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Yet more fuel for the "Queens is hot" furor: Zoning in eastern Queens has allowed for McMansions! Newsday says that the Bloomberg administration is looking into legislation that would limit the size of the houses. Residents have complained that McMansions are "out of character with existing traditional houses, and can overcrowd neighborhoods when the added space is used for rentals." Hey! If the city is looking into what that's doing in Queens, what about that overcrowding and de-charactering of Manhattan or Brooklyn? But what is interesting is how builders can put homes over 4,000 square feet onto a 4,000 square foot lot, thanks to many floors and putting garages on the ground floor, which somehow makes any other living spaces on the ground floor exempt from zoning laws.
Wikipedia on McMansions. MSNBC said that McMansions needed a makeover last year, but they still look crappy whenever Gothamist visits the 'burbs. Even though they are unbelievably roomy, Gothamist feels that we'll be living on top of everything we own in a city-sized space. Think "cozy!" and "Container Store!"
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These are all over my mother's neighborhood in Brooklyn. The buildings are built flush on the property line and look like cheap houses on steroids. I loathe them.
They do look horrible, but why should there be laws passed to ban these houses? As long as they are built on their own lots, what's wrong with it?
Well, the concern is: they don't fit in the neighborhood and devalue the other houses in the neighborhood.
The 1st one in the picture on the Newsday Article is located a 3 or 4 blocks off Hillside Avenue and Midland parkway. I pass it regularly and have to say: It's really Fugly.
I'm all for a large house, but it should at least fit in the neighborhood. That house says "Cheesy" all over it....