Gowanus Lounge: Serving Brooklyn

Entries Tagged as 'Construction Issues'

Bklink: Contractor Indicted in Death

June 12th, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Contractor Indicted in Death

“A Long Island contractor faces manslaughter charges in connection with a deadly construction site collapse in Brooklyn earlier this year. Acting Department of Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri says the indictment should serve as a message that shoddy construction will be prosecuted. According to the Brooklyn district attorney’s office, William Lattarulo was indicted today on manslaughter, […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Shortlink

Bklink: Builder Facing Charges in Construction Accident

June 11th, 2008 · Comments Off on Bklink: Builder Facing Charges in Construction Accident

“A building contractor is facing possible murder charges on Wednesday for a Brooklyn construction accident that killed a worker and injured another in March when a foundation wall collapsed. ‘I think maybe it will be manslaughter,’ contractor William Lattarulo said Tuesday as he prepared to surrender to prosecutors this morning. Lattarulo, 63, blamed heavy rains […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Shortlink

Excavated Dirt Piling Up in “Toxic” Bedford Ave. Parking Lot

June 11th, 2008 · 4 Comments

The former vacant lot between N. 11 & N. 12 Streets in Williamsburg that was most recently a parking lot and was, for a time in its history, a paint factory, is now a construction site where a large Karl Fischer building (eight stories, 180 units) will be rising. The construction fencing went up last […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Environment · Williamsburg

Scary & Dangerous 40 Berry Site Slightly Cleans Up Its Act

June 9th, 2008 · Comments Off on Scary & Dangerous 40 Berry Site Slightly Cleans Up Its Act

Last week, we posted photos of a scary situation at 40 Berry Street in Williamsburg, where a luxury rental building partly bankrolled by Lehman Brothers and the California State Teachers Retirement System is going up. A shoddy wooden fence opening to a two story drop into a mud pit was ajar, dirt was crumbling into […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Back to Crack: Troubled Slope Building Gets Stop Work Order

June 6th, 2008 · Comments Off on Back to Crack: Troubled Slope Building Gets Stop Work Order

It has been a long time since we checked in on the infamous South Slope Crack Building (officially known as 406 15th Street). It got that name because construction work so destabilized a neighboring building two years ago that people had to be evacuated. For a long time, buildings had “crack monitors” to see if […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · South Slope

Mud Pit of Death: 40 Berry is Burg’s Scariest Construction Site

June 2nd, 2008 · 2 Comments

There is little that we see in the wild world of Williamsburg construction that surprises us. But the gaping void beyond the fence at 40 Berry Street (aka 34 Berry Street) managed to take our breath away. Right behind a gate, there is a two-story drop into a mud pit. The sidewalk is cracked from […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Uncategorized · Williamsburg

Construction Site Du Jour: 261 N. 9 Street

May 29th, 2008 · Comments Off on Construction Site Du Jour: 261 N. 9 Street

We do enjoy a construction fence that has been busted down (and many in Williamsburg can be opened by a 12-year-old) to allow access to a deadly building demolition site. So it is with 261 N. 9 Street this week, which is one of the sites in Williamsburg being developed by an owner of the […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Construction Site Du Jour: Williamsburg Triangle of Death Landmark

May 20th, 2008 · 2 Comments

This is 208 N. 10 Street, one of the consistently dangerous construction sites in the area we call the Williamsburg Triangle of Death because of the large number of treacherous construction and demolition sites whose hazards are rarely addressed by the Department of Buildings. (The site is a huge property between Driggs and Robeling and […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Meet the Leaning Towers of Greenpoint

May 19th, 2008 · Comments Off on Meet the Leaning Towers of Greenpoint

The two buildings on Manhattan Avenue in Greenpoint in the photo above do not appear to be leaning because of barreling or other lens distortion. They are actually leaning somewhat and would appear to have been in such condition for some time. The lot with the pretty purple fence in between is 602 Manhattan Avenue, […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Greenpoint

Construction Site Du Jour: Karl Fischer’s N. 9 St. Death Site!

May 12th, 2008 · 3 Comments

This site at 239 N. 9 Street, which is the future site of a Karl Fischer-designed condo, has been such a dangerous horror show for so long that we’re thinking of awarding it a LiMandri Cup, in honor of the acting head of the Department of Buildings. Over the last couple of months, we’ve found […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Construction Site Du Jour: Gateway to Death Opens Near Bedford

May 6th, 2008 · Comments Off on Construction Site Du Jour: Gateway to Death Opens Near Bedford

It has been a long time since we’ve been able to post about the dangerous conditions at this hollowed out shell of a building at N. 4 Street and Bedford Avenue in Williamsburg. The building has been in this condition for almost three years. For a while, the fence was regularly open or blown over, […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Construction Site Du Jour: Fun with Rubble on N. 12

May 5th, 2008 · Comments Off on Construction Site Du Jour: Fun with Rubble on N. 12

We found so many nasty, open demolition and construction sites in Williamsburg yesterday that we’re going to have to space them out through the week lest we have to have a “construction only” morning. We’re going to start out the Days of Potential Maiming and Death with this horror show at 156 N. 12 Street. […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Uncategorized · Williamsburg

Fun with Construction: Greenpoint Edition

April 30th, 2008 · Comments Off on Fun with Construction: Greenpoint Edition

We’re always interested in complaints about and tales of construction work going on at all hours. So it is with 602 Manhattan Avenue in Greepoint. We got this short email from a reader: On this property at 602 Manhattan Avenue, Greenpoint work goes on until 10:30 PM , as well as Saturdays. There are no […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Greenpoint

Demolition for Hotel Underway on Third Avenue

April 28th, 2008 · 1 Comment

Demolition is underway on the site of a new hotel planned for Third Avenue between Douglass and Butler Streets. As reported by Brownstoner a couple of weeks ago, the hotel will be a Fairfield Inn. DOB records show that it will be a nine-story building with 134 rooms. The interesting thing is that when we […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Gowanus · Hotels

GL Analysis: Patty Lancaster is Gone, Now What?

