• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 
• 

After years of neglect, the beautiful brick building at the corner Clark Street and Monroe Place in Brooklyn Heights was partially torn down over the weekend due to conditions that were deemed “imminently perilous to life”; two floors of the 15-unit building were torn down following a 311 call that reported visible buckling. “It’s been a very, very badly neglected building,” Frank Folisi, landlord of the building next door, told The Post. “Everyone who has owned this building has taken money out of it and not put any money into it. I don’t walk on that side of the street anymore.

The theory over on the Brooklyn Heights Blog is that owner Penson Companies, which bought the building for $3,650,000 in 2006, had a strong financial incentive not to step in sooner to save the building. Why’s that? Because condemnation was the only way to get free and clear of the three remaining rent-stabilized tenants. The marketing document (excerpted on the jump) Penson has been using in recent months to try to sell the building (the price had started at $4.45 million but had recently gotten as low as $3.5 million) reveals that the tenants were paying monthly rents of $550, $617, and $575 and that approved plans had been approved by Landmarks for a rear extension that would have taken the size of the building from 8,000 square feet to 9,750 square feet. So we’re talking about the difference between the building being worth $3.5 million and $10 million. Sound like reason enough to look the other way? Now, many questions remain: What happens to the homeless tenants? Will the rest of the building be torn down? What will Landmarks require for rebuilding? Are there any criminal consequences for this type of neglect? Enquiring minds want to know.
Tenants Flee Buckling Heights Building [NY Post]
Penson to Brooklyn Heights: Drop Dead [Brooklyn Heights Blog]
‘Dereliction of Duty’ in Brooklyn Heights [Brownstoner]
Photos 1-9 by Ali Lovell; 10 by Chris in the Heights