City says contractor encroached on parkland

From DNA Info:

A longtime construction company located right next to LaGuardia Airport could get the boot by the city — after allegedly taking over a section of a public park to use as a personal storage area.

C&M Roofing, located inside owner Bob Myers' home on 24th Ave. and 82nd Street, illegally installed three fences to extend the home's back yard into the adjacent Landing Lights Park, according to a lawsuit filed by the city in Manhattan Supreme Court on Nov. 17.

Myers has cut off public access to the green space and is "effectively treating a substantial portion of the subject property as an extension of the rear yard," they said.

At an unknown date he built a wood fence, a gate, a metal shed and two driveways on what is the city's land, according to the lawsuit. Last year he installed a new metal fence, and gravel for drainage, the suit says.

Now the city is moving to take back the disputed land, alleging Myers has created a public nuisance and is trespassing in the park. They also said he's caused damage to the park's vegetation by trespassing.

Illegal building encroaches on neighbor's property

Photo Caption (From Left to Right): Mr. John Hockenjos; Senator Tony Avella; Ms. Iriana Hockenjos

Senator Tony Avella was joined [yesterday] by the Hockenjos Family at a press conference protesting their neighbor’s possible illegal construction. According to the Hockenjos Family, the Department of Buildings approved and issued permits to their neighbors at 2372 East 23rd Street based upon allegedly fraudulent documents, including a site survey. The Hockenjos Family’s neighbor has subsequently claimed a part of the Hockenjos’ property as their own.

Avella stated, “As I have been saying for awhile now, the Department of Buildings (DOB) needs to do a much better job of reviewing and auditing the applications it receives. Otherwise, as is apparently the case here, applicants can submit fraudulent documents that allows them to build beyond what they are allowed. According to the Hockenjos Family, their neighbor submitted a fraudulent site survey, which subsequently led them to claim a part of the Hockenjos’ property. It is clear that DOB needs to conduct better oversight in order to prevent the situation that the Hockenjos Family currently finds themselves in.”

Medical Mess going to the BSA

There's now a whole website dedicated to the Medical Monstrosity just a few doors down from Peter Vallone, Jr.'s office on 31st Street in Astoria.

Attend the special permit hearing for #315-12-BZ scheduled for Feb 26, at 1:30PM
Spector Hall 22 Reade St. in Manhattan

The NY BSA is voting to permit the 8-story monstrosity to be built 10 feet too close to the rear neighbors homes by changing the rear yard zoning requirements.

It's time to trim your bush

"Northwest corner 165th St and 35th Ave...homeowner's hedge encroaches on a public sidewalk. Pedestrians have to walk on the grass curb strip." - The Flushing Phantom

Doctor built illegally on colonial burial ground

Doctor Mohammed Sajid, at some point during the past few years, built a chicken coop on the Leverich Family Burying Ground, which is not only NOT his property, but is protected from development by the laws of NYS.

He received a violation in 2010 for a fence encroaching on the property.

He was banged for $800 by ECB in April of 2010, but never fixed the violation or paid the fine.

An idiot inspector in May of 2010 said he had a permit to encroach, but of course, he did not.

There was another complaint put in this month regarding this issue, although the DOB wrote that "property lines not DOB issue." But they most certainly are a DOB issue since the owner had to put down the metes and bounds of his project in order to get approval from DOB for an extension.

In summary:

The DOB has done nothing.

The pols have done nothing.

It's time for the doctor's chickens to come home to roost.

SWO & TRO on bowling alley conversion

"DOB placed a Full Stop Work Order (Entered on 09/24/2008 at 14:08:59 by Badge # 1962 Gonzalez Robert, Bin: 4284059; Complaint # 4373342. See also Complaint # 4350617) on 245-02 Merrick Blvd., Rosedale, New York, Block: 13209 Lot: 50 and 60, yet DOB allowed construction to proceed.

On September 15, 2012, 245-02 Merrick Blvd. LLC removed the chain link fence on its neighbor boundary and installed a fence on the neighbor’s property. The neighbor sued at the New York State Supreme at Queens County and obtained a TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER entered by Hon. Joseph J. Esposito on September 18, 2012 (a hearing was heard on October 4, 2012 and the TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER was ordered to continue). We are now watching 245-02 Merrick Blvd. LLC and its cohorts at DOB."  - Anonymous

What I have gathered from looking at the info on DOB's site is that a defunct bowling alley was supposed to have been converted into a drug store back in 2008; the DOB approved those plans. Then for some reason, the owner withdrew that and applied for a demo permit and new building. What's been going on since is anyone's guess.  Here's the whole history of permits.

The ever-expanding McMansion

From the Brooklyn Paper:

The owner of an ever-expanding Manhattan Beach McMansion has racked up more than $100,000 in violations for illegal construction over the past eight years — and now the additions are intruding on neighbors’ property.

Michael Tropp, who lives on Norfolk Street between Shore and Oriental boulevards, didn’t bother to apply for a permit nine years ago when he connected two neighboring houses to make one huge home. He has since improved the house in numerous ways — all the while racking up fines for illegal work and ticking off his neighbors.

“His house is illegal and he’s out of his mind,” said Oriental Boulevard resident Flori Kostoff of the contentious property owner. “He’s building on other people’s property.”

On top of that, he hasn’t even paid most of his fines.

Here's a list of the infractions.

Bellerose property line snafu

From the Times Ledger:

Two Bellerose civic leaders are claiming the city Department of Buildings is dragging its feet to enforce what they contended were violations on two two-family homes being constructed in the neighborhood.

Angela Augugliaro, president of the Queens Colony Civic Association, said the homes at 87-28 Commonwealth Blvd. have a partial stop-work order so the developer can correct safety issues with the buildings. But she said work beyond the safety concerns are being addressed. She also had other concerns about the property.

“We’ve asked for an audit, we’ve asked for an inspector to look at it and they’ve done nothing,” she said, referring to the DOB. “I just don’t understand the Buildings Department anymore. I feel they’re not doing their job.”

A visit to the site Tuesday morning did not find any workers performing construction.

Dharminder Singh, the developer of the homes, could not be reached for comment.

The homes are being built adjacent to property owned by St. Gregory the Great Church on Commonwealth Boulevard in Bellerose. The church and the developer were involved in a dispute with St. Gregory’s claiming the homes’ property line encroached on its land.

It was found that the church’s survey was correct and Singh shaved off two feet from the property line, but Augugliaro and former Community Board 13 chairman and Bellerose Commonwealth Civic Association member Richard Hellenbrecht said the property is still in violation by about two feet.

The homes are supposed to be 4 feet away from the property line with St. Gregory’s.

Augugliaro said a construction fence was taken down from the property, which she said is another violation.