Landlord Gets Aggravated Penalties for Pattern of Unreasonable Delays

DOB issued a violation notice to landlord for failure to file a Cycle 7 technical report for facade work. Landlord said it had DOB permits in place and was in the process of doing the necessary work when the violation was issued. Landlord had a permit issued to perform facade work on Sept. 21, 2015, and another permit for installation of a sidewalk shed issued on April 7, 2016. Landlord claimed that it hadn't unreasonably delayed the work, so an aggravated penalty was unwarranted. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined it $7,000 because landlord had a history of noncompliance and prior violations. Landlord appealed and lost. Landlord claimed that it had no history of noncompliance but there were four additional open DOB violations issued against landlord over a nine-year period with no certificates of correction. There was a pattern of unreasonable delays in correcting violations.

185 Madison Avenue LLC: ECB App. No. 1700320 (5/18/17) [3-pg. doc.]