Sidewalk Ticket Blitz on East Third

Friday, July 30th, 2010

The Daily News’s tireless Brooklyn reporter, Mike McLaughlin, weighs in on an issue that’s been a major local irritant:

Two dozen homeowners on one Kensington block have been slapped with orders from city officials to fix up their cracked sidewalks, residents said.

But many in the single-family detached homes on E. Third St. complained about the crackdown, saying they’re being forced to spend thousands on repairs for minor breaks.

“I don’t think this…is hazardous,” said Ahuva Spiro, 51, a college professor, pointing to one sidewalk section with small, flat cracks the city ordered repaired. “I want to do it on my own time, not because the city is telling me.”

The homeowners between Ditmas Ave. and Avenue F received letters from the Department of Transportation about two weeks ago notifying them they had 45 days to fix the broken slabs or they’d have to pay the city to do the work.

Residents ordered to fix their entire sidewalk face bills of $2,000 or more.

“That’s a lot of money right now,” said Edgar Varella, 26, a flier distributor who rents a house and will split the tab with his landlord.

[snip]

But a spokesman for City Councilman Brad Lander (D-Kensington) said it was the first time that one block in his district had been hit with so many violations.

A DOT spokeswoman said the block was targeted after the agency received complaints aboutd it.

But residents there don’t think conditions on their block are any worse than any typical city street.

“They could do it anywhere,” said Joe Leibovits, 30, a software developer.

- Liena

See All: News

C -

why does the renter have to split the cost of it with his landlord? that should purely be the homeowner’s cost unless they have some unusual arrangement.
http://nycgarden.blogspot.com frank@nycgarden

Renters do not need to pay for sidewalks. See this post about homeowner occupied buildings and tree-damaged sidewalk repair free by the Park Dept.:

http://nycgarden.blogspot.com/2010/07/sidewalks-of-new-york.html
GoodBklyn

I know that the City is everyone’s favority villain, but this sort of crackdown is the result of the many people and their attorneys who make it a sport of suing the City any chance they get.

Obviously there are times when a lawsuit is appropriate, but the common beliefs that

a. Oh, it’s the City, they’ll settle for $10k, and that’s nothing to them; and
b. There’s no such thing as an accident anymore, that every mishap is someone’s fault

are the reason behind this ticket blitz.
http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/ Joy Rich

Since these are single-family homes, the repairs should be done free of charge by the Department of Parks & Recreation, as per http://karmabrooklyn.blogspot.com/2010/07/free-repairs-of-sidewalks-damaged-by.html. “Sidewalks damaged by the roots of curbside trees will be repaired free of charge by the Department of Parks & Recreation. One-, two-, and three-family homes occupied by the owner (NYC Tax Class 1) whose sidewalks are affected by the roots of their curbside trees are eligible for this free program.”

Or maybe that’s only done if the homeowner makes a request, not if someone else calls in a complaint.

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Sidewalk Ticket Blitz on East Third

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