MacDonough St. Houses Report
From the Landmarks Conservancy comes some details about the battle to save 329 and 331 MacDonough St. in Stuyvesant Heights. The owner of 329, an attorney, quickly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the DOB from tearing down both houses in the aftermath of his workmen causing the collapse of the party wall in…
From the Landmarks Conservancy comes some details about the battle to save 329 and 331 MacDonough St. in Stuyvesant Heights. The owner of 329, an attorney, quickly sought a temporary restraining order to prevent the DOB from tearing down both houses in the aftermath of his workmen causing the collapse of the party wall in the cellar. Through the auspices of the Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council (HDC), several engineers were brought in to assess the damage. The Conservancy then brought in expert shoring contractor Richard Mugler in the next Tuesday, along with representatives from the DOB, who all sat down to plan the saving of the houses. The following Friday, concrete was poured into the trenches the workmen had dug, as well as elsewhere in the cellars, and plans are being enacted to further build the party wall back up, and stabilize the floors in both buildings. It was the concerted efforts of the homeowners, the community, the Landmarks Conservancy, the HDC, and the sympathetic ear of the court that made it possible for these houses to still be standing, now three weeks after the initial collapse.
Unfortunately, many preservationists and supporters of this cause feel that the Landmarks Preservation Commission did not come forth with the kind of help or support they should have. The LPC advocated for the preservation of the facades, after the inevitable tear-down, but did not come to bat for the homeowners and tenants by vigorously trying to find a way to prevent that destruction, as did the Landmarks Conservancy and the Historic Districts Council. Preservation should be about saving real people’s homes, as well as preserving pure architecture. Hopefully the bad press they received on this issue will resonate, and their stand in the future will be more far sighted.
Conservancy Fights to Save Historic Brownstones [Landmarks Conservancy]
Bed Stuy Residents Fight to Save Houses [The Brooklyn Link]
Update on MacDonough Street [Brownstoner]
Salvation on MacDonough Street? [Brownstoner]
Stay of Execution on MacDonough Street [Brownstoner]
MacDonough Street Update [Brownstoner]
Wall Collapse, Vacate Order for Bed Stuy Houses [Brownstoner]
So, Benson, you DON’T get upset when someone questions ass-covering bureaucrats, avaricious clergymen, etc. ?
I that case, why respond at all?
What a nightmare. This was my worst fear when going thru my own renovation. We didn’t do any excavating, but contractors rip things up and tear things down with such joyful abandon that most times I was afraid to look. I just kept praying that everything was going to be alright. And never rested easy when they assured me “Don’t worry, you worry to much, this is how things are done. Don’t wory it’s going to be beautiful in the end”.
Bob, I suspect the adjoining neighbor’s insurance company will go after them. Other than a lawsuit, that neighbor has no direct recourse to the property where the problem started.
Blowhard Bob ;
I didn’t recognize myself. Rather, I recognized your usual attempt to ridicule an opponent, rather than engage in a exchange of ideas. I can only speculate as to why someone would feel the need to do that.
Hey Bob, that was really a deep insight you had there – “question authority”. Wow man, deep. Can we put on some Bob Dylan music and ponder that deep thought?
Thanks for posting that press release MM (and AH–you dead architects really get around). The permits arew already on the DOP website for # 329:
http://a810-bisweb.nyc.gov/bisweb/JobsQueryByLocationServlet?requestid=0&allbin=3046841&allstrt=MAC+DONOUGH+STREET&allnumbhous=329
nothing comparable for # 331; does that mean that the owner of 329 has contracted and is paying for the work, which obviously effects both properties?
Would the insurance of the homeowner in whose house the work was being done have to cover the expense of damage done to the neighbor’s property?
The same to you Benson, although it did surprise me that you had enough self-awareness to recognize yourself in my comment.
Most homeowner insurance does NOT cover damage to your property by contractors working on adjoining properties. Call your agent and ask.
minard, it may not be a poor block but not everyone on it has money, lol. In addition, he may be at a white shoe law firm, but I know I lot of folks working at white shoe firms who arent loaded with the kind of money this project will likely cost. some of them have huge student loans eating a hole in their pockets.
Anyway, good luck to them. hopefully they dont run out of money. the DOB would rush back in to demolish again.