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May 7, 2008
curb cut
HI:
I realize this is a contentious issue, but we purchased a 1920's rowhouse in Bay Ridge that is one in a group of 5 rowhouses. All of the homes were built with, and still retain, curb cuts in front of the homes. Ours, however, does not as the previous owner rented the home out and paved the front yard, which also included a garden to the right of the stoop.
We would like to restore the garden and the curb cut/driveway, but are not sure where to start and whether we'd get permission.
We have been told on more than one occasion, that because the house was originally built with a driveway, that we could just go ahead and restore it. But that doesn't sound right to me - I don't want to be fined by the DOB.
What are our chances of getting a permit from the DOB to do this work?
Note: We wouldn't even be taking away a legal parking space, as when the previous owner paved the front of the house, he simply added additional curb to an already existing space thereby creating an oversized parking space. We would only be taking out that small piece of the curb that was originally the home's drive.
Thanks in advance for your thoughts.
Comments
I tried doing this myself by going down to the DOB and applying. Its very frustrating dealing with the bureaucracy there and after being asked to return for the 3rd time, I just hired an expediter who did it in 4 days. Total cost inc of fees was $1500 or so
Posted by: guest at May 8, 2008 9:46 AM
I find it very hard to believe that curb cuts are original to your house if it was built in the 1920s.
Cars were a new thing in the 20s, only just becoming popular and were a luxury item.
Why would middle-class rowhouses be built with ugly driveways? For horse carriages? Makes no sense to me.
Posted by: guest at May 8, 2008 10:06 AM
10:06, there WERE curb cuts for horse carriages in the back. In the South Slope, they call them horsewalks instead of driveways.
Posted by: denton at May 8, 2008 11:19 AM
i understand curb cuts in the BACK (same reason for back alleyways in most cities).
i can't picture parking a horse carriage in your front yard. maybe i'm mistaken and there are some areas with curb cuts in front yards built in the 1920s. any else care to weigh-in? just seems counterintuitive to me.
Posted by: guest at May 8, 2008 2:59 PM
People were not still using horses in the 1920's. Except for delivery wagons. All the 20's houses in our Brooklyn neighborhood that are freestanding or semi-attached have driveways (built for cars) and garages, many of the garages original to the house. A 1920's house I used to own in CA had a driveway with cement tracks specifically built for cars, and a garage original to the house. People totally owned cars in the 1920's. Not everyone in the family, but one car per household.
However I'm doubtful about curb cuts being original and parking the cars in front of the house. The attached houses parked on the street. Street parking was not as difficult to do back then. Curb cuts were needed only when the houses started being cut into apartments and households had more than one car in the family and street parking became more difficult.
Posted by: guest at May 11, 2008 12:56 PM
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