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January 27, 2009

Sticking It To Their South Slope Neighbors

parking-vent-0109.jpgNothing developers in the South Slope do should surprise us. But, reports IMBY, they've reached new lows recently. Faced with the issue of how to vent their tri-level below-ground parking garage, the developers of 406 15th Street aimed it right into the backyard of the neighboring property at 397 16th. The result? "Some 200,000 cubic feet of air pouring...into their backyard ...several times an hour, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year." Nice. Is this legal?




Posted by Brownstoner at 10:45 AM | Comments (22)
Categories: Development, Quality of Life, South Slope

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Comments

Seems like a good place for those neighbors to toss their garbage.

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at January 27, 2009 10:54 AM

What a bunch of scumbags (the developers) bad enough they are EFFing up the South Slope with their Radusky ugliness...now sticking it to the folks whose back yards they have ruined (or rather liquefied so they are slowing turning into sink holes).

When is the DOB going to get some teeth and put these criminals behind bars?

daveinbedstuy, I think buckets of urine might be more appropriate to dump down that shute. I'll gladly add a few cups.

Posted by: Action Jackson at January 27, 2009 10:59 AM

There are codes as to how far away vents can be from buildings, neighboring buildings, etc.
Garage fumes are not pleasant.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at January 27, 2009 11:00 AM

Remember when Axel Foley pulled the 'banana in the tail pipe' stunt in Beverly Hills Cop? Think of that on a giant scale and you'll have an idea of what should be done.

Posted by: Fjorder at January 27, 2009 11:00 AM

Concrete

Posted by: werner at January 27, 2009 11:03 AM

While not defending this ugly thing, the text and picture make it look like it's exhausting directly into the neighbor's yard, while in fact it seems 4-5' away. And all that stuff on IMBY's site about CO poisoning makes a possible legitimate issue seem so overblown one is inclined to ridicule it.

Posted by: cmu at January 27, 2009 11:03 AM

The other photos on IMBY do put this vent into a different, much smaller context. How many cars are actually running and producing exhaust in that garage at the same time???

Posted by: daveinbedstuy at January 27, 2009 11:08 AM

Gah! that is one ugly building. Trying to answer Mr. B.'s question, I looked up the NYC building code on line. First, this is the relevant rule for gas exhaust chimneys:

(b) Location of discharge opening. -The location of
the discharge opening of the exhaust pipe shall comply
with the requirements of subdivision (d) of section 27-
776 of article one of subchapter thirteen of this chapter,
and, in addition, the opening shall be located or
arranged so that it cannot cause condensate leaving the
outlet to come in contact with people. The exhaust pipe
may be connected to a chimney used for other
equipment, provided that the operation of the engine
does not adversely affect the operation of the other
equipment so as to cause a fire or health hazard, or to
cause the emissions from the chimney to be in violation
of the air pollution control code.

and what does section 27-776 d) says about the location? Glad you asked!

(d) Openings. -No openings for outdoor exhaust air
discharges, air intakes, or reliefs from equipment shall
be located and constructed so as to:
(1) Interfere with the proper functioning of other
openings in the same building or in adjoining buildings.
(2) Interfere unreasonably with the occupants of the same
building or adjoining buildings or with the general public.
(3) Create a fire or health hazard.

It sounds suitably subjective for a nice long battle.

Posted by: Maly at January 27, 2009 11:18 AM

even if it isn't against code it may still be actionable as a nuisance. You need to see a lawyer who knows this type of law....

Posted by: smeyer418 at January 27, 2009 11:25 AM

NYC BC 27-456 also addresses venting public garages.

Posted by: bayridgegirl at January 27, 2009 11:33 AM

Can't it just be turned in the other direction? It's their fumes, they should have the pleasure.

Posted by: MAT at January 27, 2009 11:34 AM

Nice that when they had to decide which direction to have the vent face "the neighbor's yard" was the one they decided on.

Posted by: northsloperenter at January 27, 2009 11:35 AM

this kind of junk is what made us decide we couldn't buy in south slope. that sort of daily headache just wasn't worth the discount.

Posted by: i disagree at January 27, 2009 12:14 PM

To put this as simply as possible, this is probably not legal. The photo appears to show a clear nuisance. I would think that, rather than being sued, the owners would agree to simply vent the pipe upwards, with an exhaust point that is higher up on the building. But they may not agree. If this happens in your back yard, and no one responds to polite but firm letters requesting a change, you have to sue the person who is causing the problem.

Posted by: MJWesq at January 27, 2009 12:40 PM

When will the "BLOGS" start classifying themselves as "news" or something that sounds like I'm working and not participating in glorified gossip.


Access to this web page is restricted.

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URL: http://imby.blogspot.com/2009/01/suck-on-this-nimbys-venting-underground.html

Posted by: Gross at January 27, 2009 1:09 PM

Crap move. But the other photos do make the thing seem further away ... and considering the jungle growing in that back yard it may make the case harder to make. How about he just attaches a 10 by 10 piece of sheet metal to his own fence so that it all blows back onto the property.

Posted by: RaginCajun at January 27, 2009 1:11 PM

actually I didn't say sue. I said actionable. You can be sure they won't make a change based on your letter(their response will be that it was built with a permit and is legal). You need a lawyer.

Posted by: smeyer418 at January 27, 2009 1:48 PM

The exhaust is one issue. There is also the possibility of it exceeding the allowable decibel range in the house. That's an easy test that you can set up with a call to 311.

Posted by: jimdisc at January 27, 2009 1:53 PM

You should speak to a lawyer. I can't recall if this is nuisance or not, but it sounds like it could be one, especially if you've lived there and the parking structure is new.

Posted by: KG11215 at January 27, 2009 2:18 PM

The vent was removed sometime yesterday..... Not sure where. Maybe to the roof?

Posted by: IMBY at January 28, 2009 8:27 AM

I knew the "urine" comment would get them ;)

Hope it is permanent!

Perhaps DOB was reading brownstoner yesterday...

Posted by: Action Jackson at January 28, 2009 1:17 PM

Well folks, I may have spoke too soon. The exhaust vent is still there. They just removed the upper portion of the hood. It would take them 5 minutes to replace it. The 311 complaint remains uninspected.

Posted by: IMBY at February 1, 2009 9:19 AM

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