Results tagged “building”

If it's November, it's time to start dreading the Holiday tipping ritual. How much do you give the super or the doorman or—no joke—the sanitation worker? Well, if you're the board of directors at a tony co-op, the solution is simple: Nothing. A thread on the Urban Baby message board has sparked a vigorous debate about noblesse oblige during a recession, beginning thus:

SANTA CLAUS CAME EARLY!!! Just got a notice from our co-op board: "In response to past complaints about favoritism, and in light of the current recession that has dealt a significant blow to many of our shareholders, the board of directors of (XYZ Building) has implemented a strict "no tipping" policy for the building staff." THANK YOU SANTA!!!

Remember that free building in Prospect-Lefferts Gardens? Unsurprisingly, the whole thing was a prank. Reportedly a local resident was fed up with the rundown building (located at 205 Parkside Avenue) and decided to put up a sign and a Craigslist ad advertising it for free. The prankster told the Daily News: "We want to see something positive happening with the building [not just a] festering rathole on what could be a lively thriving commercial strip."

Do you want 14 residential units and 3 commercial units in beautiful Brooklyn for the low low price of: Free? The blogger at Hawthorne Street points to Prospect Lefferts' 205 Parkside Avenue, "an abandoned rathole" that has been vacant since 1979 and is now being advertised as free (though they doubt it's really free). There's even a Craigslist ad backing up the sign on the building. Any takers? UPDATE: The new rumor is that this is a prank. We still bet squatters could get in a few months of free rent, however. [via Curbed]

The son of a Harlem landlord is accused scamming potential buyers by trying to sell a building he did not own. The commercial property, located on a triangular lot just north of Central Park at 21-41 Lenox Avenue, was entirely owned by another man. But alleged grifter Henry Vargas told buyers the man, Manuel Duran Jr., was just an elderly farmer from the Dominican Republic whose share was only 10 percent.

Astoria property owner Santino DiFiore has a permit to build a six-story "DiFiore Tower" next to his other four-story building, where hairdresser JoAnn McGurty Sullivan, 42, has been living in a rent-controlled apartment off-and-on since childhood. The other tenants on her side the building have all vacated, but she's proving to be the fly in DiFiore's ointment, because doesn't want the landlord to brick in nine out of her ten windows to accommodate the new building. Apparently one window just isn't good enough for Sullivan, who's managed to get the Department of Buildings to issue a stop-work order. She tells the Post, "[DiFiore] took my life, shook it up and threw it on the floor—all for greed."

       

Yesterday we looked at the newly renovated lobby of the Empire State Building, and all its Art Deco glory made us nostalgic. LIFE magazine images are often good for curing that; they even have a whole gallery of the building being made by hand. Enough to make you reread The Fountainhead.

Just when it looked like The Man was standing up for photographer's rights, or at least understanding the law, things have gone sour again. Carlos Miller reports that 43-year-old professional photographer Randall Thomas "was jailed for six hours—and had his camera and memory card confiscated by a judge—after filming an FBI building from across the street in New York City Monday."

Re-Brooklyn, which hosts images comparing past and present day buildings in the borough, has just posted a cleaner shot of the Norwegian Evangelical Church... or as you may know it: Strauss Auto. The interesting thing here is that if you look at the trim on the side wall, you'll see that the building is the same. An old NYPL image points out the original photo was taken in 1930, and the structure is on 15th Street and 4th Avenue.

