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September 22, 2009
DOB v. Landmarks
My neighbor is planning to bulldoze the front of their 1860s brownstone to put a garage in the ground floor and create a driveway from the street to the front of the garage. This is on a recently landmarked block in Prospect Heights. Looks like they got the DOB to give them the permit while the application for the block's landmark status was pending. Is there anything that can be done to stop this? It completely violates the whole point of landmarking. On top of that, the owners are evicting a 30-year resident of the neighborhood who sold them the building in order to turn her apartment into a garage.
Any suggestions for how to stop this?
Comments
I hope you can do something.
But this is why Landmarks sucks. They prevent you from replacing your light fixture or painting the doors, but don't seem to have control over someone destroying the fabric of the streetscape.
Posted by: cmu at September 22, 2009 7:38 PM
Well, we can at least try public embarrassment. Send us a photo of the front of the house and the address...
Posted by: brownstoner at September 22, 2009 7:46 PM
That's what I was hoping. I will take and send a photo tomorrow morning.
Other ideas appreciated!
Posted by: prospect heights renovator at September 22, 2009 9:30 PM
"On top of that, the owners are evicting a 30-year resident of the neighborhood who sold them the building in order to turn her apartment into a garage."
And she made how much money?
Posted by: denton at September 22, 2009 9:48 PM
I'm pretty sure if LPC designation is pending nothing like this could be done unless of course the building is beyond the possibility of landmarking i.e. completely stripped of any remnants of it's original facade.
Posted by: modsquad at September 22, 2009 10:08 PM
Setting aside for now whether your post accurately depicts your neighbor's plans or eviction, the LPC has a public information officer: 212-669-7817
http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/html/contact/contact.shtml
cmu, please do tell us when was the last time you dealt with the LPC and/or devoted yourself to preserving the fabric of a Brooklyn streetscape or neighborhood.
Posted by: vinca at September 22, 2009 10:45 PM
My understanding is that once landmarking is calendared you have to notify LPC of changes....notify them right away. The next question is will their curb cut be legal????
Posted by: PHfamily at September 23, 2009 8:00 AM
It is my understanding as well that once an area is calendared, such permits cannot be issued. PH was calendared for quite a while. I would notify LPC, and find out who screwed up. Since the district is brand new, that sort of thing really looks bad, and LPC may intervene. Contact them quickly, and get someone to take the info, not an answering machine or an email.
Posted by: Montrose Morris at September 23, 2009 8:57 AM
vinca: I'm glad I don't have to deal with Landmarks yet. If you could understand nuance instead of a sledge-hammer approach to preservation, you'd see why Landmarks is overkill even if their purpose is laudable.
And yes, I do and no, I don't have to tell you my credentials.
Posted by: cmu at September 23, 2009 9:45 AM
PHR - Unless the neighbor went to the Board of Standards and Appeals, it is likely that their plan is illegal. I am assuming that when you say 1860's brownstone, you mean that the property is a rowhouse, on a lot less than 40 feet wide, on one of the landmarked PH blocks.
Dating back to the implementation of the contextual zoning of the 1980's, well before the district was landmarked, new curb cuts were prohibited in such areas and on such blocks. I would question whether the work was actually approved by the DOB.
Anyhow - your best bet is to go through landmarks as vinca suggests. This is not an issue of a storm window being painted the wrong color or a light fixture not being quite right.
Posted by: architect66 at September 23, 2009 10:16 AM
Call the LPC
Call the local community board
Call the councilman's office
Posted by: SenatorStreet at September 23, 2009 10:42 AM
Both of these links are dated, but include information about calendaring and the designation process. Both contain the same contact number, though attached to different names: (212) 669-7925—Claire Kendall for the PH link, Kate Daly for the FTM link. The first link is to a page from The Prospect Heights Neighborhood Development Council: http://www.phndc.org/node/217
It includes the following: “...Calendaring is the first step in the designation process. Once a building has been calendared, it is marked with a "C" in the Department of Buildings database. Any work that requires a Department of Buildings permit will also need to be reviewed by the Landmarks Preservation Commission prior to a permit being issued.”
This second link concerns Fiske Terrace-Midwood, and contains both contact info, specific info, and a general FAQ: http://www.nyc.gov/html/lpc/downloads/pdf/pubs/Fiske_Terrace-FAQ.pdf
Posted by: vinca at September 23, 2009 10:46 AM
Vinca's advice is spot on, as usual. However, since your neighbors have a DOB permit predating the landmarking, it might also pay off to canvass your neighbors to work up a plan that involves more than just little old you. If 10 people on your block are up in arms, you'll be 10 times more likely to stop the work.
Call 311 and log in a complaint for illegal curb cut. Write to the supervisor and get the filing reviewed.
Posted by: Maly at September 23, 2009 1:12 PM
The process is that while a building or area is being considered for landmarking and "calendered," any department of buildings filing must be put on hold for 40 days while Landmarks considers whether to review the building. If Landmarks does not respond to the DoB within the 40 day hold window, the permit may be issued.
Once the permit is in place, it can be renewed indefinitely and built even though the formal landmarking process shifts from calendered to landmarked.
I find this discussion particularly interesting because I'm doing the same thing. Not demo'ing a historic facade or anything -- but adding a room onto the back of my apartment within the Prospect Heights district. I got the permit half a year ago, waited through the 40-day hold process, and now have the permit open and am saving money for the renovation. I intend to build it in a few years, but I imagine I'm going to get some flack for not having the LPC permit up on the door in two years even though it would be perfectly legal.
Here's a wierd aspect of the process if anyone's interested: if I want to amend the filing, say for example to add another window on to the proposed addition before it gets built, then Landmarks reviews the amendment with the (previously approved but still just proposed) project imagined as existing, historic, and grandfathered in.
Posted by: Smokychimp at September 25, 2009 12:28 PM
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