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The Bay Ridge Spite Wall & The Forest Of Death

September 1, 2011 Bay Ridge Bastards
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When we last posted about the Bay Ridge Spite Wall, the owner of the wall was fined $12,000.00, had begun to dismantle the upper portions of the wall, and covered everything with a blue tarp.  Thankfully, Hurricane Irene tore down that tarp so that Ronald Reagan can stop rolling in his grave.  (If you’re new to this discussion, you can learn the history of the Spite Wall here, or watch a Fox 5 news report of it here)

The scores of cinderblocks from the upper portions of the wall are now an unmortared wall facing the street — because even a grumpy old man who built things illegally on his neighbor’s property still likes to build forts –  Gatorade has been brought into this against their will and it raises the question about whether or not the Bay Ridge Spite Wall should be rebranded the Gatorade Spite Wall of Bay Ridge?  Plus, the evergreens planted along the sidewalk are now all dead, leaving the site to looks like a forest of death.

It stands as a sad visual of the horrible bureaucracy that is the City of New York, and it appears that only Harry Potter can save us now…

Bay Ridge Spite Wall Immediately Hazardous And Fined $12,000.00

May 10, 2011 Bay Ridge Bastards
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Yesterday we checked up on the illegal Bay Ridge Spite Wall and found that much more of it has come down.  Though a blue tarp is obstructing the view from the street, it looked as though the steel beams that were meant to support a second floor, as well as much of the rear portions of the wall have been removed.  

We counted another six layers of cinderblock having been removed from the right side. 

As if the spite wall coming down isn’t good enough, we spotted via the NYC Department of Building’s website that the owner of the spite wall (Robert Cunningham) has received a $12,000.00 fine for failing to provide an engineer’s report from a licensed engineer.  Sweet justice!!!

Lastly, the DOB has finally labeled the spite wall a “Class 1 – Immediately Hazardous”, which we suspect is the reason that the spite wall is finally, after years of legal wrangling, coming down.    Our only hope is that the Cunningham’s got struck by lightning and said lightning gave them some reasonable sense once again to the point that when the wall is fully removed, they will also fill in the foundation pit and once again plant a nice lawn and garden.

Bay Ridge Spite Wall Coming Down?

April 26, 2011 Bay Ridge Bastards
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Back on April 5th, we wrote about how after years upon years of illegal activity, the Bay Ridge Spite Wall was getting seriously dangerous.  Later that week, on April 9th, we received word (and photos) that a dumpster had arrived, and that a small construction crew had begun to take down the wall — despite a longstanding stop work order. 

Seeing as how Mr. Cunningham, the owner of the illegal wall, was long ago ordered to tear down that wall, we’re not sure what the proper legal process is to remove it.  Are new permits required?  Or is the removal supposed to be done while the full stop work order is in effect?  In any event, whatever the proper channel is, this is what the scene looked like on the 9th.

Fast forward to yesterday morning, we passed by the wall and found that a hefty portion of it has indeed been removed.

We counted seven full layers of cinderblock removed from the right side, with portions of more layers in the front, as well as a good chunk of the entire left wall gone.  A blue tarp hides much of the activity of the site, with five evergreens now planted along the sidewalk.  The evergreens currently mask a fairly steep and unsafe slope that drops into the construction pit – the construction fence has been moved back about ten feet down into the construction pit and as such is clearly far away from the sidewalk.

 
Is this the half-assed sign of the Cunningham’s coming to the reality that building the structure partially on and attaching it to his neighbors property was a poor choice?  Or is it all part of some bigger mind game that he has up his sleeves? 

Only time will tell.

Bay Ridge Spite Wall Gets Extremely Dangerous!

April 5, 2011 Bay Ridge Bastards
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We heard that a ruckus happened over at the Bay Ridge Spite Wall (123 87th Street, Brooklyn, NY, 11209) this past Saturday when the homeowners decided to yet again disobey the stop work order that has been in effect for several years.  We have been informed by various people living on that street who do not wish to be identified over safety concerns that Robert Cunningham, whose property is the illegal spite wall kind, spit on his neighbor and chased him with a piece of wood before throwing the wood at him.  NYPD had to respond to the scene and multiple people were hauled off in cuffs.  This is not to sort of thing that should be happening.  Here’s what the spite wall site looked like on Sunday afternoon:

   [Photo taken: 04/03/2011]

The complaint registered with the NYC Department of Buildings on Sunday had this to say of it  “STOP WORK ORDER IS BEING VIOLATED, (NO ORDER TO RESCIND EITHER) NEED AN INSPECTOR ON PREMISE ASAP” 

But when the inspector arrived on Tuesday, two days later, they found no violation, and stated: “NO VIOLATION WARRANTED FOR COMPLAINT AT TIME OF INSPECTION” and that “PERMITS GIVEN BY DC FARRIELLO TO MAKE REPAIRS TO FENCE ONLY”

[Photo taken: 04/03/2011]

Clearly the workmen were working on the fence, but so much more had been done that the DOB failed to see.  A blue tarp has been strung up within the illegal structure/spite wall and evergreens have been set up to try and hide further construction.  As seen in the Fox 5 report so many months ago, no blue tarp had been in place prior to the many stop work orders issued.   

But the worst development over this whole mess is that the illegal spite wall is clearly taking a toll on the neighboring legal property. 


[Photo taken:04/02/2011]

We already knew that the construction has begun to undermine the neighboring foundation by way of attaching the new structure illegally to the original neighboring structure, but now water damage is also doing so.  Check out that hole! 

All that we can say about this whole sordid mess is that enough is enough.  The New York City Department of Buildings, the courts, and our local elected officials need to grow a set of balls and force the ILLEGAL and DANGEROUS construction to be torn down, removed once and for all and then give the bill to the Mr. Cunningham. 

Does someone need to be killed by the goon who is so full of hate as to build such a monstrosity?  And does a partial building collapse need to happen before something of actual significance gets done to remedy this HORRIFIC and UNSAFE situation?

(Click here to read through several years worth of archives that have documented this mess.)

Bay Ridge Spite Wall Still Full Of Spite

February 9, 2011 Bay Ridge Bastards
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We moseyed past the Bay Ridge Spite Wall that Robert Cunningham built at 123 87th Street, Brooklyn, NY 11209 to see if there was anything of note going on.   Sadly, despite being an unsafe structure, and after years of court battles that ruled that the structure must come down, it still stands as a big F.U. to neighbors and the entire City of New York as a whole.

There isn’t anything of legal note that can force the structure to be removed, unless it is about to collapse.  This needs to get fixed.  The laws in NYC should not be in place to allow for people to build structures against zoning, against compliance with filed plans, against safety measures and allow for it to stand the test of time.   The City Council really needs to step up on this one, finally, because EIGHT years of this going on is ridiculous.

Though we’ve seen the original Cunningham home numerous times, it wasn’t until this visit that we noticed that they are proud owners of an unfinished Darwin Terrace.  Hopefully they will make good use of it one day and rid the world of their horrible nature.

Also of note, the Cunningham’s have some patio furniture sitting inside of the illegal and unsafe structure that they built.

Because there’s nothing as relaxing or satisfying as sitting inside of a half built structure that, in a perfect world, would fall on top of its horrible builders and owners.

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