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September 11, 2009

DOB Vacates 400 South Second

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According to residents of the mixed-use building at 396-400 South Second Street in Williamsburg, the fire department arrived yesterday morning to inspect the building and later, along with representatives from the Department of Buildings, declared the site unfit for habitation and ordered the building vacated. This five-story brick structure, classed as a factory/industrial space with no certificate of occupancy on file, housed as many as 20 residential units as well as several businesses. Some residents have lived in the building over five years and expressed fears that 400 South Second Street would become another 889 Broadway—another building vacated by the DOB where residents were padlocked out of their apartments. One woman, in tears, said: "I have three cats. What am I going to do?" The DOB said that residents could still enter and exit the building, but it would have to consider further action if it found evidence of people continuing to live there. The fire department appeared again at the building last night around 8 p.m. to enforce the mandate; at the time several residents were packing their belongings to move out permanently, while others were simply gathering their essentials, hoping that they will be able to return to their homes. The fire department issued several violations against the building, such as its lack of proper fire escapes, illegal room partitions, hazardous gas lines, and exposed boilers and heating systems. A representative of the DOB at the site told Brownstoner that the building would have to be brought into compliance before anyone could live there. One commercial renter at the building, a man who helps manage the site for owner Issac Dahan, thought that residents might be able to move back in as soon as Monday, however; he believed that this was a bureaucratic outburst against Mr. Dahan due to unfiled permits. The occupants have an official meeting with the DOB this morning, where, hopefully, the fate of the building will become clear. GMAP P*Shark DOB
Eviction at 889 Broadway Ruffling Feathers [Brownstoner]




Posted by jscheff at 9:30 AM | Comments (21)
Categories: DOB, Williamsburg

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Comments

It really pisses me off when I hear stories like this. Landlord greed to the max. Can the tenants take any action against the landlord to recover any financial expense incurred by being suddenly ousted from their homes?

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 11, 2009 10:00 AM

My knee-jerk reaction was "buyer beware": the renters should have known that renting a raw loft was most likely not zoned residential and thus is prone to a crackdown like this. But DH is right that it's the landlord's fault since the apartment/product was probably misreprented as a living space.

Crackdowns like this though do have to happen...God forbid that a Triangle-Shirt-Factory-like fire occurs and there are no smoke alarms, fire escapes, etc.

Posted by: JPD at September 11, 2009 10:20 AM


Dirty, I'll bet the tenants knew what they were getting into. I'm not saying the landlord didn't break the law - it sounds as though he did. But you can't tell me the majority of the tenants - and certainly the guy who manages the building for the owner - did not know the place was illegal. I'm sure that reality was reflected in the rent. Sounds like there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides.

FYI, these illegal lofts are certainly not a new phenomenon in NYC. What's new (as I see it) is DOB is actually beginning to go after them.

Posted by: East New York at September 11, 2009 10:56 AM

I want to do an expose on the DOB. Not that this particular case has anything fishy to it but there is something drastically not right going on at DOB and being a documentary film-maker I want to get to the bottom of it. They are corrupt, disorganized, nasty and somebody needs to shine a light on it. Anyone else agree?

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2009 11:09 AM

I think some of you are talking both sides of mouth. criticize the DOB for not enforcing, then criticize them for enforcing. So matter what they do is wrong thing.
I been in relationships like that.

Posted by: Petebklyn at September 11, 2009 11:15 AM


"there is something drastically not right going on at DOB"

Wasder, that may be the understatement of the decade. It's no surprise at all to anyone who's been paying attention.

Posted by: East New York at September 11, 2009 11:15 AM

ENY---being a first time home owner I am just now catching up to this phenomenon. And now that I have been personally harassed by them it makes me want to blow their cover.

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2009 11:17 AM

I don't know if the tenants knew or not. I know the landlord did.

Not everyone looking for apts in NYC is aware of zoning laws.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 11, 2009 11:28 AM

Hell - I don't even know if the apt I'm living in now has a C of O.

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 11, 2009 11:29 AM


Wasder, I visited the DOB a few years ago to pick up some papers when I bought my house. I've never been surrounded by more hustlers and wise guys at one time than were in that room, and I'm from East New York. If you're planning an expose, go for it. Just be prepared to battle an entrenched culture of corruption.

Posted by: East New York at September 11, 2009 11:31 AM

I think you guys see more than is actually there. Is the dob disorganized? Of course it is. Name one well organized municipal agency. Are there corrupt employees? Of course there are, there are also corrupt cops, teachers and even corrupt garbage men. Are they vacating buildings for fun? No.

I'm not particularly a fan, but I don't like when folks decide to hate an entity outright, especially when the subject of ire is finally doing something.

