Joshua Guttman’s latest project at 187 Plymouth Street is unlikely to improve his already battered reputation in Dumbo, or Brooklyn for that matter. (In case you’ve been living under a rock, Guttman has treated his tenants like dirt, stiffed the city for the numerous fines he owes, and had a suspicious number of fires at his properties, including the Greenpoint Terminal Market.) Neighbors are now up in arms over the destruction of some historically significant buildings and alleged disregard or manipulation of proper building procedures.

The property in question runs through the block from 187 Plymouth Street to 64 John Street. Both 1890s buildings were cited as “contributing structures” when Dumbo was calendared for landmarking in July of this year, a month or so after Guttman started demolition without, according to one version of the story, a proper building permit in place. Unable to find any permits posted on site or online or get any response from DOB more than two months after a two-man crew had begun disassembling the building brick by brick, a group of neighbors approached Councilman David Yassky’s office in August for help in getting some answers. According to a letter the councilman’s office says it sent to DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster’s office (but that a DOB spokesperson says they have no record of receiving), a member of Yassky’s staff called the 84 Precinct to check out the site. The officers found work taking place and no permits posted. When the police then contacted DOB, according to the letter, they were told that a “permit had been issued within the last two days, and that it was retroactive to June 6, 2007.”

Why is this timing important? Dumbo was calendared by the Landmarks Preservation Commission on July 24, so any approvals prior to that date were free and clear of landmark-related constraints. According to the DOB, though, there’s no such thing as a permit being issued retroactively. The official record indicates that Guttman filed for the permit on March 26 and that it was granted on June 6. The DOB stands by the veracity of that timeline and says that it there are too many parts to the application process for the information posted online to be anything but on the up-and-up. The DOB is currently looking into whether the scope of work performed conforms to the what was allowed on the permits. More on that later. GMAP P*Shark

More photos on the jump…

187 Plymouth before and after

64 John Street before and after

Guttman surveying his workers’ handiwork