Developers Run Amok in South Slope

dailyheights

"Yeah, yeah, hurry up and give me the fine already...
I've got a work crew on illegal overtime!"
Image from South Park Slope Blog: "180 15th Street. Images taken Friday September, 23. 9:30am show foundation work being performed without permits."

Reported in the Daily News: "As the clock ticks down on plans for a massive rezoning of south Park Slope, developers are scrambling to squeeze in controversial projects - while angry residents are battling just as furiously to try to stop them..."

"Advocates say developers routinely ignore stop-work orders, or pay the fines and keep building."

"The so-called downzoning of the area could take effect as early as November and would bar developers from building 12-story buildings on residential streets now lined with two- and three-story homes. But in the meantime, residents charge, the countdown has sparked a building frenzy by developers trampling Buildings Department regulations as they rush to lay foundations before the changes take effect."

RANDY PEERS (CB7): "In terms of construction, it's out of control. It's a war zone... On every block, there's two or three construction sites. Between the trucks and the bricks and the noise, it's outrageous."

AARON BRASHEAR (Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights): "It's going to totally change the neighborhood ... On my block alone, we're tripling the population in one fell swoop."

Pity the Poor Developers

From the Brooklyn Downtown Star: "Architect Robert Scarano, who delayed the construction of his buildings to comply with community concerns has become disenfranchised with the process, which has left his client, who invested his life savings in the property, with much less space to build than expected. 'These are not Donald Trumps ... They're not even as big as the people who are going against them."

The Minerva Scam

More from the Downtown Star:

"Scarano's original plan would have impeded the historic view between the Statue of Liberty and the Statue of Minerva at Battle Hill in Greenwood Cemetery ... It is said that the gaze between the two statues must be preserved because it represents freedom and is the reason the Statue of Liberty was built facing Brooklyn."

"But Hermian Charles, a 16-year resident of South Slope, said... "I think we are being hoodwinked ... I consider myself an amateur historian of the area. The Statue of Minerva was pulled out of obscurity for the sole purpose of stopping construction projects in the South Slope."

oiseau

The Department of Buildings is lame. They take forever to show up after a complaint has been made. But really, it's expected. If you ever wonder why something gets done or doesn't, just think about who benefits by the action/inaction. Usually the beneficary is the one who is going to be making the big bucks.

pitu

I actually had the Dept of Buildings show up the next day when I called 311 about a dangerous condition at a construction site last year. Of course the situation was over by then...guess I should have called the cops...