April 23rd, 2008 · 3 Comments

So, now that Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster has resigned, will the Department of Buildings do its job any more effectively or efficiently? Actually, it’s highly unlikely without systemic reform. Ms. Lancaster had become a lightening rod for criticism in the wake of the hideous crane collapse in Manhattan last month and the Department had been […]

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Tags: Construction Issues

Construction Site Du Jour: Wide Open Heavy Metal

April 23rd, 2008 · 1 Comment

We thought that the perennial shit show at 33 Roebling Street was done when a serious metal fence took the place of the wretched wooden crap that had been falling over every time a car went up N. 10 Street at more than 15 MPH. We were wrong. The expensive metal one does no good […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Breaking: Buildings Commisioner Resigns

April 22nd, 2008 · 3 Comments

DOB Commissioner Patricia Lancaster who has faced increasing criticism in the wake of very high profile construction accidents this year, has resigned. Mayor Bloomberg made the announcement, saying that “Over the past six years, Patricia has moved the Department of Buildings a long way forward by fighting corruption, strengthening inspections and oversight, increasing the public’s […]

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Tags: Construction Issues

Construction Site Du Jour: The Pit at Bedford & S. 4 Street

April 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off on Construction Site Du Jour: The Pit at Bedford & S. 4 Street

Yesterday’s Construction Site Du Jour was a Karl Fischer building and so is today’s. This Pit of Death at 120 S. 4 Street is a building site that hasn’t been touched in so long that its foundation has become nicely tagged up. (The site was originally cleared and excavated a loong time ago and it’s […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Big Bedford Avenue Site Hit with Stop Work Order

April 22nd, 2008 · Comments Off on Big Bedford Avenue Site Hit with Stop Work Order

It may be our imagination, but we think we’ve noticed a definite uptick in the number of site sporting Stop Work Orders around Williamsburg in the last few weeks. It seems like the Department of Buildings has been hitting some work sites hard since about the third or fourth week of March. (Stop Work Orders, […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Construction Site Du Jour: Rubble Climbing at 239 N. 9 St.

April 21st, 2008 · Comments Off on Construction Site Du Jour: Rubble Climbing at 239 N. 9 St.

There is good news and bad news to report at the big Karl Fischer building site at Roebling and N. 9 Streets in the Burg. First, the good news: the Stop Work Order on the project was quickly lifted. Now, the bad: the fence is wide open (again). And, the good, again: on Sunday the […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Digging the Burg’s Giant Fart Cloud Building Site

April 18th, 2008 · Comments Off on Digging the Burg’s Giant Fart Cloud Building Site

We know the work at 5 Roebling in Williamsburg, aka the site of the Giant Fart Cloud Building will be the source of many words and photos in coming weeks. We say this because (a). There is the chance of damage to adjacent buildings if it is not monitored closely and (b). There is the […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Union Avenue Karl Fischer Now Totally Naked

April 17th, 2008 · Comments Off on Union Avenue Karl Fischer Now Totally Naked

The scaffolding and netting has been gone for a while, but the Karl Fischer building at 525 Union Avenue has finally lost its construction fence and has a new sidewalk out front. It’s unclear whether some of the impressive tagging that the building acquired during construction that is visible from the BQE will be removed […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Burg’s N. 6 Street National Sawdust Rubble

April 17th, 2008 · Comments Off on Burg’s N. 6 Street National Sawdust Rubble

Fans of demolition porn have been enjoying some serious action on N. 6 Street and Wythe, where the long process of bringing down the National Sawdust Building so it can be replaced by condos has been going on for a while. The reason it’s taking so long is that 67 N. 6 Street has had […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Giant Fart Cloud Construction Underway in Burg

April 15th, 2008 · Comments Off on Giant Fart Cloud Construction Underway in Burg

Work has gotten underway at the site of the former Giant Fart Cloud Building at N. 11 Street and Roebling in Williamsburg whose demolition provided much drama. (The official address is 5 Roebling.) A GL reader writes: “I saw them digging with diggers today at the Giant Fart Cloud Building. It will be interesting to […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg

Roebling Street Demolition Porn, Stop Work Order Included

April 14th, 2008 · Comments Off on Roebling Street Demolition Porn, Stop Work Order Included

We stopped by the demolition site at N. 9 and Roebling (239-261 N. 9 Street) yesterday to see if there was still a hole in the fence allowing free access to the nastiness within and found two things: (A). It had been plugged and (B). the site had been hit with a Stop Work Order […]

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Tags: Construction Issues · Williamsburg