Results tagged “demolition”

Thieves ransacked a Brighton Beach home after the city mistakenly marked it for demolition. After a fire ravaged the house next door to Martin Senzer's Brighton First Street residence, a Department of Buildings inspector who "is either legally blind or an imbecile," according to Senzer, slated the 66-year-old's home for demolition last January. That mix-up sent a plumber and a National Grid employee to Senzer's house to turn off the gas and water — and they had to cut the locks to get in.

Tenants at 128 Hester Street in Chinatown were evacuated yesterday, because the Department of Buildings found the tenement unsafe—and ordered that the five-story building be demolished. And the tenants are fuming, because they say that their complaints about the building's problems have gone ignored: Besides the vacate order, there are 32 complaints to the DOB, including ones from months ago (April, February), indicating that neighboring construction created cracks in the walls of 128 Hester. City Councilman Alan Gerson's says the DOB ignored tenants' complaints.

Yesterday, smoke escaped from the former Deutsche Bank building on Liberty Street—the Daily News reports, "It turned out the smoke was from a battery-powered forklift that overheated about 4 a.m. Firefighters simply unplugged it." And while firefighters were on the scene, they found that a switch for an air-filtration system (you know, to keep toxic air—the building is full of debris from the 9/11 attacks— from escaping the building) wasn't working, so work was halted. The Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, which is overseeing the demolition of the building, believes the building will be decontaminated by July and ready for demolition in January. In 2007, a seven-alarm fire, started by a worker's cigarette, killed two firefighters and, in 2006, it was hoped the building would be gone by...2007.

After a long, bitter public battle, St. Vincent's hospital has won permission from the Landmarks Preservation Commission to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical tower. The hospital applied for, and was granted, a “hardship-status” exemption, which allows nonprofit landlords to demolish landmark buildings if they can prove that the building is preventing them from carrying out their charitable mission. Community groups, preservationists and local celebrities like Susan Sarandon have opposed the scope of the project, which also calls for a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). In a statement, hospital officials said they can now take "another step forward to building a 21st century, technologically advanced hospital for Manhattan’s West Side and Downtown."

You've got a couple hours to hustle over to Governors Island with a bag of popcorn and a Big Gulp to check out today's demolition of Liberty Village, a housing complex built in 1988. The ten three-story buildings are being razed as part of the planned $500 million transformation of Governors Island into a premiere destination for nature lovers, large-scale concerts and even rock climbing. Oh don't laugh, it could still happen! And one official tells the Times that the Liberty Village area "will not sit vacant waiting for future park funding" after being demolished. Next summer it'll be a grassy picnic area, finally giving cyclists and pedestrians access to the island’s entire 2.2-mile perimeter. By the way, this is the last weekend of the year to take the free ferry over there. Check out some photos from the fun over the summer, and get there at noon today for some sweet, sweet destructoporn.

The Landmarks Preservation Commission met again yesterday to deliberate on St. Vincent's Hospital’s “hardship-status” application, which, if approved, would let the hospital raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village and build a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 233-foot tall luxury condominium. Unlike previously rowdy sessions that featured protest from local celebrities, there was no public comment this time. Instead, the commission heard from outside experts like Michael Meola at the city’s Economic Development Corporation, who testified that no other sites “would be a viable alternative to the O’Toole Building.” Developer William C. Rudin added, “Now more than ever, the city needs a project like this as an investment in our future.” No decision was made yesterday, but Andrew Berman at the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation tells the Times, "A lot of people are questioning whether they will actually stick with this."

Susan Sarandon and husband Tim Robbins testified before the Landmarks Preservation Commission today in protest against St. Vincent’s proposal to raze the distinctive O’Toole Building in the West Village, as well as four other buildings to make room for a 299-foot-tall medical building and a 235-foot-tall luxury condominium (in partnership with the Rudin Management Company). For the former Bull Durham stars, all that would mean a lot of noise and dust soiling the air near their building, which is a block away.

In presenting their argument for a massive demolition and construction project in the West Village – one that would raze the distinctive O’Toole Building (pictured) – representatives of St. Vincent’s hospital told the Landmarks and Preservation Commission yesterday that it will have to shut down if their proposal is not approved. Last month the commission unanimously rejected the hospital’s $1.6 billion development plan, which would demolish nine buildings to make room for a 329-foot-tall medical building on the O’Toole site and a 265-foot-tall luxury condominium in partnership with the Rudin Management Company.

The Sun has it that their new pitch would still demolish the O’Toole building, but the new hospital would be 9% shorter than previous plans, rising to less than 300 feet. Rudin Management Co., which would buy eight buildings from the hospital to finance the project, would also build a somewhat smaller luxury condominium once they tear down the buildings – it would drop to 233 feet from 265 feet and be 60 feet less wide. Rudin would also spare four of the purchased buildings.

Today the Landmarks Preservation Commission is holding a public hearing to consider the largest proposal in its 43-year history: An application by the St. Vincent Catholic Medical Center to demolish eight structures in Greenwich Village on West 11th and 12th Streets, near Seventh Avenue, and construct an $800 million, 21-story, 329-foot-tall hospital and condominium tower. Falling to the wrecking ball would be the 1963 O’Toole Building which houses the hospital. The plans are strongly opposed by local residents, The Municipal Art Society, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation and the Times architecture critic Nicolai Ouroussoff:

It’s historical censorship. The O’Toole Building was one of the first buildings in the city to break with the Modernist mainstream as it was congealing into formulaic dogma… It represents a moment when some architects rebelled against Modernism’s glass-box aesthetic in favor of ornamental facades… In patronizing fashion, hospital officials have suggested that preservationists are choosing buildings over lives, as if the two were in direct opposition. This is the kind of developer’s cant that is ruining our city. The addition of up to 400 co-op apartments is about money, not saving lives. There are plenty of other ways that the hospital could upgrade its facilities.

Indeed, Henry J. Amoroso, the president of St. Vincent’s, tells the Times that “only the value of the real estate we have today will fund the ability to build a new hospital.” As outlined in the proposal, the current buildings and the land they occupy would be sold to Rudin Management for $301 million, which would be used to finance the new hospital and pay off debt. The hospital first needs approval from Landmarks, then from the City Planning Commission and the City Council.

The conversion of an 85-acre stretch of Brooklyn waterfront from post-industrial decay to pristine park is continuing apace, as bulldozers have begun demolishing the hulking warehouses that have barred access to the East River for years. But a Sierra Club lawsuit could yet stall the long-planned urban renewal project, and outcry from some community groups remains undiminished.

A memo from FDNY Operations Chief Patrick McNally is instructing firefighters to conduct inspections of buildings under construction or demolition on two different timetables, depending on their height. City rules have long mandated that all buildings going up or coming down had to be inspected by the fire department every 15 days. McNally's memo now instructs firefighters to inspect buildings over 75 feet tall every 15 days, and below 75 feet tall every 30 days.

A 19th century Greek revival building on Pearl Street – the road that formed the oyster shell strewn border of New Amsterdam in the 17th century – will soon be torn down, according to the A.P. The former warehouse at 213 Pearl was built in 1831 and was integral to what Ric Burns calls “the first district in the world devoted exclusively to commerce.” Once the city approves the permit, demolition could start as early...