That petition about the quality of life and development issues surround the Park Slope VUE at 162 16th Street was taken to Community Board 7 this week and the board is reported to hve voted unanimously to endorse the petition. Activist Aaron Brashear has sent out this email:
Bo Samajopoulos, representing the Concerned Citizens of the South Slope community group, gave testimony in regs to the on-going quality of life issues surrounding the development of 162 16th Street (aka the VUE) and the long-standing illegal work on the site that has continued for 3 + years…[The community] is asserting the DOB has willingly worked with the developer (Issac Katan)/architect (Bricolage Design) to “fix in the mix” any outstanding issues with the project. It is possible some of these issues (many dealing with open space=less FAR=less stories on the building) were never correct prior to the rezoning in November 2005, thus the building is illegal and should have 5 floors take off. Bo’s testimony, as well the the petition, is asking for help and oversight from CB7 and all local and State elected officials.
On behalf of CB7, Randy Peers, CB7 chair, accepted the 200+ written and on-line signatures. While there was some discussion about the petition, the Board unanimously voted to endorse the petition.
More to follow.
13 responses so far ↓
1 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 7:21 am
Katan & Radusky are the most blatant of criminals and yet nothing is done to stop them or others like them. Instead we spend hundreds of thousands harassing bicycle riders. How fucked up is that? When is the City going to stop pandering to these criminals?
2 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 7:44 am
Radusky?
Isn’t that the Architect who did the building on Spencer Street. I remember reading that it was something like 4 floors too big and the people who bought into it were screwed.
God how many times does it take before someone puts an end to this kind of shit.
I feel bad for anyone who buys into this building. What are they going to do if the City makes him take 5 floors of this one?
3 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 8:51 am
I wouldn’t want to be one of those who has already bought into this.
4 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 8:52 am
Good for them.
5 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 8:59 am
Didn’t they just hire like 10,000 more people at DOB for just this reason.
They were crying that they did’t have enough money or man power. Now they got it and what are they doin with it?
This city has sold it’s self on this artificial real estate market. We are spending more on oversight and then giving it all away via tax loop holes. All for what? Anticipated returns. When the returns don’t come to fruition we will still have to pay for the people who are supposed to be watching out for our interests (But aren’t).
Big problems ahead! Thanks Mr. Bloomberg.
6 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 9:45 am
how stupid and naive to you think people are? do you think that the building department works alongside developers? they cannot figure out FAR #’s?
this is all a publicity stunt for Bo and A.Brashear!
to try to convince us as buyers in all new developments in this way is complete nonsense!!!!
7 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 10:22 am
Hey 12:45PM,
What the fuck are you talking about???
8 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 10:32 am
We need more people like them (brashear & bo)in this world.
9 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 10:54 am
Bo mentions so much Katan’s reputation, Did anyone check out his?
10 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 11:48 am
sorry, there is an extra 0, it is 20 signatures that signed the petition.
11 Anonymous // Oct 19, 2007 at 12:46 pm
I went to one of the open houses. The views are as advertised and the building is not bad. Kind of boxy and bland, but it’s just like everything else being built these day’s.
I was seriously hoping the prices would come down.
My boy friend sent me to this blog and now I have to say that I don’t care how low they go.
I personally don’t care about this guy Katan or the other guy bresher or bo or whatever. What I know is this.
If laws were violated to build this building then whoever it is that started the petition has a right to do so and to get some answers. As for reputations – Who cares about some poor slob neighbors reputation. He/she didn’t build the building that I was thinking about buying into. On the other hand I do want to know about the people
who were involved in the building.
It seems to me that the people involved in the building are spending too much time and energy attacking the locals. Which as I can tell by the petition (by the way I saw over 100 on the web site) is exactly what the locals are saying.
I hope for the sake of the new owners (not me) that the developer will address the concerns raised so they can (jointly) work through any differences.
12 Karl // Oct 20, 2007 at 11:48 am
I can vouch for Bo. He knows his shit. He rebuilt his own house by hand. He worked on the WTC cleanup and helped rebuilt the Statue of Liberty when it was renovated. As for anonymous buyer above who would really like neighborhood “slobs” to shut up while she/he gets his/her apartment deal. Good on ya. Buy in!
13 Anonymous // Oct 20, 2007 at 9:04 pm
If you read the petition they talk about adding a gate, making sure walls on the property line are safe, blah, blah, blah. The building is legal, the BSA looked at it themselves! The building is not overbuilt and conforms to zoning. It’s not going anywhere, so this is just a sad publicity stunt from someone with way too much time on their hands. You have hurt your cause and really most buyers that we spoke to at the VUE think your pathetic. We are scheduled to close in the winter maybe and we’re excited to meet all our sane new neighbors.