Press Release - Buildings

Inside DOB News & Media Navigating DOB Careers at DOB

For Immediate Release:
July 24, 2018
CONTACT: dobcommunications@buildings.nyc.gov,
(212) 393-2126

DOB ISSUES MONTHLY ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN

Report Highlights DOB Enforcement Outcomes from June 2018 to Deter Bad Actors and
Keep New Yorkers Safe

New York, NY – Today The New York City Department of Buildings released its June 2018 enforcement bulletin, 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 for construction professionals. Today’s bulletin includes summaries of DOB-imposed disciplinary actions, including penalties and 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 took a number of major enforcement actions in June, including:

A total of 37 violations and $446,800 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal building alterations on 17 separate occasions.
A total of 38 violations and $359,300 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal transient use of buildings at 11 different locations.
50 violations and $590,000 in penalties issued for failure to safeguard construction sites on 48 separate occasions.
12 violations and $135,000 in penalties issued to 11 different individuals for failure to carry out duties as construction superintendents.

Below are individual enforcement highlights for June 2018:

$51,200 in penalties issued to building owner Melissa Sosa for the illegal conversion of a single-family home into six transient use furnished rooms, one single room occupancy (SRO) dwelling, and one furnished apartment all with locking devices at 33-13 98th Street, Queens.

$48,200 in penalties issued to HBC Corona LLC for the illegal transient use of 36 different apartments at 32-45 112th Street, Queens.

$47,400 in penalties issued to 250 Agent LLC for the illegal conversion of the first floor and two duplex units at 248 South 3rd Street, Brooklyn, into thirteen (SRO) dwellings.

$25,000 in penalties issued to Safety Registrant LP Ciminelli Inc. for failure to safeguard a construction site at 135 Emerson Place, Brooklyn, after a construction worker was injured in a fall and other unsafe conditions were observed at the site.

$24,000 in penalties issued to building owner Besham Ramlagan for failure to provide protection for an adjacent property during excavation operations at 365 East 197th Street, Bronx, which caused an adjacent building’s rear yard to collapse.

$10,000 in penalties issued Guytec Steel Inc. for the unsafe operation of a crane at 8696 24th Avenue, Brooklyn (a.k.a. 2350 Benson Avenue), where a crane was set up in the wrong position and the crane’s outrigger sank partially into the ground, causing hazardous conditions.

$12,000 in penalties issued to Registered General Contractor Ideal Builders & Construction for inadequate housekeeping, after construction material stored on the roof caused a partial collapse of the building at 31-25 28th Road, Queens.

$10,000 in penalties issued to Registered General Contractor M&R Construction Group Inc. for the failure to safeguard a construction site at 88 Lexington Avenue, Brooklyn, due to the contractor’s failure to notify the gas company before beginning excavation work, which lead to the severing of an active gas line.

$8,000 in penalties issued to Skanska USA Building Inc. for the non-code compliant installation of a sidewalk shed at 370 Jay Street, Brooklyn, where a pedestrian was injured by falling debris.

$8,000 in penalties issued to Hammer Asset Management Inc. for illegal work without a permit at a single-family house at 226-04 145 Avenue, Queens, after a US Postal Carrier was struck by falling construction debris from the illegal gut renovation of the building.

$50,000 in penalties issued to 100 Division Street Realty Corp, for displaying an illegal outdoor advertising sign in a prohibited zone without a permit and without Department mandated decals, for failure to have a licensed sign hanger erect the sign, and for failing to register the sign at 100 Division Street, Manhattan.

$10,000 in penalties issued to building owner Stavros Alatsas for displaying an illegal advertising sign at 750 3rd Avenue, Brooklyn within 200 feet of an arterial highway and for failure to register the sign.

$4,800 in penalties issued to America Multi-Cinema Inc. for displaying four outdoor accessory signs without permits at 2310 Broadway, MN.

For previously issued Enforcement Action Bulletins, please visit our website.