Man killed by dumpster at Flushing house where illegal renovation was going on

NY Daily News 

No city construction permits had been filed at a Queens home where a 32-year-old man was fatally hit in the head by a dumpster door, city Department of Building officials said Tuesday.

The inside of the home on 191st St. near Northern Blvd. in Flushing was undergoing a “full gut renovation” when the door to a massive dumpster in the driveway popped open, striking a 32-year-old neighbor in the head, according to city records.

First responders found the victim pinned between the dumpster door and the house. He died at the scene.

A truck was dropping off the dumpster when the door popped open, police said. Jiangtao, who lived down the street, was talking to a construction worker at the site when the door hit him.

City building inspectors issued a stop work order, halting all construction, after determining no work permits had ever been filed for the construction.

A truck was dropping off the dumpster when the door popped open, police said. Jiangtao, who lived down the street, was talking to a construction worker at the site when the door hit him.

City building inspectors issued a stop work order, halting all construction, after determining no work permits had ever been filed for the construction.

First German Sport Club receives stop work order

Back in 2013, it appeared that World Financial Group was about to move into the former First German Sport Club of Brooklyn on Metropolitan Avenue at the edge of Ridgewood. That never happened, and the building sat as is until earlier this year, when this was done to it:

The stop work order seems to be for construction done outside the scope of the permit.

Contractor with dubious past accused of work without a permit

From the Real Deal:

The contractor who was charged with manslaughter following the fatal East Village gas explosion is now performing illegal renovations at Harlem apartments, according to a new complaint.

Dilber Kukic is gut renovating four apartments at 303 West 154th Street with no permits, according to the New York Daily News. The complaint to the Department of Buildings from Jerry Leazer, who worked as a broker at the building, says the contractor has been doing rewiring work and removing walls without the proper approvals.

Inspectors went to the building on Thursday but could not enter and posted a notice telling the landlord, Uphattan Corporation’s John Schreiber, to schedule an inspection.

Tenants claim that illegal construction is being used to evict

From AM-NY:

East Williamsburg residents are taking a stand against their new landlord, who they say has been threatening them and using illegal construction to get them to leave their apartments.

The tenants of 272 Stagg St. were joined on Tuesday by dozens of housing advocates with St. Nicks Alliance and the Stand for Tenant Safety Coalition as they rallied against landlord Silvio Cruz outside of their building.

“The tenants feel very unsafe,” said St. Nicks Alliance deputy director Rolando Guzman, who has been providing counseling services to the tenants. “Before the construction started, the landlord's contractor told one of the tenants, ‘you need to move out or you will be put in shelters.’ ”

Since Nov. 14, the building has racked up 17 complaints from the Department of Buildings, two of which remain open, as of Tuesday. The complaints ranged from construction without a permit to cutting off gas to part of the building and an inadequate tenant protection plan, according to DOB records.

Guzman said the tenants have been filing complaints about Cruz and the construction work since November, when he bought the building.

They just won't get a permit

"So this place has a partial stop work order and picture below near the dumpster is where they are digging. When you look at the property and what they are Zoned for, they are going way far back to the retaining wall. This owner was caught twice with stop work orders and one I had to call the cops to get them bounced out look at the pictures they are going way more than we are zoned for." - anonymous

F'ed up on Fitchett

They want to build a McMansion here but the plans were rejected.



And then there's what's directly across the street...

The plans were revoked and it's been sitting in this condition for 2 years.

The neighbors must love it.

Phony preservation rally held by phony elected

From the Times Ledger:

Some of the biggest names in the Long Island City arts community declared war on developers who illegally altered the decorative facade on the Elks Lodge building on 44th Drive Tuesday, one week after neighborhood residents renewed efforts to have the property landmarked.

Artists in LIC don't give a flying rat's ass about preservation, only ice cream money from Jimmy Van Bramer.

“Maybe this building is a line in the sand about how we go about further development here,” Mazda said. “We’ve had a relationship with other developers like Rockrose and TF Cornerstone, who go about things by the rules. Not these Johnny-come-latelies.”

