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Across the street from 163 Washington Avenue, a three-story addition to an existing two-story building is going up, courtesy of Scarano Architects. But really this is just a new building disguised in Alt-1 clothing. Here’s the description of work from the DOB app: “Proposed addition of new three (3) stories & alteration of existing two (2) stories building, including the demolition & installation of exterior and interior bearing and non-bearing partitions, fixtures, finishes, cabinetry & casework, including the complete repiping of the building.” Can’t have been a whole lot left when all that demo was done, but getting approval for an “Alteration” is much easier than for a “New Building” and if Scarano’s known for anything, it’s for gaming the DOB system. GMAP P*Shark DOB


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  1. 50% of the existing exterior must remain for it to be considered a renovation. Gene Kaufman, Hot Karl and others at this level all regularly practice this type of “renovation” work.

  2. I have no particular love for Scarano, but I wouldn’t say he’s “gaming the system”. There’s a well established precedent that an Alt can be filed as long as foundation and some (can’t remember the #) percentage of exterior walls remain.