New York, – The New York City Department of Buildings released its enforcement bulletin for November 2024, which provides highlights of the agency’s actions to sanction and deter bad actors in the construction industry through the enforcement of safety laws and codes of conduct. Today’s bulletin includes summaries of DOB-imposed disciplinary actions, including penalties, license suspensions and revocations.
The actions below represent a portion of DOB’s overall work to enforce the City’s building codes and safety laws, in addition to the thousands of inspections conducted and violations issued by the agency each month for illegal building and construction conditions.
DOB completed several major enforcement actions in November, including:
- 8 violations and $110,000 in penalties issued for Failure to Safeguard construction sites at 8 locations.
- 19 violations and $407,625 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal building alterations at 3 locations.
- 1 violation and $10,000 in penalties issued to 1 individual for failure to carry out the duties of a construction superintendent.
Below are individual enforcement highlights for November 2024:
Construction and Design Professionals
DOB’s Special Enforcement Team (SET) audited multiple professionally certified applications submitted by Registered Architect Oscar Fuertes and found major code non-compliances, including filing Alteration Type 2 applications despite proposing changes in use, egress, and/or occupancy, which require Alteration Type 1 applications for a new or amended Certificate of Occupancy; proposing plans that fail to show two exits from the cellar; failure to show any notes and shoring details for proposed structural work; failure to provide a flood hazard map and supporting data; and various other violations of code and rules, including the Zoning Resolution, Building Code, and Administrative Code. Based on the audits, SET offered a voluntary surrender of Professional Certification and Directive 14 privileges which the Respondent agreed to.
- General Contractor Angeline Pena-Levi was disciplined for having been issued a large number of sustained summonses at sites for which she was responsible. The respondent agreed to a two-year suspension, correction of uncorrected summonses, and 18 months of probation.
- Master Fire Suppression Contractor Jeffrey S. Handler was issued a warning letter reminding him that he must retain 51 percent ownership of his master fire suppression business.
Bronx
$181,875 in penalties issued to Mohammed Shakeer Khan for violations recorded at 1419 Bryant Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for illegal alterations after finding the second floor, a legal 1-family dwelling, was converted to a 5-family with the addition of 4 illegal Single Room Occupancies (SROs). Additionally, inspectors issued violations for storage of combustible materials in the boiler room and for exposed electrical wires in the second-floor hallway.
$36,500 in penalties issued to Bradley E. Simmons for violations recorded at 1256 Teller Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for illegal alterations after finding the legal 2-family dwelling converted to an illegal 7-family by the addition of 5 Single Room Occupancies (SROs). DOB inspectors also issued violations for work without a permit for full-height partitions constructed on the 2nd floor, water and waste lines on the 1st floor, and garage work that included the addition of 2 bathrooms, installation of gas lines, and electrical wiring work.
- $25,000 in penalties issued to 214-217 LLC for violations recorded at 714 East 217 Street. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to maintain emergency egress of the neighboring property when inspectors observed the fire escape egress route leading directly through an active construction site.
$18,750 in penalties issued to Goodman Realty Group, Corp. for violations recorded at 896 E 167th Street. DOB inspectors issued violations for the condition of a retaining wall on the premises that was observed leaning into an adjacent property.
- $11,250 in penalties issued to New Line Construction LLC for violations recorded at 2414 Cambreleng Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard after observing workers on a suspended scaffold without fall protection, and for failure to notify the Department of the scaffold installation.
$10,000 in penalties issued to Omnibuild Construction Inc. for violations recorded at 586 Gerard Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard after a portion of the adjacent property collapsed into the construction site during excavation operations.
$10,000 in penalties issued to New Line Construction LLC for violations recorded at 2621 Grand Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard after a worker fell off a scaffold, and for not providing a DOB inspector with requested documents showing that the worker was provided with proper training to use the scaffold equipment.
- $10,000 in penalties issued to Concrete Contracting Con for violations recorded at 1824 Anthony Ave. DOB inspectors issued violations to the contractor for inadequate Construction Superintendent log keeping.
- $10,000 in penalties issued to Robert Casalapro for violations recorded at 1851 Phelan Place. DOB inspectors issued violations for the submission of false documents in the filing of a Certificate of Correction for a previously-issued summons.
Brooklyn
$129,250 in penalties issued to Qiu Lan Lin for violations recorded at 745 45th Street. DOB inspectors issued violations after finding the legal 2-family dwelling illegally converted to a 10-family with the addition of 8 Single Room Occupancies (SROs) that were being occupied for transient use.
- $60,000 in penalties imposed on 1962 CIA LLC for violations recorded at 8161 New Utrecht Avenue. DOB inspectors issued sign violations for failure to obtain permits or engage a licensed sign hanger, and for failure to bear the UL classification mark or date of sign erection.