Uh huh.

City Councilman Jimmy Van Bramer (D-Sunnyside), who organized the rally of artists outside the Elks Lodge Wednesday afternoon, was furious. Last week he wrote to the Landmarks Preservation Commission, urging them to designate the building as a historical landmark.

Time and again, we have seen electeds pretend to care about saving something, only to later find out that they were in cahoots with the developer. But holding a rally means you can shrug your shoulders and say you tried when the building comes down.

The councilman said he would draft two pieces of legislation to discourage developers from illegally altering structures. The first piece would impose significant fines and penalties to any landowner that intentionally alters the facade or any part of a building that is in the process of being landmarked and the second piece would authorize the city to increase the fines if a developer does illegal construction without a permit.

Which will have absolutely no teeth, because sending a letter to LPC doesn't mean the building is "in the process of being landmarked".

How many preservation groups were invited to this rally?

Brooklyn hotel seized by sheriffs

From the Daily News:

New York City sheriffs have seized control of a troubled Bay Ridge hotel — and the hotel may get shut down after the owner failed to pay more than $100,000 in fines, according to court documents and beleaguered residents.

The 87-year-old owner of The Prince Hotel, Moses Fried, has been hit with dozens of violations by the city’s buildings department since 2014 for illegal construction, unsafe conditions and not following guidelines for how long a resident is permitted to stay.

Fried denied the accusations at a hearing in October, but did not offer a rebuttal, according to a complaint filed by the city in Brooklyn Supreme Court Monday that seeks $114,000 in penalties.

Calls to Fried’s Miami Beach, Fla., home were not returned.

Residents who live near the hotel, listed under Bay Ridge Prince, LLC., have called for the city to shut it because of years of criminal activity.

Coming soon: homeless shelter!

Word your DOB complaints carefully

From Brooklyn Daily:

Vigilant Ridgites must watch what they say when reporting illegal home conversions.

Watchdogs blew the whistle on contractors gutting the inside of a home between Third and Fourth avenues without a permit on Dec. 11, but the city didn’t get around to issuing a stop-work order for a week, because complainants told 311 the work was “illegal construction” rather than “illegal demolition.” The difference in one word increases the city’s target response time from 1.5 days to 45 days, and whistle-blowers need to know how to parlay the city’s lingo in order to protect their own neighborhoods, a local leader said.

“We try to get people to understand the language and use certain language to get the complaint [a higher priority],” said Bob Cassara, founder of the Brooklyn Housing Preservation Alliance.

Contractors hauled enough debris from the building to fill a dumpster, photos taken on Dec. 11 show. But whistle-blowers told 311 on Dec. 11 and Dec. 14 that the dicey demolition men were doing construction rather than destruction, and the city considered it a lesser threat, according to city records.

The Department of Buildings prioritizes complaints by rating them “A” through “D,” with “A” priority being the most immediate, according to agency materials. “Illegal demolition” gets the highest priority, but “illegal construction” gets a “B” designation.

On average, it takes the Department of Buildings 38 days to close out a “B”-level complaint, but inspectors are working as fast as they can, an agency spokesman said.

Inspectors must witness illegal work themselves, and the property owner must be present for the city to issue papers if the work is already complete, he said. Gaining admittance to inspect work sites is also a hurdle, he said.

SWO violated at f*cked up Flushing house

Word came early yesterday that there was continued construction at 30-35 150th Street despite a Stop Work Order.

I sent the QC photography team out to document the activity.

But then something funny happened. Adam Lombardi, on behalf of Paul Vallone, sent this comment into the blog:

Yes, please join the team because it's quite apparent that the sitting council member can't figure out on his own how to get the DOB to answer complaints that are months old, and also can't get the BEST Squad out for a priority A weekend call.

"Minor interior alterations" shut down in Flushing

This past Thursday at 30-35 150th Street.

