rehabilitate distressed vacant and occupied multi-family properties in order to improve and preserve affordable housing for low-to moderate-income households.

Over the years the program has been amended in its definition of distressed properties, most recently in 2016, in which the City Council approved an expansion of the program to include buildings which are subject to Environmental Control Board (ECB) judgments as a result of building code violations in the amount of a lien to value ratio equal to or greater than 25%.

In order for HPD to obtain the foreclosure judgments, the agency sought, needed and received city council approval – an approval that some city council members now say they approved because HPD misled them.

The story came to light, when KCP learned the city foreclosed on Marlene Saunders, 74, a retired nurse, who nearly lost her paid-off and in pristine condition brownstone at 1217 Dean Street on a rapidly gentrifying block in Crown Heights.

The three-story brownstone had been in the Saunders family for 30 years and has been appraised at over $2.2 million. Saunders son showed KCP copies of checks paid and cashed by the city for property and water taxes, but were never applied to the property. He also stated the family knew nothing about the court proceeding, in which a foreclosure judgement was issued and only learned the family no longer owned the property through a flyer delivered to the brownstone months after they lost the deed.

Brooklyn neighborhoods try to hold ECB accountable

From Brooklyn Daily:

The city’s failure to collect fines on thousands of properties with unpaid building violations in Marine Park, Madison, Sheepshead Bay, and surrounding neighborhoods makes a mockery of zoning laws, leading some locals to call for some Wild West justice at a civic meeting on May 17.

“Why can’t they get a posse together and collect?” said Fran Minichiello of Sheepshead Bay.

The lax enforcement of so-called environmental control board violations — which the Department of Buildings slaps on developers when they fail to comply with construction or zoning rules — was the subject of a special meeting of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association in Marine Park last week, where residents grilled officials from the buildings department and the Department of Finance, which is responsible for collecting the fines.

There are 2,366 properties with open violations in the territory of Community Board 18, which includes parts of Marine Park, Mill Basin, Canarsie, and other neighborhoods. There are 5,518 total open violations in that area, meaning some properties have more than one, according to the Department of Buildings.

Within Community Board 15, which encompasses Madison, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, and other areas, there are 1,941 properties with open violations, and 4,505 total such violations among 31,884 properties, according to the department. The Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association includes parts of both CB15 and CB18.

The Department of Finance did not respond to a request for information on how much money’s worth of violations currently remains unpaid in Brooklyn, but a response to a freedom of information law request from the association said there were more than $247 million in outstanding violations in the borough in August 2017.

Whitestone wants stalled site dealt with

From the Times Ledger:

Whitestone residents are calling on officials to deal with an abandoned home they say has plagued the neighborhood for over a decade.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Whitestone) and neighbors gathered in front of 168-08 14th Ave., asking Mayor Bill de Blasio and the city Department of Buildings to investigate the status of the abandoned corner home that has been listed as “under construction” for years.

According to residents, construction on the home began years ago but then stopped suddenly. Neighbors described the house as being in an “unhealthy and unsanitary state, creating a breeding ground for rodents.”

Avella said the home first received a DOB permit for construction in 2004 which was renewed in 2008 and 2013. He said the repeated permit renewals led community members to wonder why the city continued to reissue permits for a home that had badly deteriorated. Avella also pointed out that the home had received 10 DOB Environmental Control Board violations and has had 16 complaints from the community.

The DOB said inspectors had been sent to the property to investigate the site as recently as three weeks ago and found that the scene was secure. The agency has issued two violations to the property owner, one for an unpermitted construction fence that was in poor condition and the other for failing to comply with the previously issued violations.

Illegal hotel busted in Little Neck

From the Queens Chronicle:

A house where Airbnb guests stayed on Beechknoll Avenue in Little Neck has been removed from the rental website by the host and the building was hit last month with a vacate order from the Department of Buildings over its usage as a hotel.

The owner of 249-23 Beechknoll Ave., the cellar of which was being used as a living space, could not be reached for comment before deadline.

The building received three Environmental Control Board violations for occupancy contrary to the certificate of occupancy, work without a permit in the basement and failing to provide ingress and egress. They were issued on June 14 along with the vacate order, according to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement.

“The overwhelming majority of hosts in Queens are responsible home sharers who respect their neighbors and take pride in introducing visitors from around the world to their borough,” Airbnb said in an emailed statement to the Chronicle.

The company did not immediately respond when asked when the listing was removed.

Gov. Cuomo signed legislation last year banning advertisements for short-term rentals in “Class A” multiple dwellings. But it did not ban using Airbnb to rent a single-family homes like the one on Beechknoll Avenue or two-family ones.

