Watch Out for Falling Objects
We walked out of our house on Sunday morning to find this sight in front of our (all too-close-for-comfort) neighbor’s house. As the photo on the jump shows, a huge chunk of brownstone had fallen off the exterior of a second floor window and crashed on the stoop and sidewalk below. While a little chilling…
We walked out of our house on Sunday morning to find this sight in front of our (all too-close-for-comfort) neighbor’s house. As the photo on the jump shows, a huge chunk of brownstone had fallen off the exterior of a second floor window and crashed on the stoop and sidewalk below. While a little chilling given what could have happened had someone been walking by or entering the building at the time, this incident isn’t too surprising given what kind of shape the landlord keeps the 8-family house in. (You should see the backyard.) This got us thinking about what recourse one has to force a neighbor to fix a hazardous condition like this. In this case, you’re talking about making the guy cough up $50,000-$60,000 for a new brownstone facade. Anyone know?
Landmarking is an advanced technique in the decades-old art of gentri-fu.
By definition a poor person would not own a two or three million dollar building. That elevates them instantly into the realm of the bourgeoisie, whether they like it or not.
With valuable property comes financial equity, which means borrowing power, which translates to wealth and responsibility. That’s life.
landmark sucks, its a unfair burden to poor people.
what if he wants to fix it a different way.
Stoner,
I’m sorry to be posting repeatedly, but this condition, the more I look at the photo, looks very dangerous. The whole projecting lintel portion looks like it is being held up by the window frame. The lintel assembly needs to be taken down immediately. If it falls it may go through the sidewalk shed as these pieces of stone weigh hundreds of pounds. This is a real emergency.
You have to call 311 and they will send an inspector out. You could also call the inspector at 718 802 3685 and they will tell you what the rules are.
As these things go, this is a pretty bad failure. there is absolutely no reason to think that the rest of the facade is A-OK if something like this happens. How many millions of dollars is this property worth? Is it not worth 60-80 thousand to restore the facade? How much do fancy new kitchens cost?
And another thing, he most certainly will need to restore the details if he is in the Clinton Hill Historic District. Every bit of it.
This is a landmarked block so he would have to repair it correctly. And the rest of the facade is not in decent shape. Many of the windows are like this.
If the facade is spalling off big chunks the DoB could make them install a rented sidewalk shed which while safe will be a pain in the ass to live next door to. If he’s given a violation he will have a time frame to certify repairs or face a fine. If they don’t have the money expect a quick fix in the troubled areas like some fast stucco job.
Where is the hazard? Sure the window area is in bad shape, however why would this be a 50-60k job? The rest of the facade looks to be in decent shape. He could use new windows though..
The DOB will require the homeowner to repair any hazardous condition. However, he is not compelled to restore the detail. If he really wanted to, the homeowner could knock off the rest of the crumbling window frame, leaving with facade without any detail at all.
Beware of unintended consequences..