SHEEPSHEAD BAY'S ONLY INDEPENDENT NEWS BLOG

177 MacKenzie after it was fully demolished Monday afternoon (Photo by Ray Johnson)

Leland Bodenmiller, his wife, and their three children are breathing much easier, as the Department of Buildings granted a quick 20-minute reprieve to enter their condemned home and retrieve personal possessions.

The demolition of 177 MacKenzie Street took enough stress off the Bodenmiller’s home that, with the addition of braces, building inspectors gave the green light to a quick in-and-out rescue operation.

“It was a great effort to get things out of the house and onto the lawn in 15 or 20 minutes,” said Leland. “We had to run and grab .. Whatever we have used recently, we grabbed.”

Bodenmiller said the family was able to snatch clothing, computers, photos, his wife’s wedding dress, some smaller furniture, and their son’s engineering books – among other things.

The 20 minutes “really opened it up. Precious things that were personal to us [were recovered],” he said. “We weren’t able to get some things, but we’re happy about what we got.”

Some valuables left behind include televisions, china and crystals from their wedding 35 years ago, a telescope, organ, and larger furniture.

But the Bodenmillers may have another chance. The DOB has given the landlord a one-week deadline to demolish the property since it’s no longer in immediate danger of collapsing, though it’s still condemned. Bodenmiller is hopeful the DOB may give them one more opportunity to get into the house.

“It’s like the weather,” Bodenmiller said. “Yesterday it was rainy and dreary and we couldn’t get in the house. Now it’s sunny and beautiful and we’re very happy we go to go inside.”

177 MacKenzie Street in Manhattan Beach Get Demolished

On Monday, March 15, Jacqulyn Bodenmiller should have been relaxing in advance of her marriage to Bittman Rivas in two weeks. Instead, she stood in the rain outside of her family’s home on MacKenzie Street. The family of five, and Rivas, watched helplessly as their home of 27 years was fenced up and prepped for demolition.

Almost all of their possessions were still locked inside the house, destined to be crushed by a huge mechanical claw.

On top of their home sprawled a three-story wooden frame, once a neighboring stalled construction site at 177 MacKenzie Street. During Saturday’s storm, the building slammed into the Bodenmiller’s home with a thunderous boom and shoved their house off its own foundation. Over the course of the next two days, the FDNY and the DOB inspected the home, declared it in “emergency condition” and an immediate threat. The family’s home could collapse under the weight at any time, according to city officials, and so they began demolishing both 177 MacKenzie Street and the Bodenmiller’s home at 181 MacKenzie Street.

The Bodenmillers are tenants without renters insurance. The American Red Cross put them up in a Sunset Park hotel for the time being, and they’re moving fast to secure an apartment in the area. But all their clothes and other possessions are trapped inside the house, except a few choice items Jacqulyn’s mother, Irine, was able to grab in a brief opportunity.

“It was the saddest part,” said Rivas. “Her mother had the opportunity and she grabbed the veil, wedding rings, and other wedding jewelry. She didn’t grab a thing of her own, just things for the wedding.”

Read more about the structure’s history, who’s to blame, and for photos of the demolition

Councilman Michael Nelson’s office sent us a note last night that they got word from the Department of Transportation that the Operation Iraqi Freedom Way sign should be back up by the end of the day on Monday, February 22.

The stalled construction site at 2820 Avenue Z that imperils children remains dangerous. Eleven days after the Department of Buildings declared it in “Emergency Condition” and nearly two months after the fence first fell, leaving it open to children from P.S. 52 down the block, nothing has changed. We’ll be watching this one closely. There’s no reason the developer couldn’t nail up a $50 piece of plywood for the time being, and there’s no reason the city should allow this to go on for as long as it has.

The fence to this mess fell down, giving access to children from nearby P.S. 52

We railed last month against the owners of 2820 Avenue Z, a stalled construction site in such deplorable condition that it threatened the safety of local schoolchildren. On February 9, the city declared the site in “Emergency Condition.” This means the property owner must repair the construction fence immediately or the city will do it for them. This is done to ensure public safety.

The ruling came after a February 1 inspection spurred on by complaints about the site’s fallen fencing, which gave access to children from P.S. 52 on the same block. In addition to the broken fencing, the inspection found that the existing wood and steel frame was below grade.