Owners of illegally subdivided homes face steep fines, liens

 (Photo by Carly Miller/BKLYNER)

From Bklyner:

Today, City Council unanimously passed a bill to enforce fines on landlords that illegally subdivide homes to create “modern tenement housing”, an issue that has led to severe overcrowding and deaths in southern Brooklyn.

The bill, Intro 1218 proposed by City Councilmember Vincent Gentile, targets landlords of homes classified as “aggravated illegal conversions,” slapping a $15,000 violation per unit beyond the certificate of occupancy. If unpaid, the fine would be subject to a lien sale on the property.

The legislation also expands the authority of the New York City Department of Buildings (DOB) and the New York City Environmental Control Board (ECB) to inspect properties and impose penalties.

Gentile, representing Bay Ridge, Dyker Heights, Bath Beach, and Bensonhurst, was joined today by Council Members Barry S. Grodenchik and Jumaane Williams, representatives from Boro President Eric Adams' office, and dozens of civic groups and housing advocates who spent years rallying around this issue. The bill was supported by 23 City Council members, said Gentile on a sunny Wednesday at the steps of City Hall. A few hours later, the bill passed with a 49-0 vote.

“These strong restrictions and penalties will force egregious property owners to comply with New York City’s building code,” said Gentile. “Substandard housing is not affordable housing.”

Residence illegally converted into synagogue

"This building's C of O is for residential use but illegally converted to be synagogue/place of worship. Worse, they now purchased the property next door 150-60 78th road, and performed major renovation work to connect the 2 buildings together, expanding the illegal usage.

Every Sunday, they hand out donated perishable food and vegetables and other types of groceries to people. I have nothing against charity, but they have crowds blocking the entrance of the common drive way and leaves rotting and unwanted food stuffs by the street tree, and stored the empty vegetable cartons outside the 150-60 garage overnight for pick up.

They did try to manage and clean up but these kind of activities does not belong to a residential neighborhood. There are tons of summonses and ECB violations but mostly were ignored and written off." - anonymous

Samaritan Village tries again for permanent Pan Am homeless shelter

From DNA Info:

The operator of a controversial homeless shelter in the former Pan Am hotel has re-applied for a permanent contract despite multiple unresolved fire safety complaints, DNAinfo has learned.

Samaritan Village re-submitted its application on June 12 for a $42.7 million contract to operate the Boulevard Family Shelter at 7900 Queens Blvd., records show.

Comptroller Scott Stringer denied the shelter's original application in May citing major health and safety issues at the shelter, including fire code violations and lack of kitchens inside each unit, which are required by law.

According to the Department of Buildings records online, two complaints, one for insufficient sprinklers and the other for a lack of fire-stop doors in the building's long hallways, were added to the DOB's site on June 26th.

There are also open Environmental Control Board violations regarding construction issues from May and January.

The current list of violations kept by the Housing Preservation and Development show complaints about raw sewage accumulation, bed bugs, roaches, lack of running water and no heat throughout the shelter.

Dirty sidewalk violations can't be fought

"I have been getting tickets for a dirty sidewalk in Astoria. The tickets are issued by the Dept. of Sanitation and start at $100. If I don't find out about the violation until later (because I don't live at the problematic address) the fine goes into default by the ECB and the fines goes up. If you were to see the sidewalk for this corner property, it looks reasonably clean. I've tried the impossible task of keeping it completely clean but it seems useless. The wind will bring some wrapper or piece of misc. over immediately. I wish someone from the city could witness it. This sidewalk is reasonably clean but it can never be 100% clean. It's also my responsibility 18" into the street. The tricky part isn't getting under parked cars or car tires but dealing with others people's nonsense. I have to dispose of and get the ticket when someone leaves a bottle of warm piss behind. I have to dispose of random bags of garbage dumped from cars. I've had other people's Christmas trees dumped on the corner. And of course, dog dookie.

I feel that I'm not alone. There must be other residential properties targeted for tickets. This is an unfair burden. Tickets may be necessary but they won't make the sidewalk any cleaner. Sanitation officers could probably bring in more revenue if they issued tickets to the offenders that are actually littering. But that job isn't easy. I know about the 8-9am and 6-7pm rule but I am not able to stand guard at those times. I can clean earlier or later than that but I can't make this my full time job. I have attempted to find someone to help using ads with local merchants. I have also tried Craigslist ads. So far, no one affordable is available. I can't pay $50 an hour. As a job it sucks, I know because I'm doing the cleaning. I am requesting some sound advice if Queens Crap can post a blog on this matter. The world wide web of misinformation makes it seems that fewer tickets are written and that the city is only getting cleaner. I haven't been able to locate articles on residential properties with these problems. This is not a Businesses only problem." - Anonymous

_________________________________________________________________________

I tried to assist someone else with just this problem. Unfortunately, I found that it was damn near impossible to mount a defense to these tickets. No proof needs to be offered by the officer issuing the ticket and it's a "your word against theirs" situation that the home or business owner always loses.