DOB responded that day and issued a Stop Work Order.

F*cked up in Flushing

This house at 30-35 150th Street in Flushing is kind of cute, eh? Well don't get too attached to it.

This is what the homeowner/architect applied to do to it.

This is what they actually did to it.

So tell me, how is a project that was audited and found to be non-compliant, with a "notice to revoke letter" sent out in June, allowed to continue into September - a partial demolition - with no construction fence and without the proper permits?

It's criminal

From the Daily News:

The heartbreaking farewell came as detectives looking into allegations that the explosion was caused by workers illegally tapping into the gas line were preparing to bring criminally negligent homicide charges against whoever was responsible.

“This is likely going to end up a homicide case,” a high-ranking police source told the Daily News. “The DA will probably bring it to the grand jury.”

The focus of the criminal investigation is building owner Maria Hrynenko and contractor Dilber Kukic, sources have said.

Both are suspected of tapping into a gas main meant to serve only a first-floor sushi restaurant to provide heat to Hrynenko’s tenants on upper floors. Kukic is no stranger to the law. He was arrested in October for allegedly trying to give a city inspector a $600 cash bribe to make two violations on buildings he owns on W. 173rd St. in Manhattan go away.

“No one's going to be charged for doing sloppy work, but if it can be proved that someone was told to do this, then it's a criminally negligent homicide,” the source said.

Everyone from Hrynenko and Kukic to the plumber who had been working at 121 Second Ave. at the time of the blast has been grilled.

“All of them got lawyers and they're all pointing fingers at each other,” the high-ranking source said.

Squatters invade unfinished Huang houses

From the Queens Chronicle:

Pat Martin’s troubles began 12 years ago and they’ve only gotten worse.

The Bayside homeowner has the bad luck of living next door to a Tommy Huang building project gone wrong, and despite pleas to the city for help, there’s little she can do about it.

Huang is a Flushing developer who with his wife and son was banned last year by the state from real estate construction or sales for five years over various offenses in Queens. They pleaded guilty to felony securities fraud.

In 2012, Huang purchased a single-family ranch house at 39-39 223 St., next door to Martin. He tore it down and replaced it with one house on 223rd Street and three on the side of the property, along with a new access road that was given the name Mia Drive.

According to several neighbors in the pricey neighborhood and area elected officials, they have never seen a building project done in such a shoddy manner. The street overlooks Little Neck Bay.

Workmen excavated too close to Martin’s property, causing a retaining wall to collapse. Her property lost 3 feet of land, fencing, lighting and the irrigation system. A court case was recently settled, which Martin could not discuss, but it was drawn out for years and legal fees mounted.

There has been a stop-work order on the property since 2007 and Huang cannot get certificates of occupancy for the houses.

The first-floor windows are boarded up but that hasn’t stopped vandals from ransacking one of the houses and holding parties in others, Martin said. She believes people are living in the houses from time to time and there is power because she sees lights on at night.

Last Friday, however, was the last straw for the beleaguered Baysider. Police were called to the site by a neighbor who saw activity on the property. Martin said several partygoers ran onto her property to escape. She screamed and they took off.

The crap stops here

From the Queens Chronicle:

The Queensboro Hill Flushing Civic Association announced plans Monday to attempt to stymie illegal development in neighborhoods.

Called Fight the Blight, the plan will allow residents concerned about overdevelopment on their streets to identify addresses of recent construction in the area.

Don Capalbi, civic president, made the announcement at a meeting of the Mid-Queens Community Council that includes 40 area organizations. He said that residents can provide the information at Fighttheblightqueens@gmail.com.

Capalbi will monitor the address and take pictures of the locations, which he will then forward to Jonathan Chung, chief of staff for Councilman Peter Koo (D-Flushing). Chung has agreed to spearhead the effort with City Planning.

“I’m not against development, but some of it is so egregious,” he said. “It then becomes more prevalent and ruins a neighborhood.”

Capalbi is also behind a proposal by the Queens Civic Congress to change the zoning for row houses that would limit occupancy to one family.

