Courtyard Highjinks
OK, I have an enclosed courtyard shared by 4 buildings with boundaries running down the middle probably 6 ft across running about 100 ft. One building has braced a bulging brick wall against the building I manage with a bunch of 2x8s, clearly illegal. This brick wall is the back of a single story extension…
OK, I have an enclosed courtyard shared by 4 buildings with boundaries running down the middle probably 6 ft across running about 100 ft. One building has braced a bulging brick wall against the building I manage with a bunch of 2x8s, clearly illegal. This brick wall is the back of a single story extension with skylights that you often see in the back of stores in Soho. (Yes, it is in Soho)
Owners want to call in DOB and get a violation and force the removal. Yes they sent cert. letters etc. informing the owner with no response. My concern is the next building over. That brick wall looks like a shore line on the Amazon River. The lower part (about 4 ft up)of the outside brick course is gone! It’s probably been like that for years and yes it could collapse any minute or not. My concern is that once DOB sees that wall they will declare some kind of hazardous condition requiring immediate demolition with all the bells and whistles. I’ve dealt with forensic engineers from the City and they have vivid imaginations and the clout to do whatever they deem necessary to safeguard the public. Said wall is about 12 ft tall. My feeling is to remove the 2x8s, (I don’t think the bulge will bulge any further for the time being and ignore the rest until the proverbial tree falls in the woods, if you get my drift. What do you think?
I would assume the possibility that there may be person near that wall if and when it does collapse. Therefore I wouldn`t remove the 2×8 pieces. Instead, I would call the first precinct and let the thing play out the way any emergency would beacause that`s what this sounds like. You`ve already started a paper trail with DOB and presumably, you`ve stated in the report that the 2×8`s are on your property so removing them might lead to more problems if somebody does get hurt.
I’m not understanding a few things here. The owners, you say, have sent letters informing the neighbor about this, received no response, and have now generalized this into an indication that the neighbor will not be receptive to contacts from your insurance company. (Which is really not going to be too wild about paying a claim for damage from this building if you don’t give them a chance to head it off, btw.) You also don’t want to call the DOB, because you’re afraid that their position would be preventive overkill. (This is another reason to talk to your insurance company.) What you want to do is remove those boards, and I suspect that you will be resistant to any other suggestions posted here.
That’s fine vinca if there was a dialog with the neighbor. The presumption that all parties will proceed in a civil and legal manner from this point on is not a given. I have no doubt our insurance company would put a gun to our head if they were unable to put a gun to the neighbor’s. The sooner the support is removed the less liability we have.
This is a risk management (negligence, liability, forseeability, etc.) question you should be addressing with your own insurer, and your own insurer formally addressing with neighboring business. Your proposed solution: risk-inflating idiocy.
Park Sloper, What do I owe the owner of the building that has the bulging wall? Should I allow him to use our building to support his collapsing wall indefinitely? We attempted to inform him that the current situation is unacceptable and that the City would be brought in to enforce the law. No response. He in essence has built an illegal structure on our property and we are within our rights to eliminate it. Will it lead to a lose of life? No, probably just a big mess.
There is no guarantee that the support is actually helping. It could also be hastening the failure at another point of the wall. Furthermore there is no evidence, since it is illegal, that the owner of the building with the wall actually put up the support. If something truly catastrophic happened it would be to his benefit to play dumb. It is as Gross says a “can of worms”. I for one would of preferred to take a sledge hammer to it. That is the support, not the wall, that would be stupid.
So rather than doing something to address a potentially hazardous situation, you propose removing the 2x8s that are bracing the wall in the hope that this will hasten the wall’s collapse?
The DoB has an annual retaining wall inspection grace period every spring starting in March. No violations will be issued. Unsafe conditions will require an immediate remedy. Property owners are responsible for maintenance. Shared walls require both parties to make (pay for) the repairs. If you call 311 and the DOB inspects and finds an unsafe condition they will not fool around. If you remove the supports and wait for gravity to work its magic you risk a vacate order and then HPD will most likely be doing the repairs for you. You won’t have the ability to shop around for a better deal.
Just to add a little spice I discovered this afternoon that our prime commercial tenant’s AC twin fan condenser encroaches on the dangerous wall’s property by approx. 2 ft.
Why doesn’t the group of building owners get together and independently hire an engineer for an assessment.
At least you might then have reason to take out “Loss of business” insurance.