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Surprisingly, work has temporarily stopped on the southern Pierhouse condo buildingĀ at 130 Furman Street. The Department of Buildings issued a partial stop work order on the construction site while the developer and the DOB investigate whether the height violates the Brooklyn Heights Scenic View District, at the request of Brooklyn Bridge Park Corp., New York YIMBY reported.

“Minor adjustments such as the alteration of bulkheads or parapets are among the type of alterations that may be necessary to bring the structure into full compliance,” Brooklyn Bridge Park President Regina Myer told YIMBY. “We take our responsibility to protect the Scenic View District very seriously.”

It sounds very dramatic, but even if a problem is found, any adjustments are likely to be minor, as Myer said. If anything, it will only reinforce the legality of the 30-foot addition on top of the nearby 1HotelĀ atĀ 60 Furman Street, part of the same development, which has angered preservationists and spawned a new group, “Save the View Now.”

A lot of misinformation has circulated since we broke that story in September, but to summarize: The hotel at 60 Furman Street is 30 feet higher than expected, and when viewed from the south end of the Promenade, a portion above the roadbed of the bridge that was not blocked back in the days of the Cold Storage Warehouse is blocked now. So while it does violate an agreement hammered out between park officials and preservationists, it doesn’t appear to be violating any building codes or the Scenic View. (In fact, it’s not even in the Scenic View.)

Above, an old photo of the now-demolished Cold Storage Warehouse found on the website of the Bridge and Tunnel Club shows the road of the bridge visible just above the roof of the warehouse, when viewed from the southern end of the Promenade. Click through for more images.

Update: BBP contacted us this morning to clarify a few things: The Pier 1 development consists of three buildings, 60 Furman, 90 Furman, and 130 Furman — and technically, the BBP refers to the residential buildings at 90 and 130 Furman as “Pierhouse” and theĀ hotel at 60 Furman as 1Hotel,Ā a spokeswoman said. The first two buildings (Nos. 60 and 90) have topped out, and workers are in the middle of pouring the first floor at 130 Furman, BBP’s vice president of real estate told us. Back when the developers first applied for permits for 130 Furman, the DOB wasn’t reviewing them for compliance with the Scenic View District. The BBP requested that the DOB do so, and Tuesday, the developer submitted a post-approval amendment to show the building is in compliance and to bring it into compliance on some minor points, the BBP exec said. These include lowering a staircase bulkhead by a few inches and removing a few potentially questionable parapets.

Work Halted at Brooklyn Bridge Parkā€™s Pier 1 Over Height Questions [NYY]
Pierhouse Addition Angers Preservationists [Brownstoner]
Photo above by Bridge and Tunnel Club; rendering below by Marvel Architects

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Above, the 30-foot-high bulkhead on top of the 1HotelĀ at 60 Furman Street was visible in September and blocks the bridge above the roadbed when viewed from the southern end of the Promenade, the same location from which the above photo of the Cold Storage Warehouse was shot. Below, an idealized rendering of the development showing the threeĀ buildings withoutĀ laterĀ mechanical bulkhead additionsĀ on the roof. The view is uninterrupted.

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