Behind the scenes we’ve been following the developments of what has been happening with the Bay Ridge Spite Wall and we’ve been reluctant to post anything due to the court system being in process of working – albeit, a court system that cannot actually force the wall to be torn down.

Anyway, here’s an update from Fox 5.

Hopefully the Cunningham’s who are behind the illegal actions of building the wall will go to jail and eventually lose all of their money in the civil courts.

We cannot stress how sad a society we live in that someone can do something so blatantly illegal as this and not be forced by law to reverse what has been done. 

In other jurisdictions, if you build something illegally and finish the job but are later found to have done something illegally i.e. not filed proper permits or lied on the permits you are forced to tear all the work out –  And this is just a great big old clustf*ck of a scene.

Tonight the Community Board 10 Zoning and Land Use Committee will be meeting regarding the illegal construction at 123 87th Street; there will also be an update on illegal curb cuts. 

I wish the agenda would read like this:

1. Discuss the Bay Ridge Bastards’ Spite Wall
2. Update on illegal curb cuts

If you’re interested in seeing the Spite Wall mess getting discussed and maybe, just maybe, receiving a surprise visit from the BRB themselves, check out the 7PM meeting – 8119 5th Avenue is the new location.

I figured that it was about time that the people who built a spite wall up against their neighbor’s home (and on their neighbor’s property) only to then spend years fighting to make the illegal activity legal should get their own moniker. 

I deem the people who live in the house on the left and who are responsible for this hideous mess, the Bay Ridge Bastards!

As one can imagine that when dealing with a bastard, a bastard is going to act like a bastard.

After losing what should have been their final legal opportunity to make the illegal structure legal the Bay Ridge Bastards have come up with a loophole. 

The main problems with the construction is that it goes against zoning code which states that these houses have at least an eight foot clearance on at least one side of them. 

Plus the whole item about the construction attaching itself to the neighboring foundation/property illegally – the house on the right has inches of property that the wall was inappropriately built on.

The Bay Ridge Bastards found what could have been a loophole to keep the illegal wall up by partially demolishing the original house on the lot, aka the home on the left of the photo.

Doing a partial demolition of eight feet on the left sure should be able to skirt around the existing zoning regulations regarding that whole eight feet of clearance, but it would have done nothing to fix the illegal foundation attachment and building on the neighboring property issues – and it would have been a great big f*ck you to the neighbors with whom they have been spiting for years already.

The plan for partial demolition was submitted less than a week after the Bay Ridge Bastards lost in court - go figure! 

Thankfully the Department of Buildings activated some check and balances.  They looked at the plan and realized that the plan wasn’t kosher for what I can only assume to be the following reasons at bare minimum:

1. The plan failed to address any of the violations that 123 87th Street currently has against it.
2. The whole “no asbestos” abatement not being required sounds like 100% BS.
3. The fact that they’re trying to say that the partial demolition of the building is an alteration but not a substantial alteration making it exempt from the ECCCNYS is 100,000% false!

Thank you Department of Buildings for getting it right in a speedy manner.  Please keep your heads up on them as they are some sneaky bastards.

Yesterday afternoon and evening I kept seeing teasers for the Fox 5 News at 10 that kept showing the local Spite Wall.

I am absolutely happy that Fox 5 did a report on this story to give it more public exposure.  I know for a fact that the story came about based off of posts written on good old BeehiveHairdresser and I’m proud that those posts helped garner the attention of a bigger place to help spread the word.

While John Deutzman’s investigative report didn’t cover anything new to the ears of regular Beehive readers, it did bring the story to a much wider audience, and hopefully the ears of Mayor Bloomberg and the people who run the Department of Buildings.

Hopefully they will close the loopholes that helped cause this long, drawn out and unsavory saga; because this shouldn’t have to happen to anyone ever again. 

Seeing as how yesterday Mr. Cunningham lost his final chance to get the illegal construction to continue we now we need to fight for the illegal construction to come down.  He currently faces criminal charges and I assume faces / will be facing civil charges as well. 

Here’s the Fox 5 report.  I found it highly amusing with all of the Cold War Era footage and references.

Cunningham’s photo should be put in the dictionary next to “douche.”

Here’s the link to Deutzman’s blog regarding the report.  I doubt you’ll find anyone over there with sympathy to Cunningham’s fight.