Monday Links
Red Hook Corner. Photo by …neene…. Buyers Pounce on Deals as Homes Go on the Block [NY Times] Concerns About the U.S. Make Int’l Markets Tumble [NY Times] With Wall Street Slowing, Uncertainty Descends [NY Times] DOB Overlooked Flaws in Sheepshead Bay Condo [NY Times] Bensonhurst: The United Nations of Brooklyn [NY Times] Celebrating the…
Red Hook Corner. Photo by …neene….
Buyers Pounce on Deals as Homes Go on the Block [NY Times]
Concerns About the U.S. Make Int’l Markets Tumble [NY Times]
With Wall Street Slowing, Uncertainty Descends [NY Times]
DOB Overlooked Flaws in Sheepshead Bay Condo [NY Times]
Bensonhurst: The United Nations of Brooklyn [NY Times]
Celebrating the Past in Prospect Heights [NY Times]
‘Angels’ Traffic in Foreclosure Scams [NY Daily News]
Taxi Strike, Part II: A Guide [NY Post]
Gowanus Artists Fear Condos [Metro]
Cost of Living Keeps Rising [Gotham Gazette]
Last Weekend for Hook Vendors [Gowanus Lounge]
The Hello Living Community [Set Speed]
What $1.75M Buys in Dumbo [Dumbo NYC]
Crown Heights Video Tour [About Brooklyn]
Mortgage Security Bondholders Facing a Cutoff of Interest Payments
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/10/22/business/22market.html
No credit. No mortgage. No equity. Game Over!
The What
Someday this war is gonna end……….
Not to slight the folks in Sheepshead Bay or anything (and believe me – I feel really bad and have much respect for the guy who is fighting an illegally built structure) but why is the New York Times covering DOB insanity on ONE building in Sheepshead Bay?
There are probably a good ten to twelve structures currently being built in South Park Slope, Greenwood Heights and Williamsburg, some ten storeys tall, that are being green-lighted by the DOB, even though it has been documented by many that some of these buildings clearly violate the zoning laws of New York City. (At least the DOB is starting to admit guilt in some cases, but even then, the response is always that they’re “at a loss” to explain what went wrong.)
The DOB is certainly a rogue and unaccountable bureaucratic nightmare, but the greater disconcerting aspect is that NO ONE IN POWER does anything to punish the DOB or enforce the law, or at least flush out the fishy characters involved in the DOB who lie at the heart of the problem; there has to be some nefarious activity here. (Woodward and Bernstein, where are you????) Also scary: The DOB commissioners seem to no longer wish to hold an open dialogue with community groups or even respond to valid concerns and questions.
So even though homeowners and activists find serious zoning violations, no serious fines are ever issued. No teardowns of illegally added storeys. No explanations as to why new condos go in the ground without the required rear and side yard minimums. No explanations why plans aren’t filed, are filed incorrectly, or are ILLEGAL YET APPROVED ANYWAY. The DOB has no response when asked about site inspections, endlessly delayed, that should easily reveal any errors/violations/scams regarding setbacks, FAR, yard minimums, etc. This is not brain surgery but it has become CLEAR that something is not computing here.
So even if they find that a 10 storey building should only have been 5, they do nothing. They just drop it all in the round file and issue the C of O….
…and we wonder why we pay property taxes but get NO PROTECTION or enforcement of laws…
-pissed off brooklyn homeowner