Sheepshead Bay

No Halloween Prank: Half-built ‘Horror House’ finally dead

November 5, 2014 By Matthew Taub Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle from Brooklyn Brief
This is the eyesore that used to be located at 1882 E. 12th St. Eagle file photo by Rob Abruzzese
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While many of those who look at 1882 East 12th St. in Sheepshead Bay may just see neglected land and real estate blight, the property — now an empty lot surrounded by a chain-link fence — represents something very different to Assemblymember Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Brooklyn). Cymbrowitz and neighbors on the block waged an eight-year battle with the city and the Board of Standards and Appeals to have a monstrous construction project cancelled and ultimately demolished.

“When an out-of-scale home crops up, it is almost unheard of for the city to order it torn down,” Cymbrowitz said. “East 12th Street was an unusual case because of the safety issues. Even then it took eight years and cost neighbors many thousands of dollars for the city to take the appropriate action,” he said.

Extensively reported on previously by local neighborhood blog Sheepshead Bites, the home had been condemned for its gaudy, outsize display and unsafe conditions since its inception. To the lawmaker and neighbors, the now-empty lot, located on a quiet block between Avenues R and S, represents a hard-fought victory to remove the half-built, unsafe monster of a home that sat precariously atop a bungalow and towered over the structures around it.

The house was even featured this past March in our series of the 10 ugliest buildings in Brooklyn.

Following a meeting arranged by Cymbrowitz with Brooklyn Buildings Commissioner Ira Gluckman earlier this year, the Department of Buildings ordered the demolition of the home, a virtually unprecedented move. This painstaking demolition work, which required disassembling the home piece by piece (so as not to harm the houses on either side), was only recently completed.

For the Assemblymember, the victory and the neighbors’ dogged persistence serves as a cautionary tale for architects and engineers who attempt to skirt the law by “self-certifying” improper building plans. This problem has been seen in residential neighborhoods throughout the city, not just in southern Brooklyn, and the people who commit the violations often get off scot-free because of lack of oversight, he said.

During the last legislative session, Cymbrowitz introduced a bill (A.1536) that would suspend the licenses of professional engineers and architects who abuse their privileges allowed under New York City’s self-certification program. The program essentially allows licensed architects and engineers to approve the plans themselves and avoid a full-scale review by a Department of Buildings inspector. Cymbrowitz plans to re-introduce the legislation during the upcoming session.

“We fought too long and too hard not to see this through to the end,” he said.

But the problems are not over on East 12th Street, where residents are concerned about the future of the site, which has been owned by Dr. Joseph Durzieh since 2005. Cymbrowitz said he’ll continue to monitor the issue and will work with the Department of Buildings to ensure that any plans that are submitted comply with current zoning regulations.

Dr. Joseph Durzieh did not return a request for comment.

 

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