Yesterday, a construction safety coordinator filed a $20 million lawsuit, accusing her employer of ignoring reports of sexual harassment while working at a Park Avenue JPMorgan Chase building site. Bianca Wisniewski, a 43-year-old widowed mother of two, says she repeatedly fended off lewd advances from elevator operator Steve Greco in 2007. According to the suit, Greco's overtures included grabbing her around the waist and cooing, "I just want to take you to dinner, no fu*king," and "Everybody kisses engineer Steve. This is a man's world, not a place for women to work." The suit accuses LIC's Total Safety Consulting of ignoring her complaints, offering her job back but then rescinding the offer and replacing her with a man. Her lawyer says, "What I find atrocious is that here's a woman who was working in a job where we have... crane accidents and people dying, and she was in a position of authority to ensure safety. But when she reports a guy vilely hitting on her, instead of protecting her safety, they protect a scoundrel." None of the defendants in the lawsuit—JPMorgan Chase, Total Safety, Greco, and his union—have formally commented, but Greco told a Daily News reporter yesterday, "I don't know [Wisniewski]. I don't know what you're talking about."

Bad news for squatters and survivalists: Instead of just letting abandoned condo developments turn into illegal havens for trespassers, the city is starting a $20 million pilot program to turn unsold condominiums, unrented apartments and stalled construction sites into affordable housing for middle-income families. Yesterday Mayor Bloomberg and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn announced the plan, called the Housing Asset Renewal Program (HARP), in which the city will negotiate with developers and banks to turn the unoccupied units into affordable housing.

There's good news for the famously decaying Windermere, a complex of three 1881 apartment buildings in Hell's Kitchen that was landmarked in 2005. The Japanese owner of the structure, Masako Yamagata, has finally agreed to a settlement with seven tenants who had to be evacuated in 2007 because of the extreme decay. They'll collectively share $2.6 million in exchange for relinquishing claims on their apartments, and Yamagata has also agreed to pay $1.1 million in civil penalties to the city for failing to maintain the building. A judge had issued a court order last year requiring Yamagata to repair the landmark, but the city had been unable to enforce it because he was in Japan. Once a buyer expressed serious interest in purchasing the Windermere, Yamagata finally settled so he could unload it for an undisclosed sum. The buyer has promised make all necessary repairs to the complex, which was popular with single working women and artists at the turn of the 20th century. When it opened, it was known for its technological marvels like the hydraulic elevator and telephone.

Deed fraud is in alive and well in the city. Late Friday, the Real Deal reported that a woman posing as the rightful owner of three Upper East Side buildings obtained deeds for them and tried to get tenants to send her their rent checks. And today the Post adds the tabloid detail—she's a "former exotic dancer with a body for sin and maybe a brain for it."

The owner of the 153-year old, five-story building on Reade Street that collapsed yesterday morning had been cited for numerous violations by the Department of Buildings over the years. In 2007, inspectors discovered a 15-foot-long crack and a section of a wall in danger of collapse, but the Times reports that owner Aharon Vaknin never addressed the violation. And in April the department received five separate complaints about the building's landmarked facade, including one just days ago warning that it looked unstable. On Tuesday, Vaknin began installing structural supports to the building, per DOB orders; he'd originally planned to build a boutique hotel behind the crumbling facade, but the recession stalled the project. According to the Tribeca Tribune, Vaknin had recently submitted plans to partially demolish the very section of the building that collapsed. But it seems gravity and neglect took care of that for him. Last night the DOB razed the remaining portions of the structure in a controlled demolition, and the department is investigating whether the construction of a planned six-story, 63,000 square-foot condo at 77 Reade St contributed to the collapse.

Over a week ago, a jewelry designer was injured when an outdoor staircase at the artists' warehouse 5 Pointz collapsed. As Nicole Gagne, who was trapped under concrete and metal debris, remains in serious condition, the prospect for the building, which houses at least two hundred artists, remain unclear.

After reports of construction being stopped at the Financial District site of a Frank Gehry-designed skyscraper and that developer Forest City Ratner was cutting the tower's height from 76 floors to "just" 38, now Crain's has some more details on what's happening with the Spruce Street building. The developer's spokesperson said, “Given the current economy, we are conducting a study to assess costs, risks and overall timing. Work is continuing on the building including on the school"—the building has a 100,000 square-foot pre-K through 8th grade school—"and we should have some conclusive answers shortly" (as in whether to add the additional floors). The building is also supposed to include a hospital and parking garage. Crain's adds, "The building was to have roughly 900 apartments with stunning views of lower Manhattan and the nearby Brooklyn Bridge and was expected to open next year." Boy, Frank Gehry when it comes to NYC skyscrapers.

