LIC couple set free by building management

From the NY Post:

A luxury Queens building that blocked portions of palatial balconies belonging to some rent-stabilized tenants — so that high-paying, tiny-terraced residents didn’t develop a case of porch envy — has finally removed the partitions.

On April 21, the steel partitions were finally removed — but tenants had to agree to a litany of provisions, including: no drinking, not using their patios as storage space, no hanging of signs or flags, no kids without adult supervision, no barbecues and no bird feeders.

A spokesman for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development said management, tenants and a window-washing company hammered out a plan that maintained the “safety of tenants without impeding window washing.”

The building started off as a failed condo project, resuscitated thanks to $7.6 million in subsidies and $28 million in construction loans from the city. In return, 108 of the units are income restricted or rent-stabilized — as low as $1,103 for a studio.

Arverne eyesore

"Take a good look at this photo. These 3-family houses on Beach 65th Street in Arverne have been under construction since 2006, yet they're still not done, the yards are full of trash, and the balconies are rusted. The permits are expired. The sidewalk is still blocked off, and DOT permits are also likely expired. They took empty land and made it an eyesore. So much for the Rockaway revitalization." - anonymous

Bayard balcony crap

Miss Heather featured a good one on her blog recently. Fox News couldn't resist picking it up!

Child dies after fall from unsafe balcony

From NY1:

A four-year-old boy died today after falling 23 stories from a balcony in a Bronx building, according to police.

Malachi Johnson fell from the balcony at 140 De Kruif Place and Dreiser Loop in Co-Op City at about 7:45 p.m.

Investigators say Malachi's mother was home at the time of the incident.

The child's head was split open and he was declared dead at Jacobi Hospital, according to police.

The Department of Buildings issued a warning about unsafe balconies at 16 apartment buildings across the city last month, including the building at 140 De Kruif Place.

Several balconies declared unsafe

From the NY Times:

Thousands of residents in 16 buildings across New York City have been ordered to stop using balconies that were found to be unsafe by the Department of Buildings.

The warnings came as inspectors conducted safety reviews around the city after a man fell to his death in March when part of the railing on his balcony gave way.

Inspectors have also found that about 800 building owners have failed to file inspection reports, required every five years, demonstrating the safety of their balconies and terraces.

Teams have been conducting street-level examinations, with inspectors and engineers peering up at balconies with binoculars and entering buildings for physical inspections. They have found loose railings, crumbing concrete and unsecured railing posts.

“Our inspectors and engineers have visited more than 530 buildings across the city to determine whether the property owners maintained the exterior of their buildings, including balconies,” said Tony Sclafani, the chief spokesman for the Department of Buildings.

The enforcement effort is one of the most sweeping on balcony safety in years, and city officials said it was in its early stages.

Balconies in Queens on the dangerous list:

133-24 Sanford Avenue, QNS
41-40 Union Street, QNS

Negligence leads to fall from balcony

From the NY Post:

A young man described as "happy, bright and full of hope" tumbled to his death from his 24th-floor balcony in Midtown -- possibly after the railing gave way, sources said yesterday.

Neither his friends nor investigators seem to believe that Connor Donohue, 24, jumped from the East 39th Street building Sunday morning.

"He was happy, bright and full of hope. He had a great sense of humor and got along with everybody," said Mekaelia Davis, a fellow volunteer at the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network.

Donohue had been a dean of students at Prep for Prep, a nonprofit that helps New York students gain admission to elite high schools nationwide.

A part of the railing also fell, prompting a Department of Buildings spokesman to say, "A post was loose or may have been damaged prior to the incident."

From the Daily News:

The family of the Manhattan social worker who fell to his death when a faulty railing gave way expressed outrage Tuesday after learning the building's owners failed to inspect the balcony.

Jennifer Towers Apartment Corp., the owner of the building at 330 E. 39th St., was required to hire engineers to inspect the high-rise's exterior and submit a report to the Buildings Department by early 2007.

It never came, officials said.

Owners of buildings at least seven stories high are required to hire engineers to inspect their facades every five years. The Buildings Department slapped Jennifer Towers with a $4,000 fine after the firm failed to appear at a hearing over the violation last June.

It's been hit with an additional $6,750 in penalties for failing to file the report, officials said.

In the wake of the tragedy, the agency issued a violation against Jennifer Towers, which posted signs in the building warning residents to stay off their balconies.

David Iwanier, a rep for Jennifer Towers, declined to comment.

More amazing Scarano architecture

From Curbed:

Snuggled up against the Manhattan Bridge, 133 Water Street, designed by barred-chitect Robert Scarano, has always been an amusing sight thanks to its too-close-for-comfort terraces. The condo-turned-rental has had plenty of problems in its past, but at least one of them has been solved, kinda. A tipster updates: "Back then, someone astutely pointed out the chimney on the neighboring buiding. Apparently either the tenants were getting suffocated or the FDNY or DOB took issue to the chimney. So they fixed it.