If you read GL, you know that we often post photos and videos of illegal weekend construction. We are frankly dumbfounded as to why we can find it going on so widely, but the Department of Buildings can’t or won’t. One of the neighborhoods where the problem is concentrated is Williamsburg–and a Sunday sweep of construction sites would literally offer up dozens of violations, many of which drive residents crazy and all of which make a mockery of city regulations, if not city government. (Not to mention pro-actively checking the neighborhood for conditions like open fences or poorly secured gates that are a threat to public safety, especially that of children.) We know this because we have been seeing it with our own eyes and hearing it with our own ears for years. For a long time, we thought Sunday work without a special permit was legal because it was so commonplace. (It’s not, a special permit is required.) In any case, we thought the following reader comment was worth noting. We don’t know the address involved or whether the activity in question was authorized or not, but the point is as much about the process as the specific building :

There was illegal work being done around the corner on Grand St on Sat Morning 9/8 as well. A guy in a red truck showed up with a cement cutting machine and made a huge racket heard for blocks around as he cut into the sidewalk. Residents called 311 to complain…here is the interesting thing….the first operator who answered checked and said the building did not have a permit to do the work….then they transfered the complaining resident to another operator to take the noise/permit complaint….The 2nd operator acted surprised that the resident was informed that the building did not have a permit to do the work BECAUSE he said that they were NO LONGER ALLOWED TO tell the complaining resident whether there was or was not a permit for the work!!!!

Someone needs to check this out— Has the Dept of Buildings now made it harder for residents to track illegal work done and helping the developers get away with illegal work??? This is yet another example of the city treating residents like crap and giving the developers anything they want…and of course there is probably some palm greasing as well, but where the hell is Bloomberg!!!

If the city government actually becomes functional in terms of safeguarding the quality of life in neighborhoods when it comes to construction and development, it would eliminate so much of our subject matter that we’d have to start doing some serious entertainment and nightlife blogging.