Bay Ridge

Housing preservation group touts progress in Bay Ridge

July 22, 2016 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Councilmember Jumaane Williams (at podium) is among the lawmakers pushing legislation to crack down on illegal homes. At right are Bob Cassara, founder of the Brooklyn Housing Preservation Alliance, and Fran Vella-Marrone, president of the Dyker Heights Civic Association. Eagle file photo by Paula Katinas
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Slowly but surely, the city is making progress in its fight against developers who illegally convert small homes into multi-unit dwellings in the Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights area, according to a Brooklyn housing preservation group whose leaders issued a newsletter touting recent successes.

The Brooklyn Housing Preservation Alliance, led by Dyker Heights resident Bob Cassara, said the Department of Buildings (DOB) is inspecting more houses suspected of being illegal home conversions and is issuing more violations against property owners.

The inspections are the result of calls from residents reporting suspected sites, Cassara’s group said.

The alliance offered the following statistics as proof of progress:

  • There were 448 reports of illegal home conversions called into DOB from residents of Community Board 10 (Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights) in 2015. DOB was able to get into 246 homes, a 25 percent increase over 2014. 

  • In cases where the DOB gained access to a property, 35.6 percent were hit with building code violations, a substantial increase from 19.7 percent in 2014.

  • DOB issued 153 “Stop Work” orders in 2015, a 121 percent increase over 2014.

  • The city’s Environmental Control Board issued 815 violations, an increase of 59 percent over 2014.

  • Since 2014, there has been a 300 percent increase in “vacate” orders.

“The vast increase in violations issued during 2015 was due to the fact that the DOB received a far greater number of credible complaints from the community than in 2014. As a community, we’ve proved that we can make a real, tangible difference,” the newsletter reads.

The alliance also pointed to legislation pending in the City Council.

Councilmember Gentile (D-Bay Ridge-Dyker Heights-Bensonhurst) announced in June that along with Council members Jumaane Williams (D-Flatbush) and Barry Grodenchik (D-Bayside) and Borough President Eric Adams he introduced a bill to help combat illegal home conversions.

The bill would establish a system in which a fine of $15,000 for each illegal unit would be imposed on the owner of a building.

Under the bill, fines imposed by the Environmental Control Board would automatically create liens on properties that, if unpaid, could be included in a lien sale.

The idea is to hit landlords “very deep in the pocket,” Williams said.

If DOB inspectors can’t gain entry after several attempts, the agency could request a warrant from the New York City Law Department under the bill.

“Substandard housing is not affordable housing,” Gentile said.

By illegally subdividing units, landlords are cramming more people into a house than the building was designed to hold, the lawmakers said.

In addition, Gentile charged that landlords engage in shoddy construction practices that result in dangers such as a lack of access to fire escapes and faulty electrical wiring.

While progress has been made in the fight against illegal home conversions, more work needs to be done, according to alliance leaders, who urged residents to attend a public hearing at Borough Hall on July 28, when BP Adams will review an application from Board 10 to repeal a special permit process.

The special permit process allows homeowners to add extensions onto their homes.

Alliance leaders charged that the process is abused by developers seeking to illegally convert buildings.

 

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