Though there is no exact time frame for the repairs to be done before the city steps in, it’s assumed the property owner has a few days to make repairs. If the city repairs the fencing they put the cost on the property tax bill and charge a premium.

We passed by on February 12 and the fencing was still down. If this is along anyone’s daily route, please send us updates if anything changes.

Thanks to Community Board 15 for the information.

The site of the proposed mosque at 2812/2814 Voorhies Avenue

Opponents of a proposed mosque in Sheepshead Bay came before the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association last week to rally support for their fight, but instead found little sympathy for their struggle.

A handful of neighbors came to the Tuesday night meeting to present their case against the mosque, which may soon be built at 2812 Voorhies Avenue and will also include a school and community center. But board members of the civic association and Community Board 15 chairperson Theresa Scavo bristled as the opposition turned towards race-baiting and ethnic fears.

“On what grounds are you opposing them?” said Scavo. “You can’t turn around and say ‘Oh they’re Muslim.’ Who’s going to look like the bad guy?”

Though initial statements from the mosque’s opponents emphasized potential traffic, parking, and noise problems as the cause for their concern, racist undertones began to bubble to the surface of the debate.

Read more about what happened at the meeting and to see documents from the mosque’s opponents

A Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association boardmember is fuming over proposed legislation that may give real estate developers a free pass on their neighborhood obligations.

Ed Jaworski, Executive VP of MMH Civic, is a well-known figure in the local development scene. He’s frequently seen at Community Board 15 meetings burdened by a stack of files. Within the folder: a veritable catalog of blighted land. Developers who have lost financing, who fail to maintain safety standards, who skirt laws – developers who are just outright abusive.

His latest outrage comes as the City Council is considering a law to extend building permits for two years, in order to accomodate developers who have lost financing in the down economy. According to a New York Times article on the issue, permit extensions will require property owners to maintain their properties and reduce safety and quality-of-life issues in the areas surrounding the sites.

According to Jaworski, the plan goes to far in favoring developers, and allows their recklessness to go unpunished. Here’s a letter he wrote to NY Times’ editors in response to the article: Continue Reading »

(Photo by Ray Johnson)

Cherry Hill Restaurant and Gourmet Market at Lundy’s received two violations this morning, just hours into their first full work day. The establishment’s existing partial stop work order was also upgraded to a full stop work order, which requires Cherry Hill to pay the city $5,000.

The market first opened its doors to the public yesterday evening in spite of a standing partial stop work order issued in early April. The new violations are for operating without a valid certificate of occupancy and a violation of non-conformity with zoning. In addition to the $5,000 fine, Cherry Hill may receive additional penalties to be decided at an Environmental Control Board court hearing on June 29th.

David Isaev, Cherry Hill’s owner, says he doesn’t care about the violations or fines. Talking on the phone, he seemed fed up with the politics. “I think it’s unfounded,” he said. “We have a responsibility to our employees who expect to go to work and support their families… these are real people.” Cherry Hill has 120 employees.

The issuing of violations suggests the city is siding with opponents of the establishment, including Community Board 15 Chairperson Theresa Scavo, State Senator Carl Kruger and City Councilman Michael Nelson, who say Cherry Hill needs more floor space dedicated to a restaurant in order to meet the requirements of the Special Sheepshead Bay District Zoning. Scavo says the violations are not likely to force it to cease operations, though.

“This is not going to stop them at all,” says Scavo. “They have an attitude that they’ll make a restaurant when they get around to it.”

Isaev, though, says he already has restaurant seating for up to 400 people. “How much more do you want?” he says.

A certificate of occupancy is required by the city to prove that the building is not only legally occupied, but also has been inspected by government officials and shown to meet all safety standards. This includes proof that all construction, electrical and plumbing work has been done to city standards. Cherry Hill opened with an expired temporary certificate of occupancy.

These developments are of little surprise to those who attended last night’s Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Association meeting. When the Cherry Hill issue came up for discussion, many (including Scavo) were confused about whether the store was open. According to attendees, Ken Lazar, the Inter-governmental Liaison for the DOB, boldly stated, “If it’s open, we’ll shut it down.”