$10,000 in penalties issued to RIG Kingland Services Inc. for violations recorded at 19 Rockwell Place. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard during demolition operations after bricks fell onto an adjacent construction site.
$5,000 in penalties issued to 1375 E 18 LLC, for violations recorded at 1371 E 18th Street. DOB inspectors issued violations for transient use in one apartment of the multiple dwelling building, and lack of automatic sprinklers and a Class J fire alarm system.
$2,800 in penalties imposed on 1339 Fulton Street Realty, LLC, for violations recorded at 1339 Fulton Street. DOB inspectors issued violations to the owner for installing illuminated flashing signs prohibited by the Zoning Resolution, and for exceeding the legal size and projection limits for a business sign.
- A petition to padlock the property at 120 and 122 Sapphire Street was filed by DOB at OATH after inspectors observed commercial vehicle storage and use of a contractor’s yard in the yard of a 1-family house located within a residential district.
Manhattan
$70,000 in penalties imposed on Gammon Enterprises LLC for violations recorded at 461 Park Avenue South. DOB inspectors issued violations to the respondent for illegally displaying an outdoor sign without a permit, failure to engage a licensed sign hanger, failure to register as an Outdoor Advertising Agency, and for exceeding the sign surface area and height limitations for a sign in the zoning district.
- $35,000 in penalties issued to Majestic Property Management Corp. for violations recorded at 251 West 98th Street. DOB Inspectors issued violations to the building owner for failure to institute required pedestrian safety measures after filing an unsafe façade report with the Department.
$25,000 in penalties issued to Gilbane Building Company for violations recorded at 1901 1st Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard the job site after approximately 100 feet of construction fence collapsed and injured four pedestrians, and inspectors found that yodock barriers were not filled as per the manufacturer’s specifications.
$22,250 in penalties issued to Vinbaytel Developments LLC for violations recorded at 16 West 18th Street. DOB inspectors issued multiple safety violations at the new building construction project work site after finding there was no Site Safety Manager nor Coordinator present, and no safety monitoring program. Inspectors also observed a supported scaffold at the site that was missing stairs, unsecured fire extinguishers with missing and/or expired tags, and lack of required viewing panels on the construction fence.
$12,500 in penalties issued to Artimus Construction Inc. for violations recorded at 88 East 127th Street. Inspectors issued violations following an incident where a worker on the ground floor was hit by falling formwork from the roof, and inspectors determined that no overhead protection was provided, contrary to the project’s site safety plan.
- 10,000 in penalties issued to Roundsquare Builders LLC for violations recorded at 107 Bank Street. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to have a Construction Superintendent on the job site.
$6,250 in penalties issued to 413-415 West 52nd Street. DOB inspectors issued violations after a decorative stone at the 4th story level fell onto the public sidewalk, and inspectors observed the decorative stones around the 3rd story window were also in disrepair.
DOB inspectors issued a closure order at 560 West 170th Street, apartment 1A, after finding a commercial clothing store operation being operating from the apartment. A recent reinspection of the apartment determined that the commercial activity had ceased in compliance with DOB orders. As a result, DOB is rescinding the closure order.
Queens
$60,625 in penalties issued to Wei Ai Hua for violations recorded at 138-22 Elder Avenue. DOB inspectors issued violations for illegal alterations after altering the 3-family dwelling to a 7-family by adding 4 Single Room Occupancies (SROs) with locking devices on the doors, and violations for work without a permit for erecting full height partitions to subdivide the room.
- $10,000 in penalties issued to Best NY Contracting Inc. for violations recorded at 147-14 84th Road. DOB inspections issued violations for failure to properly safeguard the adjacent property while active façade work was underway.
- A petition to padlock the property at 132-03 Ruby Street was filed at OATH after inspectors observed dead vehicle storage, commercial vehicle storage, and use of a contractor’s yard at the location, which is located in a residential district.
- The owners of 75-20 Blake Avenue signed a stipulation agreement with DOB agreeing to cease the illegal use of their property as a contractor’s yard and for storage of building materials.
- Following DOB’s findings of a commercial auto repair business, dead storage of motor vehicles, and junk salvage storage at 173-10 108th Avenue, a closure order was executed in 2013 for the property, which is located in a residential district. A recent reinspection determined that that the lot has been recently cleared of the commercial activity, and a recission of the closure order is being prepared.
Staten Island
$10,000 in penalties issued to Kaci NY Corp. for violations recorded at 5 Dalmere Road. DOB inspectors issued violations for failure to safeguard after a brick wall collapsed at the permitted job site.
