SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

Built for expansion: This owner of this Beaumont Street home violated the terms of their special application, so they tore down their home and rebuilt this structure so they could apply again. (Source: CB15)

“Bullet Points” is our format for Community Board 15 meeting coverage, providing takeaways we think are important. Information in Bullet Points is meant only to be a quick summary, and some issues may be more deeply explored in future articles.

Enlargement denied: Community Board 15 said a Manhattan Beach homeowner’s request to expand his home would set a bad precedent after learning that the homeowner previously dodged zoning laws, got caught, tore down his home and rebuilt it – all to try for the permit for a second time.

Owners of the home at 282 Beaumont Street, one house in from the water, sought to expand their two-story home by adding a third story, bulking out the building in the front and the rear, and doubling the floor area allowed by zoning standards. But, during questioning at the public hearing, Community Board members expressed concern that the homeowner had previously got caught dodging zoning, and rebuilt a shoddy house with the intention of coming before the Board for a new application.

“Since [violating zoning laws and having the permits revoked,] the owners constructed a new home that appears to be purposely built to be destroyed,” said neighbor Samuel Falack, who lives on the block and also spoke on behalf of the Manhattan Beach Community Group. “It has a shabbily built second floor and a flat roof that has pipes leading to what they hope will be an attic or a third floor with the expectation that a second special permit will be granted.”

Falack called the application disingenuous, and urged the Board to oppose it.

Keep reading to find out what happened, and other information from the Community Board 15 meeting.

Earlier this week, a boatload of Southern Brooklyn politicians banded together to introduce a bill that would waive fees for businesses recovering from damages sustained during Superstorm Sandy, according to a press release.

The bill whose sponsors include Domenic Recchia, David Greenfield and Michael Nelson would waive fees for permits, applications and inspections for businesses doing their best to rebuild and reopen after the events of Sandy.

Councilman Vincent Gentile, who co-sponsored the bill, stressed the importance of this legislation in a press release.

“Some businesses are literally rebuilding from the ground up and when you’re spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to get your business up and running again, you really shouldn’t have to bother with superfluous fees for permits and inspections.”

Businesses that qualify for the special waivers must have been open before Sandy struck and were located in Evacuation Zones A and B or in a building that was inspected for structural damage by the Department of Buildings. These fees have already been waived since Sandy due to an executive order from the mayor, but the pols are looking to extend it beyond its current expiration date.

Here is a list of the fees being waived.

• Department of Buildings permit and inspection fees required for construction, demolition, scaffolds, boilers, plumbing, electrical work, signs, scaffolds, limited alterations and after hours work.
• Fire Department fees for inspection of fire protection systems and gas station fuel dispensing systems, as well as for plan review and examination fees for installation of fire protection systems and fuel dispensing systems.
• Department of Transportation permit fees for opening the street, debris containers, sidewalk construction, vaults, and canopies.
• Department of Small Business Services permit fees for waterfront construction, equipment use, mooring, fill work, as well as fees for work notices and certificates of completion.
• Department of Environmental Protection permit fees for fuel burning incinerators, as well as fees for certificates of instruction in the use of and to operate the same.
• Department of Consumer Affairs licensing fees for salvage and liquidation sales of goods.
• Taxi and Limousine Commission Fees in connection with the licensing of vehicles, replacing medallions, transferring licenses, and for-hire vehicle inspections.
• Landmarks and Preservation Commission fees required with respect to obtaining certificates of no affect and certificates of appropriateness.

Source: Google Maps

Last year we reported on the controversy surrounding a flurry of noise complaints coming from residents driven bonkers by Z Best Car Wash facility (2784 Coney Island Ave). Led by Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz, angry locals petitioned Community Board 13 to make sure that the car wash would never turn on its machines again. Their complaints were muzzled as the Community Board unanimously voted to support the car wash in keeping its doors open.

The most recent chapter in the car wash battle centered around whether the business had a proper zoning variance. Residents charged that the location had not been operational for two years, using images from Google Maps to prove their case, thereby nullifying the previous car wash’s variance. As a consequence, the Department of Buildings, at the urging of Cymbrowitz, put a padlock on the business and demanded that they apply for a new zoning variance.

After voting unanimously in favor of granting the car wash its variance, boardmembers were flummoxed as to why there was so much animosity between all the parties at play.

“It is a travesty and embarrassment that the Department of Building’s has acted this way, and I think it’s a travesty that the politicians can’t speak the same language — that you have a politician that strongly supports this business and a politician that’s strongly against it,” Brooklyn Daily reported board member and architect Jack Suben saying. “I think it’s a shame that everybody has to come to this body just to speak with each other.”