Of course, that’s unlikely to happen. The DOB doesn’t have the authority to close a business. However, it can continue to levy violations and fines so long as Cherry Hill serves customers.

In order to avoid that, Cherry Hill will have to close its doors and either convert the property to conform to legal zoning standards – which means a higher percentage of floor space given to its restaurant, or can seek a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals. The latter would leave the space unused for up to 9 months.

Isaev says he plans to meet with DOB officials to see what needs to be done, but he doesn’t plan on closing his store. He says the consistent issuing of stop work orders and violations is a “little weird” since they began when the building was 98% completed. “Every step of the way we were checked and approved by inspectors,” he says.

“Life is a fight,” Isaev adds. “The community knows we’re here to make the community better. So, if a few politicians are against us – we’ll fight City Hall.”

Shortly after our post this afternoon stating that Cherry Hill Market at Lundy’s was fully stocked, though still closed, the restaurant/market – or market/restaurant – opened for business.

We stopped by this evening and found samples spread out on a table for all to try. The cash registers were cha-chinging as the first customers filed through with their purchases. Food servers at the sample table told us the establishment officially opened for business around 4pm or 5pm. Staff also informed us that this was not the “grand opening”. Instead it was a “soft opening” – a smart move given the heated controversy surrounding the store.

Speaking of which, we weren’t able to ask the owner, David Isaev, about the stop work order, but the document on the building’s front door makes it seem as if the store’s management believes that the situation has been resolved.

Meanwhile, at the Sheepshead Bay/Plumb Beach Civic Association meeting, board members were puzzled as to the status of the establishment, and hinted at the possibility of challenging Cherry Hill’s decision to open.

We’re still uncertain as to the status of the stop work order and the legality of the opening. We expect more information tomorrow.

The doors of the famed Lundy’s building were locked and the sentry posted at the front entrance in recent days was nowhere to be found. But, what was to be found?

Through the smudged window where curiosity-seekers had put their faces up to the glass to see what was going on inside, we could see all sorts of groceries and goods.

Fresh flowers on the tiered platform. Nuts in plastic bags. Chocolates. Refrigerator full of what looked like Sabra Mediterranean products. Cheerios and boxes of cereal stacked high. Oh, and yes, the baskets. Who can forget those thousands of dust collecting baskets hanging upside down from the ceiling?

There are no grand opening signs — but, there is a signed Letter of Completion issued to George Guttmann (of 2300 E 13 St) on April 4, 2009 by the Borough Commissioner of Brooklyn, though.

Maybe at tonight’s meeting, we’ll hear more about when the store will be open.

Or, maybe not. Accurate information about the store has been very hard to get. So hard, in fact, it’s beginning to look like management is not really “opening up” to the community at all.

If anyone knows when the store will open for business, please let us know.

Sorry to disturb your 2009 Passover Seder, but we have to give you this breaking news that comes to us via e-mail:

As we have been warning the DOB came down today and issued violations and a stop work order for the violations of the Sheepshead Bay Special District USE zoning which forbids MARKETS!
I guess they will have to go to the BSA for a variance. We tried to warn them.
Oh well, Happy Passover and Happy Easter to ALL!

Steven Barrison,Esq.
THE BARRISONS

So, it looks like the Cherry Hill Gourmet Market and Restaurant has finally gotten the official word that they are not going to be able to operate business as a market. Whether the restaurant side of the business is good-to-go is still unclear.

Sheepshead Bay Special District Use zoning did not allow for the monolithic grocery store they had planned and it looks like the Department of Buildings has told them that the store does not meet the requirements.

If the market operators request a variance from the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA) from the NYC Department of Buildings, we’ll have to wait to hear the outcome.

Until then, we’ll just have to shop as usual in our old favorites: Sheepshead Bay Gourmet Market on Ave Z & E 18 St; Super Stop and Shop Supermarket at Ave Y & E 17 St; Waldbaum’s at Ocean Ave & Voorhies; Pathmark at Nostrand & Ave Y; Kosher Palace; Fine-Fare; Key Food everywhere; and etc, etc. If you’re just looking to get some basic food, you can try Basic Foods on Coyle St.

Read more of my commentary after the jump.
Continue Reading »