Dangerous Buildings, Places And Things, Oh My!

November 24, 2007 by
Filed under: Williamsburg 

My buddy over at Bad Advice has been experiencing a very bad problem lately. The fly in Dategirl’s proverbial ointment is the rather fast and loose demolition being conducted next door to her property. The author of the aforementioned affliction is MMG Construction. Ms. Grasso and her funky bunch sure seem to get around.

In the wee hours of Thursday, November, 15, 2007 Dategirl wrote:

I’m really freaked out about what’s going on next door. They’ve knocked out my phone (the lines are laying on the ground across N. 11th!), the cable TV/internet and the building is rocking like, uh, a building is NOT supposed to when they’re working. Thank christ Con Ed and the water supply is underground. I’ve spoken to Marie Grasso (of MMG Construction— Ed. Note) several times. As you might imagine, she’s not been terribly helpful, though she did demand that the backhoe operator repair my cable tv with a roll of electrical tape. (Shockingly, that didn’t work.) I am losing my fucking mind over here

Later the same day The Gowanus Lounge wrote a post about her woes. I, on the other hand, contacted our State Assemblyman, Joseph Lentol via his web page. MMG was tendered a Stop Work Order that same afternoon.

Oh my!

And shortly thereafter someone saw fit to rip it down. Please click on the previous link: if for no other reason so you can behold the following turd of a comment for firsthand:

Anonymous said…

I really enjoy reading your site, as well as the other sites that like to whine and complain about development. Where do you get your information? It is pure fiction!

1. The contractor was never violated (!!!— Ed. Note) for an illegal mechanical demolition. You made that up.

2. The SWO sticker was taken down because the SWO was partially lifted.

You should get your facts straight before bashing people.

Actually “Anonymous” (if that is your real name), the contractors (and the developers who hired them) do most of the violatin’ hereabouts. The area in question, which I recently heard referred to (albeit mockingly, but I am certain you will pick it up as a new piece of sexy real estate jargon) as “McCarren Heights”, is being thoroughly sacked by space pirates. But unlike most corsairs (historically speaking) these privateers for the privileged (because there are simply not enough luxury condos to house them, poor dears) are operating with tacit written approval from a government. Our government, which brings me to this.

Lentol Letter

I received this in the mail today. WAY TO GO JOE!

Those of you who might be interested to know what Mr. Lentol’s district looks like prepare to be enlightened, because here it is.

50th Assembly District

The more astute observers among you might notice that the area highlighted in pink is experiencing a number of*, uh, growing pains*. If you live in the above pinkified area and gentrification is literally knocking at/beating down your front door, I would advise you to contact Mr. Lentol via snail mail at:

District Office
619 Lorimer Street
Brooklyn, NY 11211

Or send him an email (like I did) at:

lentolj (at) assembly.state.ny.us

In terms of constituent services, Lentol is the best. What’s more he really seems to care. Write him.

Miss Heather

*It’s amazing how much outrage MMG Construction elicits from the media when her idiots bust up something a rich neighborhood. Can someone please explain to me why this woman is still in business? Who is she paying off and for how much? My curiosity is killing me.


2 Comments on Dangerous Buildings, Places And Things, Oh My!

  1. judes on Sun, 25th Nov 2007 8:50 am
  2. Thank you so much for posting this and writing to Lentol. I just wrote him a thank you note. That “anonymous” commenter is completely full of shit(ty). The morning after it was posted and she was shut down, the SWO was moved and stuck under a permit so nobody could see it (why?) and by afternoon it had been ripped down completely. It didn’t get downgraded to a partial SWO for several days after that. MMG did the exact same thing around the corner where they demoed the chocolate factory.

    I am also at a loss to explain how she’s still in business.

  3. vintagejames on Tue, 27th Nov 2007 8:45 am
  4. Why she is still in business? Because a NYC contractor’s license is a license for life. According to my lawyer, they can run up all the violations they want without ever having their licenses pulled. The Department of State doesn’t control their licenses. Disgusting, isn’t it? The licensing process and control needs to be compliant with the needs of the people, not the DOB and their type. Any ideas on how to do this? Seriously, we need to know and to act now.

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