NYC Department of Buildings Punishes Illegal SROs, Architect

Another month, another million in fines for illegal SROs.

To be exact, $1,487,500 in penalties were levied in October by the New York City Department of Buildings for illegal alterations at seven properties.

The agency, which issued the enforcement report this week, also revoked the certification privileges of a longtime architect.

Single-room occupancies have been largely banned in the city for decades, which has made housing more expensive, to the dismay of people willing to share kitchens and bathrooms with strangers.

But because demand for such lower-cost housing persists, so do illegal conversions, despite the fines levied in what amounts to an endless game of Whac-a-Mole.

Some of the October fines were well into the six figures, which is not unusual. For conversions that create three or more units beyond what’s allowed, city law provides for penalties of $15,000 per illicit unit plus $1,000 for each day of noncompliance, up to $45,000.

If inspectors find safety issues, more fines are tacked on.

That added up to $546,250 for Texas-based US Bank National Association at 212 Lefferts Place, a stately Prospect Heights brownstone where the Department of Buildings found a two-family dwelling with seven furnished rooms designed for transient use, no class J fire alarm system, and a missing means of egress.

The previous owner had surrendered the property to his lender, mortgage giant Mr. Cooper, in lieu of foreclosure in 2019, in a transaction valued at $2.1 million. The title was transferred 15 days later to the current owner, based in the same Texas town as Mr. Cooper, for $10, according to property records.

At the brick-facade row house at 15 Aberdeen Street in Bushwick, another two-family found to have seven single-room occupancy units, the owner was fined $373,750. Records show Carl Knapp and his wife, Clean Knapp, bought the property in 2012 from Great Neck-based Brooklyn’s Finest Homes for $537,000 and took out a $523,000 mortgage that was paid off in 2022.

In Elmhurst, $180,000 in penalties were handed down to Ai Hua Lin for violations at 52-12 72nd Place. Building inspectors found a three-family where a one-family was supposed to be. Just over a mile north, they discovered the two-family at 35-47 72nd Street had become a nine-family and hit the owner with a bill for $127,750.

In the Bronx, a one-family illegally converted to a five-family resulted in $125,250 in penalties at 1235 Grand Concourse.

Architect Paul Freitas (LinkedIn/Paul Freitas)

Aside from those and other enforcement actions in October by the Department of Buildings, Paul Freitas of Manhattan-based C3D Architecture agreed to surrender his professional certification and Directive 14/final inspection privileges after an audit found “major code non-compliances,” such as filing Alteration Type 2 applications despite proposing changes requiring Alteration Type 1 applications.

The audit also found Freitas proposed plans that failed to show two exits from the cellar or comply with light and air standards, among other violations of the Zoning Resolution, Building Code, and Administrative Code.

Freitas, who has more than 25 years of experience and teaches at Parsons School of Design, has managed more than $500 million worth of construction projects, according to his firm’s website.