An entire report was written about just how unfair this issue is, but our local lawmakers would rather petition the president for terrorist pardons and worry about tampons in schools than pass legislation that would actually help the average taxpayer in this town.

DOB says problem is resolved...but it's not

"Spotted this piece of Queens Crap today while driving in Bayside. Maybe the DOB will shift some building inspectors back to Queens if more people make 311 complaints about all the illegal parking going on in Northern Queens." - anonymous

The owner got banged for this in 2006. And got it "resolved" in 2011.

So much for that.

DOB fines going unpaid

From the Epoch Times:

Every time someone is ticketed for littering, not shoveling their sidewalks, or any other “quality of life” violation, the city’s Environmental Control Board (ECB) is charged with holding hearings and issuing judgments and fines.

In fiscal year 2014, the 13 agencies issuing these types of tickets sent ECB 567,000 violations.

To date, New York City has $1.48 billion of uncollected debt stemming from these violations. Half of it comes from violations over two years old. About $350 million of that is interest on the uncollected fines.

Council members have been pushing for more efficiency in collecting this debt for years. In 2011 the Independent Budget Office (IBO) had released a report with these numbers at then-council member Gale Brewer’s request.

On Oct. 14, the Finance Committee discussed legislation to require the ECB to start submitting annual reports to the council so there is more transparency in the process.

Elizabeth Brown from IBO testified at the hearing in favor of annual reports, and suggested they be made available online as well.

“In the past IBO has been able to provide snapshots of the city’s unpaid fines. However, regular reporting would add another layer of transparency,” Brown’s testimony states.

In a 2007–2009 report, IBO found that the biggest share of unpaid fines came from violations issued by the Department of Buildings ($200 million).

City Council adds fine for leaving scenes of accidents

From AMNY:

Drivers who flee the scene of an accident will now have to contend with new fines up to $10,000 from New York City on top of any criminal charges under a bill the City Council passed [Monday].

The bill would add the first local civil penalties for drivers in hit-and-run cases. The most serious violators would get hit with a fine between $5,000 and $10,000 if someone dies.

No conviction during a prosecution for leaving the scene of a crime is required for a judge on a city panel that hears fines on quality-of-life laws, called the Environmental Control Board, to hand down the new penalties, though they can be appealed after they are paid.

"Thanks for gentrifying the neighborhood, now get out!"

From the NY Times:

Battles between artists and landlords are nearly as plentiful in New York City as galleries themselves. But a recent spate of attempted evictions and other conflicts in a three-story brick building in Ridgewood, Queens, is buffeting a young outpost of the art world just as the area is earning a reputation for affordable studio space and vibrant openings.

Artists who moved into the former factory at 17-17 Troutman Street in recent years found spacious studios with high ceilings, dramatic views of the Manhattan skyline and rents as low as $1.30 a square foot. Dozens of painters and sculptors helped each other renovate spaces there, shared thoughts about their work and the art market and began organizing shows, with some of the studios doubling as exhibition spaces.

The influx of artists brought new life to the building, near the border of Bushwick, Brooklyn, which was emptied by the city in 2007 after officials found that it had been illegally converted into residential and commercial lofts. But toward the end of last year, disputes began to surface as a man whom tenants identify as the building’s landlord cited security concerns about the crowds showing up at 17-17 Troutman Street for exhibition openings.

The landlord, David Steinberg, also came into conflict with some artists who said that he demanded hundreds of dollars in heat and electricity payments that were not required by their leases.

Several of the building’s residents said they had cordial relationships with Mr. Steinberg and did not intend to leave. But some artists who work there said that they feared that the same economic forces that have displaced artists over the decades from pioneering art neighborhoods — including SoHo, the Lower East Side and, in Brooklyn, Williamsburg and the gritty Industry City complex in Sunset Park — might be starting to have a similar effect in Ridgewood.

Complicating matters, city records indicate that the owner of record at 17-17 Troutman, the Gladiator Realty Corporation, has broken a rule by failing to obtain a certificate of occupancy from the New York City Department of Buildings that would allow people to work in the second- and third-floor studios. The Buildings Department issued a violation in March because of the missing certificate, and a hearing is planned before an Environmental Control Board judge.