It's a scary world out there for those developers who sank millions into new luxury rental buildings, and the desperation has begun to manifest itself in increasingly entertaining ways. Take the dispiriting new Truffles TriBeCa over by the West Side Highway; this 291-unit eyesore has been trying to lure tenants with an increasingly "offbeat" marketing push, replete with half-naked models lying ass up on a sofa in what could be your totally boss apartment, brah. Truffles's latest gambit is to liven up the place with a bunch of lifeless, albeit stylish, mannequins, seen here lounging smugly on the balcony. Because nothing dispels an atmosphere of sterile desolation better than a pair of faceless white human replicas. Doesn't it kind of remind you of that scene in "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull" where Indian Jones finds himself in a nuclear testing "village" populated by mannequins about to be annihilated? (Or did we just needlessly confess to watching "Kingdom of the Crystal Skull"?) Either way, fire at will. [Via Runnin' Scared/The Landscape]

An exterior wall at 270 West 123rd Street in Harlem collapsed around 3:15 p.m. WCBS 2 reports the building was "partially under construction" and "appears to be a five-story walk-up with a pizza shop, Pizzaria 123, on the bottom floor." WABC 7 says that some pizzeria customers were temporarily trapped: "Workers were pouring concrete at a construction site when the wall collapsed into the pizzeria next door." Four people were injured; the extent of their injuries is not known.

          

It's been over 24 hours since New School students occupied the Graduate Faculty building in protest of school president Bob Kerrey's and other administration figures' action, and it hasn't been without incident. The students, who promised to "inaugurate a wave of occupations in New York City and the United States, a coming wave of occupations, blockades, and strikes in this time of crisis," scuffled with the police when they tried to take over more parts of the building (they were initially just in the dining hall).

It's been an eventful day for New School students occupying a dining hall at the university's Graduate Faculty building at 65 Fifth Avenue. The group, estimated to be between 75-150, has been hurriedly posting blog "communiques" about the situation as it develops. This morning they reported that "a couple of our comrades have been roughed up and a couple arrested." Then, around noon, New School President Bob Kerrey arrived and tried to dialogue with the students, but according to one communique, "we responded by refusing to negotiate with him and repeating our demand that he immediately resign. He left and took his police with him." Now Kerrey's blog is down due to "technical difficulties." Comrades have occupied the Internet! Now the New School Free Press tells us that students are debating about continuing the occupation through Christmas break, which is a month long. One potential snag is that the building will be undergoing asbestos removal next week in preparation for its eventual demolition.

     

A group of New School students, perhaps numbering 75 or more, are continuing their occupation of a dining hall at the university's Graduate Faculty building at 65 Fifth Avenue. Taking over the room last night, the group announced, "We liberate this space for ourselves, and all those who want to join us, for our general autonomous use. We take the university in explicit solidarity with those occupying the universities and streets in Greece, Italy, France and Spain."

        

The fourth New York City location of The Palm restaurant opened on Friday in Tribeca. This outpost is located in a luxury condo on 200 Chambers Street, and some residents there are none too thrilled about their proximity to the popular steakhouse. One gripes on the Wired New York board: "The Palm Restaurant is ruining my life...The entire lobby smells of the exhaust of the Palm Restaurant. Also certain hallways in the building and interiors of apts are also complaining about the smell."

