Looking for a building that could compete for being the poster child for what ails the system that is supposed to regulate construction? It appears that 143 Huron Street in Greenpoint is in the running. We will get to the narrative from our Greenpoint Correspondent in a moment. First, however, we will note that it has racked up 25 complaints at the the Department of Buildings. Three of the recent ones, for illegal after-hours work, on September 9, 19 and 25, do not appear to ever have been investigated. Why is this interesting, except to those who wish to obsessively and compulsively chronicle the dysfunction of a critical city agency? Well, here’s the scene from the other night, as related by our Greenpoint correspondent:

This building is going up very, VERY fast, even for here… the employees at this site have been engaged in metal work and making a LOT of noise. Enough so to find it annoying a block away. Last night they worked until ~9:00 p.m. They were not the least bit sneaky about it either: when I walked by they had FLOODLIGHTS directed at the site so they could continue working. These lights were very bright; it was like something out of Close Encounters of the Third Kind.

I have never, EVER seen such in your face illegal after hours construction. Even here— and that’s saying something. About 12-18 onlookers just stood on the street and stared. That’s about all you can do because the Department of Buildings clearly isn’t going to do a fucking thing about it. Why bother even having regulations if something this obvious manages to slip by? Whoever is responsible for letting this situation persist should be fired. Fucking FLOODLIGHTS for Christ’s sake. How much more obvious can you get?

No wonder residents are always staring at the building, like here and here and here.