DOB Vacates 400 South Second
According to residents of the mixed-use building at 396-400 South Second Street in Williamsburg, the fire department arrived yesterday morning to inspect the building and later, along with representatives from the Department of Buildings, declared the site unfit for habitation and ordered the building vacated. This five-story brick structure, classed as a factory/industrial space with…
According to residents of the mixed-use building at 396-400 South Second Street in Williamsburg, the fire department arrived yesterday morning to inspect the building and later, along with representatives from the Department of Buildings, declared the site unfit for habitation and ordered the building vacated. This five-story brick structure, classed as a factory/industrial space with no certificate of occupancy on file, housed as many as 20 residential units as well as several businesses. Some residents have lived in the building over five years and expressed fears that 400 South Second Street would become another 889 Broadway—another building vacated by the DOB where residents were padlocked out of their apartments. One woman, in tears, said: “I have three cats. What am I going to do?” The DOB said that residents could still enter and exit the building, but it would have to consider further action if it found evidence of people continuing to live there. The fire department appeared again at the building last night around 8 p.m. to enforce the mandate; at the time several residents were packing their belongings to move out permanently, while others were simply gathering their essentials, hoping that they will be able to return to their homes. The fire department issued several violations against the building, such as its lack of proper fire escapes, illegal room partitions, hazardous gas lines, and exposed boilers and heating systems. A representative of the DOB at the site told Brownstoner that the building would have to be brought into compliance before anyone could live there. One commercial renter at the building, a man who helps manage the site for owner Issac Dahan, thought that residents might be able to move back in as soon as Monday, however; he believed that this was a bureaucratic outburst against Mr. Dahan due to unfiled permits. The occupants have an official meeting with the DOB this morning, where, hopefully, the fate of the building will become clear. GMAP P*Shark DOB
Eviction at 889 Broadway Ruffling Feathers [Brownstoner]
For all of you who are so critical of these tenants, I would ask: WHEN YOU SIGNED YOUR LAST LEASE, DID YOU ASK TO SEE THE BUILDING’S CERTIFICATE OF OCCUPANCY?
I have rented for many years in Brooklyn and Queens and it never occurred to me to ask to see a C of O. If the lease was in writing and the apartments were occupied by multiple leased tenants, as this one was, it would never have occurred to me. I suspect none of you who so happily sit in judgement on these tenants would have done any different.
And by “notify all tenants” I mean “post notice in and on the building,” not just on the DOB web site.
I am one of the vacated residents of 400 S. 2nd Street, and I can honestly say that I had no idea I was living in an illegal apartment. It was presented to us as an apartment, not as a work space that we could live in, wink wink. Everything was up to code, as far as I could tell–we have a proper fire escape, for example–and I always thought the building was mixed use and perfectly legal, if a bit unusual.
I am upset at the building owner, first and foremost, but I am also disturbed that the DOB has the power to vacate everyone with less than 24 hours notice. My shock and anger is tempered by the kindness of some DOB reps; the building has not been padlocked, and I have it on good authority that the woman’s three cats are doing fine. I blame the DOB system, not the people in it.
If I could change ONE aspect of the DOB’s process, I would notify all tenants of the code violations at the same time that the owner is notified. Do you expect a negligent owner to inform his tenants of his code violations and what it could mean if he doesn’t fix them? Of course not. Forewarned is forearmed; we would have had MONTHS to find other apartments. Instead, we were given less than a day to figure things out, traumatized by the loss of our homes and scrambling to find places to sleep. Please don’t blame us–or insult us in this comments thread–for not knowing the NYC building codes. There but for the grace of god (and your landlord) go you.
@wine lover:
“another day, another story of people with zero morals/ethics in NYC.”
Are you confusing unlawful with unethical?
Please explain.
My fear is that they are going to keep coming back and back repeatedly citing me for violating something that I haven’t violated and not even waiting for their own judges to decide on the case. I have heard too many similar stories to dismiss it as an oversight or anomaly. They are somehow gaming their own enforcement wing to garner the most money from undeserving home-owners attempting to improve their properties and thus their neighborhoods. The case in question here may well be valid however.
wow, wasder- that is awful. I am amazed the inspector was so stupid, but not so amazed about the 2 family house documentation. I’ve had my own dealing with the DOB over the B’klyn Law Dormitory. A nightmare.
I agree with some of your points, Troy. I certainly don’t “hate” the DOB. While I definitely believe there’s corruption at DOB, I don’t think it’s necessarily endemic. Just many bad apples. And I don’t think they’re vacating buildings for fun, but for legitimate reasons. But it seems to be it’s taken DOB a long time to get around to cracking down on these sorts of places, and the agency still has a LOT of work to do in this area.
Troy—without going into too great detail, the inspector harassed my 8 month pregnant wife by not providing ID when requested and telling her that “if he had wanted to hurt her he would have done it in the first 5 minutes he was there.” And yes I have filed a complaint.
But my issue is with the way that they “enforce” and administer their rulings. I have a two family house that I have documentation was a two family since 1955. The DOB keeps insisting that I have illegally subdivided my house. Not only is it on city records as being two family since 1955 but also they hit me with a second “failure to comply” fine while I was waiting for the judges decision on the first charge. Its insane and criminal and I am sick of it.
“soooo tired of law breakers expecting sympathy. you rent an INDUSTRIAL?? space an attempt to live there – you are a CRIMINAL.”
OH please wine lover – it’s those “criminals” aka artists who illegally lived in industrial spaces back in the day that made Williamsburg “cool” so you can have your shiny new condo and run around to bars and restaurants and plug the neighborhood to death.
are you that detached?
*throws wine lover some xanax*