While many residents were still outraged at all the noise the car wash was producing, the business got a big ally when Andy Mitchell, who lives right next door, told the board that the car wash had done a good job at lowering the racket.

“I’m going to be honest, they did reduce the noise level,” Brookyln Daily reported Mitchell saying. “I’m not looking to close any business. I realize they invested a lot of money and, compared to the old car wash, their building is beautiful.”

As a condition of the board’s support, Russell Shern, the owner of the car wash, promised in writing to install a canopy aimed at keeping the noise down. Shern noted at the meeting that it would be impossible to install the canopy until the Department of Buildings lifted their stop-work order, a request he was granted.

Source: slack12/Flickr

New York 1 has been following a story about a group of elderly residents that have been left stranded in their Brighton Beach building courtesy of a broken elevator that has been out of commission since Superstorm Sandy struck late last October.

The residents, many disabled, have had difficulty scaling the steps of their six-story building.

“I live on the sixth floor and every day I cannot go out,” Alexander Fayn told NY1.

When NY1 originally reported on the story earlier in the month, the Department of Buildings promised that it would get fixed, but three weeks later it remains broken, driving the tenants mad.

“I’m frustrated, I’m upset, I’m furious,” said Michael Royzman to NY1.

NY1′s further inquiry with the Department of Buildings resulted in a promise by the DOB to investigate the matter.

Great…an investigation, why not just fix the elevator!?

Photo by Erica Sherman

Following demands from local pols in just about all of the communities hard hit by Superstorm Sandy, New York City has decided to extend the application period for its innovative Rapid Repairs program until Monday, January 14.

The program, originally slated to cease accepting applications on December 31, will now be open for an additional two weeks, allowing more time to apply for those overwhelmed with immediate recovery needs to get to the forms.

There is a caveat, though: the program will no longer accept online or telephone applications. Residents seeking to apply must do so in-person at a Disaster Recovery Center like the one that opened today at 3076 Emmons Avenue.

The reason for the in-person registration is that the city requires all applicants to sign a “Right of Entry” form before they visit the home. These forms are now the first step in the process, and the in-person requirement will hopefully speed up repair work.

Rapid Repairs connects residents with registered contractors, and funnels FEMA funds directly to the work – allowing repairs to be done more quickly, and without any out-of-pocket payment by the resident. The repairs are limited to restoring essential services like heat, hot water and power, and also providing the bare minimum to live safely in the dwelling.

Last September, we reported on the ‘Bright N’ Green’ environmental building project that was being constructed at 67 Brighton 1st Lane. The project, designed and led by architect Robert Scarano, was met with some controversy due to Scarano’s checkered past with the Department of Buildings, where he was found to be deliberately submitting falsified or misleading paperwork.

Putting questions of Scarano’s dealings with the city aside, the video above, provided by Brooklyn Independent Televsion, presents the seemingly amazing progress Scarano has made on his futuristic six-unit Brighton Beach building.

Producer Charlie Hoxie visited Scarano’s project and got to the bottom of what compelled the architect to construct this dwelling in Brighton Beach and what his full vision of the future of architecture entails.

“I think that people now going back to repairing and rebuilding after the storm really need to understand that they can’t go back to putting things in the old way. They need to put things in a way that will mitigate damages in the future, and and actually prevent damages,” Scarano, a Brighton Beach native, told BIT.

Amazingly, according to Scarano, it was the only building in the neighborhood unaffected by Sandy.

“We had actually no water infiltration at any one of the windows and doors in this building,” he said.

The building will also produce all its own electricity via solar panels and wind turbines.

Scarano and his team had the foresight to raise his building four inches over the recommended 100-year flood level building code requirement. The difference such an elevation makes is evident when Scarano points out the water line left by Superstorm Sandy, well above the city’s standard, but well below his own.

“I believe the storm was a wake-up call for a lot of people, the city especially,” he said. “If anything good came out of Sandy, it will be that it accelerated the discussion by probably at least five to 10 years.”

New York City is suspending water bills for residents whose properties suffered the worst damage from Superstorm Sandy in an effort to ease the financial burden on victims.

Residential and commercial properties that the Department of Buildings has tagged red or yellow – those which have significant damage or are now uninhabitable – will not have to make a monthly water bill payment until June 1, 2013. No bills will be sent until May 1, 2013.

Standard fees for preoprties where water service has been disconnected from the city’s water supply because of damage will also be waived by the Department of Environmental Protection, and interest fees and collection actions on delinquent accounts have been suspended.

