420 42nd Street and the Rule of Law
The fight over the 12-story tower that developer Kenneth Wong is trying to build at 420 42nd Street in Sunset Park just escalated. Big time. At the urging of local residents, the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights and Community Board 7, the DOB took a closer look at the self-certified plans stamped by architect James…
The fight over the 12-story tower that developer Kenneth Wong is trying to build at 420 42nd Street in Sunset Park just escalated. Big time. At the urging of local residents, the Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights and Community Board 7, the DOB took a closer look at the self-certified plans stamped by architect James L. Robinson and issued a Stop Work Order (a 10-day letter of intent to revoke) after finding a reported 37 violations, including (a) failure to submit a full and accurate set of architectural plans, (b) failure to properly calculate the floor area ratio and building height for a 12-story building, and (c) failure to include a rear yard on site.
There’s been a lot of talk in the past few months by politicians about stepping up the enforcement and penalties on developers and architects who pull this kind of crap; this would be an excellent time for the DOB to show that it’s serious. If the Stop Work Order results only in a few minor fines and a few days’ delay, it will fail to provide any disincentive to other developers who thumb their noses at building regulations. When someone is caught doing this kind of thing on this scale, the penalty should be financially crippling and career-ending, as it should be for those who commit equally serious safety infractions.
420 42nd Street: This One Could Get Ugly [Brownstoner] GMAP P*Shark DOB
420 42nd Photo Gallery [CCGH]
Goodbye Sunset Park Views [YouTube]
420 42nd Street
Oh I see Tremor, we have opposite views. This is what I will say…
I love these new buildings! They are everywhere now.
🙂
I hate these new buildings! They are everywhere now.
>:(
All new buildings suck. Landmark everything. I love vacant lots. I hope the crime rate soars to 1990 levels. All developers are crooks. Free Mumia.
seems pretty easy to parse out the trolls, as they punctuate their sunny statements with emoticons! :p
Maybe they should built more new 12-story buildings in the neighborhood and then this one won’t look so out of place.
I never said anything about preserving “old Bklyn,” come on. This is about illegal architectural plans that tends to lead to illegal development.
it’s also about building contextually in a ‘nabe, not throwing a 12 story building on a 2 story block. The space was a parking lot. it should be developed: legally, safely and contextually. the developer can still turn a buck while being a good neighbor in his new ‘nabe.
Enough of this NIMBY crap, this isn’t even in “my back yard…”
It’s about Brooklyn…which is changing…just for the better, I hope
If that’s the case, let’s leave Gowanus the way it is, an industrial wasteland seeping with benzene
Smells like alot of NIMBY posting trolls to me.
Brooklyn doesn’t need to evolve than what it is so far. It has evolve enough already. Leave it alone. These criminal developers need some prison time.