Windsor Terrace Crew Flouting SWO?
Some weird—and possibly illegal and highly dangerous—stuff is going down at a construction site in Windsor Terrace. According to a message sent out to the Windsor Terrace Alliance email list, illegal demolition activity was occurring yesterday at 1216 Prospect Avenue, the old Elks Club building on Vanderbilt Street. Last week, according to the message, demolition…
Some weird—and possibly illegal and highly dangerous—stuff is going down at a construction site in Windsor Terrace. According to a message sent out to the Windsor Terrace Alliance email list, illegal demolition activity was occurring yesterday at 1216 Prospect Avenue, the old Elks Club building on Vanderbilt Street. Last week, according to the message, demolition “was shut down on 5/9/08 for illegal mechanical demolition with a Stop Work Order and 2 ECB violations issued by DOB. The property, legally, should have been demolished by hand, only allowing mechanical work once they reached the first floor. As of [yesterday], there has been a partial lift of the SWO to allow for remediation for safety concerns ONLY. Unfortunately the demolition company, Greco, has continued with illegal demolition. 311 has been called, DOB has been alerted. Seems the contractors have also been aggressive with a few of the neighbors, which is just down right wrong.” Last night the DOB shut down the site again and ordered an evacuation of two adjacent buildings due to unsafe conditions. This morning, workers were on hand, but it wasn’t clear what they were doing. One of the construction workers told us they were “demolishing the building.” A DOB enforcement employee was present and said he had no comment about whether the crews had engaged in demolition despite the SWO or what exactly they were being allowed to proceed with now. UPDATE: Here’s the skinny from DOB. A Stop Work Order was indeed issued on Monday for illegal mechanical demolition. During the Monday inspection, DOB identified the hazardous conditions posed to the adjacent building by the partially-demolished wall. As a result, Buildings issued a vacate order for the adjacent building. The work being done today was in fact remedial work that the contractor was required to do so that residents could return next door. Tomorrow, the contractor must perform some remedial flashing to bring the site up to snuff in the safety department. GMAP
Same old BS from Greco Demo.
Swoop in and attempt to knock the building with a front end loader before DOB gets wise and shuts them down.
Looks like the neighborhood, and DOB, got wise and had this knuckleheads booted.
Supposedly (according to some list serves I glommed), the DOB originally allowed the temporary lift of the SWO to clean up the site and make it safe. Seems the boys at Greco continued with demolition until DOB showed up again, this time worrying of a building collapse (see post on the blog from July “18-20 Jackson Pl”) and vacated adjoining properties.
When is this BS going to stop? No time soon, I’m sure untill he DOB gets the enforcement teeth (guns & cuffs in my book) to kick these bad-boys out of town.
I always dreamed of turning that old Elks Club into a Death Metal club. Oh well.
can’t these guys be arrested or fined or have their licenses revoked or something. they’re breaking the law, right? over and over…
2:21, what do you mean when you say it’s a Bricolage job? just not sure what that connotates?
Thanks, Todd
The Stop Work Order is now a Temporary Stop Work order which allows for the demolition to continue without the use of the backhoe (non mechanical). You can see they “made an error” on the permit application… They checked NO for mechanical demolition…
This is a R5B zoned lot with a commercial overlay. There are no new building permits, but this job smells like Bricolage Design, Inc to me. Did the demo contractor bother to post his construction sign?
Just for the record, It’s the BEST SQUAD that enforces demolition work. You can call them direct right after you call 311. Or you could call the owner and complain.
Name: PETER NICKITTA
Relationship to Owner: OWNER
Business Name: PROSPECT VANDERBIL LLC. Business Phone: 718-449-1665
Business Address: 215 BATH AVENUE BROOKLYN NY 11214
What’s the going rate to buy off a DOB enforcer these days?
This area of WT could use some amenities, especially along Prospect Avenue: a pharmacy, a decent deli, even a bank. Is the corner of Vanderbilt and Prospect zoned for commercial?
Does anyone know what is going to happen on this site? townhouses? apartments?
I was wondering what was going on – I live nearby and pass the site to and from work. Yesterday and this morning the DOB has been there. I am no structural engineer but it doesn’t take a genius to know by looking at this place that it is not safe – looks like a swift wind could take down the rest of the building.