A Curb Cut on Landmarked St. Marks Avenue? Really?
See this beautiful brownstone front yard at 97 St. Marks Avenue? Better enjoy it while you can, because the owner is getting ready to demolish it to create a driveway and garage despite the recent landmarking of Prospect Heights, according to a tipster and DOB filings. How could this happen? We’re not quite sure, but…
See this beautiful brownstone front yard at 97 St. Marks Avenue? Better enjoy it while you can, because the owner is getting ready to demolish it to create a driveway and garage despite the recent landmarking of Prospect Heights, according to a tipster and DOB filings. How could this happen? We’re not quite sure, but here’s the initial permit where it mentions converting a portion of the ground floor into a garage and here’s an amendment for the curb cut. The whole thing is eerily reminiscent of what happened at 174 Clinton Avenue a couple of years ago. The icing on the cake, according to a Forum post yesterday, is that the owner’s kicking out the old lady who sold him the house but continued to live in the garden apartment in order to do it. We’ll get back to you with what Landmarks has to say. Let’s hope this is all a big misunderstanding! Update: LPC confirms that they have no record of any applications for Landmark approval at this address. GMAP
And jester, ecery city or town throughout the US that has any stock of historic housing has similar rules in place.
A lot of hating going on, but where is this DA going to put his mini and all the craft paper he buys at Michaels.
In the suburbs and in communities all over the country the town or local boards make up standards for property upkeep because it keeps up the value of the neighborhood. My brother was once reported to the board by a neighbor for having grass that was 8 inches high, not the mandated 6. Now that’s insanity. But more to the point, you own your house, NYC still owns the actual land and a curb cut cuts into public property. It also takes away street parking- so will this homeowner pay the city for the special privilege of taking public property for his own use?
It’s all well and good to talk about letting a property owner do whatever he wants- its a nice captialist idea but the reality is we don’t live in vacuums. We live in communities and we all have compromises to make in order to do so.
And lastly- he’s breaking the law. That’s nothing to support.
” the day the General Public has dominion over private landowners is the day I join the underground”
I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but you’d better start packing your balaclava. There are all sorts of restrictions that are in place even in non-landmarked areas.
Is this area Prospect Heights? I thought that side of Flatbush was Patk Slope?
In any case, how can LPC approve a garage/curb cut in a landmarked area? It seems counter to their mission. The reason 174 Clinton got butchered is because it was outside of the LPC area.
Jester, you live in a city that has adopted extensive regulation of what individual owners can do with their property. The properly raised question here is whether those laws and regulations permit a curb cut and front yard parking here. Interesting to note that the application indicated that the area was subject to landmarking restrictions. If City regs allow new front yard parking and new curb cuts, and if such is not barred at this location by landmarks protection, then all that those of us who think this is bad can do is bemoan the aesthetics. But if the permit was issued in error, then the “general public” has every right to explore the issue. Imagine teh enxt door neighbor, who bought into the area precisely because the laws protected a certain aesthetic that the neighbor liked. That neighbor would have a real interest in making sure that an illegal curb cut — if it is illegal — didn’t happen.
A complaint has already been filed as per the DOB site.
It would be a shame to destroy the front of the house and what looks like an original fence.
How is the curb cut legal? Does DOT have to sign off on such things?
“decorative artists” are not real artists.