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.”

A crap above - Ridgewood edition

Sometimes developers just make you scratch your head. Case in point, this house at 481 Fairview Avenue in Ridgewood. It looks as though half of a story was added onto the roof of this house, but the explanation is more than meets the eye. The most recently applied for and rejected permits were for a "mezzanine" on the top floor to allow for storage space and an additional bedroom above the roof. Now, in order to capitalize on a "mezzanine" there has to be an existing story above it, which was not the case here. Unfortunately, the construction was done anyway, because in this city, "build first and pay a fine (or don't) if you get caught" is the way to go.

This address has a litany of uncured, unpaid violations.

Final BSA decision on Astoria medical building coming soon

Hello,

I just wanted to give you and your readers an update:

The final BSA ruling regarding 23-25 31st Street is scheduled for May 21st.

Pali Realty, LLC and owner Yiannis Konstantinidis assigned the insurance claims to Chartis, the insurer for Sea Breeze, the General Contractor.

Chartis turned down offers of a settlement offered up by two of the most heavily damaged homeowners.

Attached is my final letter to the Board of Standards and Appeals; please feel free to publish it.

Kind regards,

Norm Sutaria

Sutaria BSA Testimony

Avella wants to end self-certification

From Bayside Patch:

State Sen. Tony Avella, D-Bayside, joined northeast Queens civic leaders in Bayside Friday to announce legislation that would discontinue the process of self-certification for developers.

The senator said the process, in which developers certify their own properties rather have them inspected by the city’s Department of Buildings, has long plagued communities in his district.

“I have been a long standing proponent of abolishing the self certification procedure, which creates huge loopholes for shady developers,” Avella said. “A great majority of the illegal construction that goes on in my district and beyond is due to the fact that the building plans were self-certified.”

The senator and civic leaders said the city’s Department of Buildings did not have the resources to inspect complaints for all of the problem sites throughout the five boroughs.

Therefore, the DOB should hire more plan examiners to inspect plans during the review phase, rather than allow self certification, they said.

Nightmare neighbors still hoarding

From the Queens Chronicle:

The property at 243-14 132 Road is littered with seemingly worthless items including broken furniture, buckets, pieces of wood, old cosmetics, tools and more.

“They use a U-Haul all the time, and they dump the stuff right on the lawn, and in the middle of the street, and then, I guess, they return the truck,” said neighbor H. Gardner, who asked that her first name not be published because she is embarrassed by the conditions next door. “With the U-Haul and all this garbage, that means they have to drag it up, past my driveway, so I had to get a rake and clean the debris because I need to pull my car out and I’m not sure if there’s nails and stuff.”

The property is an eyesore that neighbors say they are tired of looking at, especially when all the other homes on the street are rubbish-free with finely manicured lawns. They claim the property has always looked that way, ever since homeowner Elaine Ranger moved in about 10 years ago.

When the Chronicle first reported on the house back in April, Ranger and her daughter, who would not give her name, said they were in the process of spring cleaning and maintained that most of the items on the property were useful and the rest was just awaiting pickup by the Department of Sanitation.

Last Thursday, another woman who also claimed to be Ranger’s daughter but would not give her name, said the clutter was scattered about because she had recently emptied a storage unit and needed time to photograph the items as evidence in a pending lawsuit.

“I am not saying it’s excusable, but that’s the reason why it’s here,” she said. But she later noted, “I collect stuff. Things come in and out.”

Ranger faces eight alleged Environmental Control Board violations for construction work without a permit and quality-of-life infractions with fines totaling $6,900, and two Department of Buildings construction violations, just as she had in April, when the Chronicle first reported the story.

The city Department of Health issued a violation to Ranger in 2011 for improper storage of items and harborage conditions conducive to rats, a spokesman for the agency said back in April. The DOH and the Department of Sanitation did not respond to emails requesting information about any new violations.

Click on the DOB link provided. This one is a real doozy...