Liam McCabe’s 15 Point Plan to Fight Home Conversions
Liam McCabe is running for City Council and he has a 15 Point Plan to fight home conversions. This looks a lot better than what we have seen from Bob Capano and John Quaglione. Actually, it looks like McCabe is interested in working on this, as most of the ideas won’t cause tax increases and focus on using established government offices. How come we haven’t seen this in publications?
1) Pass legislation that severely punishes owners of properties that allow the illegal re-inhabitation of a building that has been evacuated by the Department of Buildings Marshals Unit. Good idea. It should be developed a bit more.
#) Fire Mayor Bill de Blasio in September or November. Focus McCabe. This really has nothing to do with the plan so why is it on here?
2) Require that a new Certificate of Occupancy be issued after new construction/ alteration of residential two-family houses originally built before 1961. Good idea.
3) Push the New York City Department of Buildings to ENFORCE the aggravated illegal conversions law. Good idea, but not developed. Because how do you push people who haven’t done their job for years.
4) Audit the Department of Buildings and call for an investigation of the entire agency. Good idea.
5) Pending a successful audit, expand the Buildings Marshals Unit and add more inspectors. Ok idea…but they probably won’t.
6) Reclassify the Type A violations so that the response time is day of call and reroute emergency calls to the New York City Fire Department (FDNY). Good idea
7) Push for and legislate the creation of “Illegal Conversion Density Zones” that would call on the Department of Buildings to sign off on all construction within that zone regardless of permit type. Great idea!
8) Call for the elimination of ALT 2 permits for projects that have projected costs about $150,000. Good idea – shows Liam knows what he is talking about.
9) Request that a DOB inspector be placed to work full-time at Community Board 10 and use discretionary money is necessary to fund. Great idea.
10) Call on the Attorney General to investigate and prosecute the owners of these properties for tax evasion. Okay idea – the AG probably won’t do anything, but it’s worth a shot.
11) Call for the US attorney to investigate the possible misuse of EB5 Visa program and call on Congress and the President to reform it. Good idea
12) Fully support and fund and help the Brooklyn Housing and Preservation Alliance set up a 501(c)(3) if they want it. Great idea. That group is motivated and will appreciate the support.
13) Launch a class action lawsuit on behalf of the communities of South Brooklyn against the worst landlords. Great idea.
14) Hire an attorney on staff to find ways to file as many lawsuits as possible until developers no longer want to do business in this district. Great idea.
15) Stipulate in closings of properties that it cannot be reconverted. Great idea.
Overall McCabe looks like he did his homework on illegal conversions. If he presented this well at the meeting, Dyker Heights could swing the vote.
Hugs,
marlene
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