Greenwich Village building buckles and is evacuated

From CBS 2:

Residents living in a landmarked building in Greenwich Village are unsure of when they’ll be able to return to their homes, and it appears the property owner could have prevented the issue from occurring in the first place.

On Wednesday, an evacuation order was issued for 20 apartments and two commercial spaces at 85 Christopher St.

The Department of Buildings had been called in to investigate after it appeared the facade of the building, which was built around 1900, was buckling.

Following an initial investigation, officials said on Thursday that the supports between the roof level and sixth floor failed, causing the wall of the building to buckle outward.

Department of Buildings officials added that cracking was observed throughout the exterior of the building.

The incident should not have come as a surprise to the property owner, who was issued an Environmental Control Board violation in March, 2013 regarding the failure to maintain the building’s facade.

The property owner owes a $1,000 fine on the violation, the buildings department said.

In January the Department of Buildings issued a DOB violation with a $1,500 civil penalty to the property owner for failure to correct the previous violation relating to the building’s facade. The penalty has yet to be paid, officials said.

Civic calls for landlords to be forced to pay up

From the Times Ledger:

The Juniper Park Civic Association says it is time the city abandon its tactic of trying to fine landlords who fail to address building violations.

The civic association sent a slew of photos and a memo to the de Blasio administration outlining properties the association said have racked up thousands of dollars in fines for city Department of Building violations yet are not compelled to address the infractions.

At the association’s Feb. 27 meeting, Juniper Park Civic Association President Robert Holden held up enlarged photos of properties with graffitied commercial vehicles parked in the yard or a fence towering above a residential street.

“DOB is doing its job,” he said, emphasizing that many landlords had been fined for the infractions. “We’re calling on the mayor and the Department of Finance to go after these guys.”

For instance, the owner of 57-65 75th St., near the Elmhurst-Maspeth border, has four open violations with the city Environmental Control Board and $6,100 in unpaid fines. Yet the association said the same commercial trucks that were sited in all four infractions for a violation of the residential zoning code remain a common sight.

Holden said ideally the city would hire contractors to go in and fix infractions and then bill owners for the work.

De Blasio’s office did not respond to requests for comment.

Resolution for collapsed building may be in the works

From the Forum:

After months of civic leaders pleading with the city to do something about a Woodhaven building that partially collapsed in April, sending a sea of bricks crashing onto Jamaica Avenue during a busy rush hour, an elected official said there could be a light at the end of the tunnel regarding the structure that has prompted numerous safety concerns and become what residents call a serious eyesore.

Assemblyman Michael Miller (D-Woodhaven) said this week that the property’s landlord, a group by the name of 78-19 Jamaica Ave. LLC, has hired an architect to look into fixing the crumbling building that stands in a bustling commercial corridor.

“It took a long time, but at least something is going to be done about it,” Miller said.

When the roof of the abandoned furniture store collapsed, it sent a storm of bricks into an area often packed with vehicles and pedestrians during rush hour. A car was badly damaged in the collapse, but no one was hurt.

The landlord, who could not be reached for comment, has reportedly recently paid thousands of dollars in fines owed to the city for a variety of violations, from a failure to maintain the building to conducting work without a permit, according to area elected officials and civic leaders. However, those payments have not been recorded on the city Department of Building’s website, which still states that there are 33 open DOB violations on the property, as well as eight open Environmental Control Board violations.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Buildings said the DOB issued a criminal court summons for failure to maintain the building and failure to comply with the DOB commissioner’s order to file plans and commence work to repair the building by Nov. 29, 2013. While a judge in a criminal court case does not have the power to force a defendant to make repairs, there is incentive for the owner to comply with the summons – and make repairs – because it can lead to a better outcome for them.

Good luck collecting fines

From the Times Ledger:

A Huang family company that racked up city Department of Buildings violations in December for allegedly cutting down trees on a protected property in Fresh Meadows has not been a registered business since 2009, according to Department of State records.

Audrey Realty Corp., headed by Henry Huang, son of notorious developer Thomas Huang, was dissolved in 2009 because it did not pay its taxes, DOS spokesman Laz Benitez said.

“The entity in question was dissolved by proclamation as they failed to pay taxes and are no longer registered with the Department of State, thus they cannot operate as a business entity,” Benitez said.

Audrey Realty is listed as the owner of the historic Fresh Meadows Klein Farm, at 194-15 73rd Ave., on the property’s deed.

Audrey Realty is due to appear in court Jan. 28 and Feb. 4 for the violations at the Queens Business Center in Jamaica, at 144-06 94th Ave.

An Environmental Control Board judge will rule on the violations and the company could face up to a total of $20,000 in fines, according to ECB.

