53 Bridge Street: An Accident Waiting to Happen?
A few days ago we were talking with a guy who’s lived for many years in the shadows of 53 Bridge Street, Joshua Guttman’s aborted attempt to build a residential building on a commercially-zoned lot, and were interested, but not surprised, to learn that he has had to make numerous calls to the developer in…
A few days ago we were talking with a guy who’s lived for many years in the shadows of 53 Bridge Street, Joshua Guttman’s aborted attempt to build a residential building on a commercially-zoned lot, and were interested, but not surprised, to learn that he has had to make numerous calls to the developer in the last couple of years regarding imminent safety hazards like windows that have popped out or unstable scaffoldings. There’s currently a Stop Work Order in place (one of ten SWOs the development has received over the past couple of years) and Guttman, who’s rumored to have been suffering from poor health recently, still hasn’t paid the $3,000 in fines that he owes on the building. Should the DOB be stepping in to make the site safer?
Development Watch: WTF at 53 Bridge Street? [Brownstoner]
Progress at 53 Bridge Street? [Brownstoner] GMAP
Hanging is too good for the Bastard.
did someone call 311 or even 911? if its a dangerous situation the FD or PD can remove it.
Since the Buildings Department does not own the site it is very difficult for it to order work to be done to make it safe. The only tools Building Inspectors carry are pens. There is talk about addressing the growing concern about abandoned construction sites, but again it is a question of owner responsibility. Since there is no Certificate of Occupancy on buildings under construction, which designates them as multiple dwellings, HPD will not get involved with remedial actions either. This one is for higher powers to decide what can be systematically done with projects where the contractor has walked away.