Wasder, how did dob harass you? Did inspector ask for a bribe? If so, did you file a complaint against inspector?

Posted by: Troy McClure at September 11, 2009 11:43 AM

soooo tired of law breakers expecting sympathy. you rent an INDUSTRIAL?? space an attempt to live there - you are a CRIMINAL.

another day, another story of people with zero morals/ethics in NYC.

Posted by: wine lover at September 11, 2009 11:46 AM

"soooo tired of law breakers expecting sympathy. you rent an INDUSTRIAL?? space an attempt to live there - you are a CRIMINAL."

OH please wine lover - it's those "criminals" aka artists who illegally lived in industrial spaces back in the day that made Williamsburg "cool" so you can have your shiny new condo and run around to bars and restaurants and plug the neighborhood to death.

are you that detached?

*throws wine lover some xanax*

Posted by: dirty_hipster at September 11, 2009 11:50 AM

Troy---without going into too great detail, the inspector harassed my 8 month pregnant wife by not providing ID when requested and telling her that "if he had wanted to hurt her he would have done it in the first 5 minutes he was there." And yes I have filed a complaint.

But my issue is with the way that they "enforce" and administer their rulings. I have a two family house that I have documentation was a two family since 1955. The DOB keeps insisting that I have illegally subdivided my house. Not only is it on city records as being two family since 1955 but also they hit me with a second "failure to comply" fine while I was waiting for the judges decision on the first charge. Its insane and criminal and I am sick of it.

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2009 12:26 PM


I agree with some of your points, Troy. I certainly don't "hate" the DOB. While I definitely believe there's corruption at DOB, I don't think it's necessarily endemic. Just many bad apples. And I don't think they're vacating buildings for fun, but for legitimate reasons. But it seems to be it's taken DOB a long time to get around to cracking down on these sorts of places, and the agency still has a LOT of work to do in this area.

Posted by: East New York at September 11, 2009 12:26 PM

wow, wasder- that is awful. I am amazed the inspector was so stupid, but not so amazed about the 2 family house documentation. I've had my own dealing with the DOB over the B'klyn Law Dormitory. A nightmare.

Posted by: bxgrl at September 11, 2009 1:05 PM

My fear is that they are going to keep coming back and back repeatedly citing me for violating something that I haven't violated and not even waiting for their own judges to decide on the case. I have heard too many similar stories to dismiss it as an oversight or anomaly. They are somehow gaming their own enforcement wing to garner the most money from undeserving home-owners attempting to improve their properties and thus their neighborhoods. The case in question here may well be valid however.

Posted by: wasder at September 11, 2009 3:06 PM


@wine lover:

"another day, another story of people with zero morals/ethics in NYC."


Are you confusing unlawful with unethical?

Please explain.

Posted by: streber at September 11, 2009 5:11 PM

I am one of the vacated residents of 400 S. 2nd Street, and I can honestly say that I had no idea I was living in an illegal apartment. It was presented to us as an apartment, not as a work space that we could live in, wink wink. Everything was up to code, as far as I could tell--we have a proper fire escape, for example--and I always thought the building was mixed use and perfectly legal, if a bit unusual.

I am upset at the building owner, first and foremost, but I am also disturbed that the DOB has the power to vacate everyone with less than 24 hours notice. My shock and anger is tempered by the kindness of some DOB reps; the building has not been padlocked, and I have it on good authority that the woman's three cats are doing fine. I blame the DOB system, not the people in it.

If I could change ONE aspect of the DOB's process, I would notify all tenants of the code violations at the same time that the owner is notified. Do you expect a negligent owner to inform his tenants of his code violations and what it could mean if he doesn't fix them? Of course not. Forewarned is forearmed; we would have had MONTHS to find other apartments. Instead, we were given less than a day to figure things out, traumatized by the loss of our homes and scrambling to find places to sleep. Please don't blame us--or insult us in this comments thread--for not knowing the NYC building codes. There but for the grace of god (and your landlord) go you.

Posted by: halfway_homeless at September 12, 2009 6:56 PM

And by "notify all tenants" I mean "post notice in and on the building," not just on the DOB web site.

Posted by: halfway_homeless at September 12, 2009 7:11 PM

For all of you who are so critical of these tenants, I would ask: WHEN YOU SIGNED YOUR LAST LEASE, DID YOU ASK TO SEE THE BUILDING'S CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY?

I have rented for many years in Brooklyn and Queens and it never occurred to me to ask to see a C of O. If the lease was in writing and the apartments were occupied by multiple leased tenants, as this one was, it would never have occurred to me. I suspect none of you who so happily sit in judgement on these tenants would have done any different.

Posted by: Arbie at September 13, 2009 12:15 AM

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