For Immediate Release:
June 26, 2018
CONTACT: dobcommunications@buildings.nyc.gov,
(212) 393-2126

DOB ISSUES MONTHLY ENFORCEMENT BULLETIN

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

New York, NY – The New York City Department of Buildings today released its May 2018 enforcement bulletin, which gives 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 May, including:

• A total of 45 violations and $316,800 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal building alterations on 15 separate occasions.  

• A total of 18 violations and $116,325 in penalties, including daily penalties, issued for illegal transient use of buildings at 5 different locations.

• 39 violations and $465,000 in penalties issued for failure to safeguard construction sites on 39 separate occasions.

• 19 violations and $190,000 in penalties issued to 17 different individuals for failure to carry out duties as construction superintendents.

Below are individual enforcement highlights for May 2018:

• $30,300 in penalties issued to 215 Enterprises LLC for the illegal conversion of an apartment at 569 West 150th Street, Manhattan, into four single room occupancy (SRO) dwellings, sprinkler and fire safety violations, and for work without a permit.

• $49,000 in penalties issued to building owner Shah Alam Rume for the illegal conversion of a two-family home into a seven-family home and work without a permit at 64-11 Woodside Avenue, Queens.

• $49,500 in penalties issued to building owner Wei Che Lee for the illegal conversion of a two-family home into a six-family home at 42-43 Ketcham Street, Queens.

• $49,800 in penalties issued to Columbus Square 801 LLC for the illegal transient use of an apartment and failure to install a fire alarm at 801 Amsterdam Avenue, Manhattan.

• $58,600 in penalties issued to building owner Beatrice Duarte for the illegal conversion of a two-family home into an eleven-family home and for work without a permit at 34-12 112th Street, Queens.

• $25,800 in penalties issued to Registered General Contractor M&R Construction Group Incorporated for work without a permit and the failure to safeguard a construction site at 397 Bridge Street, Brooklyn, where flammable residue ignited combustible materials in the cellar.  

• $10,000 in penalties issued to Safety Registration recipient Bravo Builders LLC for failure to safeguard a construction site at 150 Wooster Street, Manhattan, where a worker was observed standing on a scaffold over 10 feet above the ground with no fall protection system in place.

• $10,000 in penalties issued to Safety Registration recipient TG Nickel & Associates for failure to safeguard a construction site at 115 Delancey Street, Manhattan, where a worker fell into a ground vault due to failure to provide fall protection.

• The voluntary surrender of Professional Certification and Directive 14 filing privileges of Joseph Mucciolo, R.A., for falsely certifying applications of non-code complaint projects submitted to the Department and signing off on special inspections without being a registered special inspection agency.

• $30,000 in penalties issued to Lafayette Commercial Condo, for displaying an illegal outdoor advertising sign without a permit and without Department mandated decals at 195 Lafayette Street, Manhattan.

• $20,000 in penalties issued to Havemeyer Property LLC, for displaying an illegal advertising sign without a permit on the roof of 195 Havemeyer Street, Brooklyn.

• $20,000 in penalties issued to Ninth Avenue Corporation, for illegally displaying two outdoor advertising signs without permits at 359 9th Avenue, Manhattan.

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