A black security supervisor is suing the owner of a Times Square office building after being allegedly subjected to racist remarks on a daily basis by Wayne Kohlbrecher, the building manager. Now-unemployed security manager Godfrey Williams accuses Kohlbrecher of spewing invective like: "'This is why you are here . . . I don't want these f**king spics, sambos, chimps coming up here!' Kohlbrecher is also accused of greeting Williams with a Hitler salute and saying 'Heil Hitler.' Worse, Kohlbrecher allegedly told Williams, 'This is my f**king plantation! I run it like I want to because I can crack a mean whip, I can cut the flesh from the bone. I heat a hot oven. I like the smell of flesh.'" Wow, those office holiday parties must have been crazy! And who could forget the time Kohlbrecher (allegedly) declared: "We don't owe you black people anything. You need to understand that when we throw you people a bone, you should be grateful." The Observer has more of Kohlbrecher's workplace aphorisms, which would make a really great line of racist Successories posters.

Memo to lazy dudes: If you buzz your girlfriend into the building and she's not at your door in a timely manner, you need to put Guitar Hero on pause and get your ass downstairs. On Saturday night the girlfriend of a Greenwich Village man was taking longer than usual to get upstairs to his apartment, and when he finally went down to see what happened he found that she was being raped in the building's vestibule. This happened around 7 p.m. on lower Fifth Avenue, according to the Post. So be alert! At least in this case the boyfriend was able to subdue the attacker and call the cops; the alleged rapist, 28-year-old Dean Rogich, told detectives, "I followed her into the building so I could rob her."

Though most of the neighborhood around the Gowanus Canal has not yet been rezoned for residential construction, one development company has just won approval for a big condo project with buildings up to 12 stories high and a public park along the canal. Blogger Pardon Me For Asking sat through a "long and drawn out" Landmark/Land Use committee meeting last night (so we didn't have to). She calls the near-unanimous vote "a sad outcome for the community":

Let me just say that no amount of testimony from concerned residents at last month's meeting, no concerns about pathogens in the waters of the canal, nor warnings that the land is in a flood zone were able to sway a majority of our board members from voting yes for Toll's spot rezoning.

A group of residents in a massive building at 3333 Broadway (at 135th Street) are filing a class action lawsuit against the owner of the building, which until 2005 was in the state’s Mitchell-Lama program for moderate-income housing but is now charging market-rate rents. The residents say the owner had not properly notified them of the change to market-rate housing, and they say they're being systematically harassed to move out so higher-paying tenants can move in.

The New York Building Congress issued a report on NYC's construction outlook 2008-2010: This year, construction spending is "forecast to reach a record $33.8 billion, a 16 percent increase from 2007 when spending reached $29.1 billion. Spending is currently forecast to reach $33.4 billion in 2009 before easing to $26.2 billion in 2010."

The development company that's pushing for a special rezoning approval to construct several residential buildings by the Gowanus Canal in Brooklyn came under fire at a Neighborhood Association meeting in Carrol Gardens last night, with two local architects dismissing the project renderings as deceptive. Chris McVoy and John Hatheway maintained that the developer, Toll Brothers, has provided renderings that make their tallest building—which would be 12 stories and 125 feet high—look more like 85 feet.

The New Museum's Bowery space still has that "new museum smell" to it, not even a year old, but they have just announced they've already acquired their next door neighbor, the building at 231 Bowery. They note in their press release that "The 47,000-square-foot, five-story structure is located directly south of the New Museum. The availability of an adjacent property is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for a dynamic and growing institution." They have noted, however, that there are no immediate plans for the new space, aside from housing some offices and storage in there. Yawn. Of course, there will be a long-range plan developed...and perhaps a Hell, Yes! sign? (See the New Museum and its new building, here.)

Another jewel in the BAM Cultural district crown has been revealed with the recent announcement that the city-owned Strand Theatre at 647 Fulton Street will be renovated for expanded use by BRIC – the Brooklyn cultural organization that manages Celebrate Brooklyn!, BCAT, and the Rotunda Gallery, among other programs – and UrbanGlass, an educational glassworks group. Both organizations already have facilities at the former theater.