The city has also announced two property tax relief measures for homeowners that suffered storm damages to their properties, including an interest-free extension of the next property tax bill from January 1, 2013, to April 1, 2013.

More than 3,000 properties are eligible for the extension, and the average property tax bill is $506. The City has also proposed to reimburse homeowners for a portion of the taxes paid this fiscal year. The measure requires State approval and if enacted, more than 900 properties would be eligible, with an average rebate of $794. The Finance Department is also working to ensure that the property tax assessments for FY 2014 reflect the post-hurricane conditions.

“For those faced with the hard work of rebuilding after the storm, we are doing all that we can to provide assistance and relief,” said Mayor Michael Bloomberg in a statement announcing the changes. “By deferring water bill payments and other charges, New Yorkers can focus their attention and money on more immediate and pressing needs.”

Source: Google Maps

Continuing our coverage of landlords who have been less than responsive to tenants devastated by Hurricane Sandy, The New York Post highlights the plight of those located at the 2101 Avenue Z. The apartment building still doesn’t have heat or electricity since Sandy struck late in October.

Residents of the building, which include young children and the elderly, have taken to pasting signs in the windows that read, “Help!” and “We Have Rights.”

The tenants of the neglected apartment building blame their landlord, Leonid Rubanov.

“Our landlord came the next day [after Sandy] to collect the rent. He said, ‘I need the money to do the repairs.’ Then three, four days went by, he doesn’t pick up the phone, he doesn’t do anything,” Alex Kudryavtsev, 26, who lives in the building with his wife and 3-year-old daughter. “We went over to his house in Manhattan Beach and the repairs on his house were already under way,” he said. “Instead of putting the money toward our residence, he decided his house was more important.”

The landlord, Leonid Rubanov, declined to answer the door at his lavish home, adorned with wrought ironwork, silk drapes, columns and ornamental flourishes.

“If you’re from the newspaper, you have to call the Department of Buildings and HPD. It’s a bad idea to come to my home,” he told The Post, referring to the city’s Department of Housing Preservations and Development.

HPD has issued several violations to Rubanov, and sources said more inspections are expected today.

Sandy has apparently put the spotlight on some of our local slumlords. We hope Rubanov gets his things in order as it has been over three weeks and temperatures continue to decrease.

A home in Sea Gate damaged (in the rear) by Sandy. Photo by Erica Sherman

On a scale never before attempted in New York City, hundreds of Hurricane Sandy-damaged homes in Brooklyn and Queens are set for bulldozing, including homes in Gerritsen Beach, according to a report by The New York Times.

The homes slated for destruction, numbering close to 200, were deemed a danger to public safety due to excessive damage. In addition to the 200 homes designated for bulldozing, 200 other homes, completely destroyed by Sandy, will also be cleared away in the coming weeks.

The New York City Department of Buildings (DOB), headed by Commissioner Robert L. LiMandri, has already inspected more than 80,000 buildings in the wake of Sandy’s devastation. So far 891 homes have been declared unsafe to enter.

The Times article emphasizes the heavy emotional cost expected from the forced destruction of homes that have been with families for several generations.

“I mean, look, a lot of these are people’s homes that, probably, they may have even grown up in it, and it was their father’s house,” LiMandri told The Times. “I mean, that’s the kind of communities we’re talking about.”

Another serious issue arising from the planned bulldozing is what will become of the communities ravaged by the storm, and if it will even be worth rebuilding. According to The Times:

No decisions have been made about rebuilding in the storm-battered areas — a complicated question that would involve not only homeowners, but also insurers and officials in the state, local and federal governments. Some of the houses that are being torn down were built more than a half-century ago as summer bungalows, then winterized and expanded. Current building codes would likely prohibit reconstruction of similar homes.

The DOB is also sensitive to the fact that many of the evicted residents with homes that are slated to be torn down are difficult to reach due to them being forced to live with friends, in shelters, or in hotels. The department has sent out staff to track down displaced residents to let them know the status of their soon-to- be demolished homes. Even still, the shock of being forced to lose a home they grew up in will be another blow to the people most devastated by Hurricane Sandy.

Port Sheepshead Marina, nothing but rubble.

Despite more than a week of cleaning, Emmons Avenue’s eastern end, a strip of waterfront condos, bungalows and boating clubs, remains in shambles.

We visited Emmons Avenue’s two waterfront bungalow colonies earlier this week, and, though Hurricane Sandy destroyed several homes and left families for the streets, there had been no visits from FEMA, Red Cross or any examples of the volunteer frenzy other neighborhoods have received.

In the absence of outside help, neighbors banded together to help each other.

Keep reading, and view a photo gallery of the destruction in the bungalow colonies.