If Audrey Realty fails to attend the hearings, it could be found in violation and given a penalty five times higher than the standard amount imposed, said DOB spokeswoman Kelly Magee.

“If the property owner fails to correct the violations and pay the associated fines, then the violation remains open and increased penalties may be assessed,” she said.

Henry Huang did not respond to multiple requests for comment.

Benitez said a corporation that has been dissolved is still allowed to own property while it is going through a “winding up” phase, which could take years.

Building containing human cages busted

From the NY Post:

Chinatown’s “human kennel” was hit with more than 60 violations from multiple agencies for unsafe conditions exposed by The Post, records show.

After the exposé, the Hester Street hellhole, where men live in cage-like rooms, received 47 housing-code violations from the city’s Housing and Preservation Department, records show.

The department issued summonses on each of the building’s six floors for obstructed exits and illegal alterations to fire escapes and windows.

The building’s owner was slapped with an additional 13 Environmental Control Board violations, and the Department of Health issued an order to abate “cockroach conditions.”

City not making as much in fines

From CBS New York:

There are dozens of ways New Yorkers can get fined by the city — failing to clean up after your dog, not bundling up your magazines on recycling day and, of course, parking your car in the wrong spot.

Sometimes, irate residents seem convinced the city is trying to balance its budget by catching them committing minor infractions. But according to a blog post by the city’s Independent Budget Office on Tuesday, the Bloomberg Administration is actually hauling in less money from fines than it did a few years ago.

The city estimates that fine revenue will total $812.5 million this fiscal year, which is up about $13 million from last year. However, the 2013 fiscal year, which ended June 30, was an an anomaly because in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy, the city suspended some parking rules and rededicated parking enforcement officers to direct traffic instead.

This year’s estimated total of fine revenue is about $42.5 million less than what the city collected in 2010.

Believe it or not, however, not all fines are money-makers for the city. In a 2003 report, the IBO found that only parking tickets generated more money than it cost to enforce regulations and collect fines.

That's because the ECB dismisses a lot of fines, especially for developers. A building inspector could probably make enough money for the city in fines in one day to pay his yearly salary. But when $10,000 fines are regularly dismissed by ECB, that becomes unachievable. But it's funny how residents can seem to never get a parking ticket dismissed.

Briarwood site's been stalled for 3 years

From the Queens Chronicle:

An inactive construction site that has been stalled for years is frustrating the residents of Briarwood.

The lot located at 84-03 Lander St. was supposed to be developed into a six-story apartment house. But years later, the building remains unfinished, with metal columns that have since rusted over and a plywood fence that has become weather-worn and covered in graffiti.

“My suspicions are that they stopped working because they ran out of money,” Seymour Schwartz, president of the Briarwood Community Association, said. “They have a decrepit plywood fence that’s falling over and is very ugly in appearance, and it’s just a real eyesore.”

According to the Department of Buildings, a stop-work order was issued on March 26, 2010 for failing to protect the adjacent property — an active construction site for a similar apartment building next door. The builder was issued a second stop-work order in December 2011 for a collapsed and missing fence.

“Since August 2012, inspectors from the Department of Buildings have visited the site four times and issued four Environmental Control Board violations,” DOB spokeswoman Kelly Magee said. “The most recent round of violations was issued on April 10, for expired permits and failure to maintain a construction fence. DOB inspectors continue to monitor this as a stalled construction site.”

Though more than $24,000 in violation fees have been issued, Schwartz said he is pessimistic that anything would come out of the ticketing.

Billboard a hazard that no one wants to address

From the Queens Chronicle:

An article in the latest edition of Newtown Civic Association’s newsletter criticized the condition of an unused billboard in Elmhurst, calling upon the city to fix it.

“The sign company no longer uses the sign for advertising and has abandoned it,” the article read. “Yet this dangerous condition continues to the detriment of passersby.”

The billboard was reportedly erected illegally but has not been used for advertisements in a number of months, resulting in one-inch thick pieces of plywood falling from the structure onto the sidewalk.

The building it stands on, also abandoned, was once the El Tucan Banquet Hall.

The NCA claims they have spoken before the City Council and have called upon the City Department of Buildings Queens headquarters to rectify the situation but they say the complaints have fallen on deaf ears.

According to the DOB website, the owner of the building, Mohammad Malik, has already received a number of violations, the most recent being on Jan. 8 after a follow-up inspection.

On Dec. 28, 2012, Malik received an Environmental Control Board violation for failing “to maintain at roof level, billboard structure broken and missing boards throughout and in danger of falling.”

Even though the building is abandoned and has been for some time, responsibility for both the building and the billboard fall on the owner, who will have to appear in court on April 9.
As of printing, Malik was not available for comment.