The Department of Buildings has filed internal administrative charges against architect Robert Scarano, alleging that he made false or misleading statements on applications for buildings at 158 Freeman Street and at 1037 Manhattan Avenue. Mr. Scarano is alleged to have improperly divided a zoning lot into two smaller lots for the two new buildings. Acting [...]

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This is the Decora, a building on N. 10 Street in Williamsburg that we have watched with fascination. The finish on the oval elements of the structure was supposed to be gold in some early renderings, but has turned out to be a kind of bathroom-like green tile. One thing we can say is that [...]

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The Robert Scarano building on Bond Street, which we last heard from when a guard dog got loose and mauled a dog being walked, has gotten a name: Satori. It will be marketed by the Developer’s Group. The building has had an interesting history, starting with the demolition of an historic carriage house and continuing [...]

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So, which is better: the rendering of the Gowanus Condo on First Street in Park Slope or the very different reality of the now (mostly uncovered) building?–Curbed

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To say that 143 Huron Street, a new condo in Greenpoint, makes an impression is an understatement. “I’m not too sure what ‘look’ this architect was trying achieve. If I had to take a guess I’d say Imperial Storm Trooper meets Jawa Sandcrawler with a dash of Mondrian thrown in for good measure.”–New York Shitty

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Despite all the recent headlines about the Atlantic Yards Stall and the demise of Miss Brooklyn, Frank Gehry says his signature tower is still alive. He lays the news on the Brooklyn Paper, which caught up with him at last night’s controversial Brooklyn Museum Gala. Of Bruce Ratner, Mr. Gehry says “He really does want [...]

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This is a new condo tower designed by SOM called Toren that is currently going up on Flatbush Avenue at Myrtle (150 Myrtle) that will clock in at 38 stories. A very heavy-duty marketing campaign for it has just kicked off. It’s fair to say that it’s the most distinctive tower proposed for Brooklyn so [...]

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One of the hallmarks of some of architect Robert Scarano’s work is the use of exterior wood. Among the buildings that have gotten this treatment is the one on Bond Street that we call the Bunker. (The same building with the dogs that attacked people and a small black dog last week.) The vicious attack [...]

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The exemplary specimen of Feddertecture on Jefferson Street in Bushwick is not only complete, it is now tagged up. “I wonder if the developer hired someone to do this so these luxury town homes would have that built-in ‘urban’ feel?”–New York Shitty

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Photographer Nate Kensinger, whose work we love and whose forays into places that are hard to access have brought us great visual joy, sent us some photos of a condo in Fort Greene called the Verdi on Adelphi. It has been featured many times by our friends at Brownstoner, who have not minced words about [...]

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The redesign of 360 Smith Street unveiled last week at a Carroll Gardens Neighborhood Association meeting by the developer, Billy Stein, continues to elicit reaction from residents. The CORD group, which was formed after original renderings or the Robert Scarano-designed “Heavy Metal” building were posted last May, offered up a photoshopped view of Second Place [...]

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Whenever we pass by the building that we like to call The Bunker on Bond Street because of its lack of windows superior abundance of wall space, we check to see how much progress has been made. We’re not sure if it’s the slowest moving building project in Brooklyn, but that’s only because there is [...]

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Yesterday, we posted a side-by-side comparison of the former International Longshoreman’s Building at 340 Court Street (which has an impending date with the wrecking ball) with a modernist building in Prague. This is Part II, featuring another two photos sent to us by our Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Correspondent. Call it the Tough Tony Anastasio Building [...]

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On the left is the former International Longshoreman’s Association Building at 340 Court Street in Carroll Gardens. On the right is a building in Prague. We would love to take full credit for juxtaposing these two structures cut from the same cloth, but it actually goes to our special Carroll Gardens-Cobble Hill Correspondent who writes:
I [...]

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It’s time for the 2008 Building Brooklyn awards and the Chamber of Commerce is accepting nominations. Will North Brooklyn get the short end of the stick again? “The contest regulations require that a project have a temporary or final CO issued in calendar 2007. So such favorites as 20 Bayard, North8 Condos, 207-211 South First [...]

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We return to our very occasional series “What’s That Thing on Top?” to update the status of one of the most notable things to be put on top of any Williamsburg building: the growth added to the building on Karl Fischer Row that is now known as the Ikon. We last viewed it from behind, [...]

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Rarely have we seen a building that made such a swift impression as 262 Pacific Street, which we’ll be calling The Nightmare on Pacific Street (Nightmare on Pacific, for short, or Pacific Street Nightmare) or, possibly, the Pacific Penitentiary. Brownstoner started off the New Year with a bang (and possibly signified that Boerum Hill, Cobble [...]

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The fencing around The Crest in Park Slope has come down. The mindboggling results are above. We will refrain from a long diatribe about how such architecture is the equivalent of saying “screw you” to the streetscape and how people that design residential buildings this way should be held up to professional ridicule for designing [...]

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News of the new permits for the Caroll Gardens Hell Building at 333 Carroll Street has gotten around the neighborhood and residents have been emailing city officials. One reply making the rounds says that elected officials are still working on a variety of issues related to architect Robert Scarano:
We are trying, but even Scarano has [...]

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“The deal does nothing to counter the notion that DOB (or at least the Brooklyn office) exists to protect developers, contractors and architects, rather than to regulate construction and enforce zoning rules.”–Brooklyn 11211

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We got an email from the press office at the Department of Buildings responding to the controversy about the “stipulations” signed by Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster concerning architect Robert Scarano. A Daily News article on Sunday detailed agreements the Building Commissioner signed as part of the arrangement that led to Mr. Scarano’s giving up of [...]

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Buildings Commissioner Patricia Lancaster signed off on some interesting stipulations as part of Brooklyn architect Robert Scarano’s agreement to surrender self-certification privileges last year, according to a story in today’s Daily News. Architects in New York City are able to “self-certify” that their work meets city zoning and building regulations. Controversies arose over Mr. Scarano’s [...]

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These buildings are neighbors. The two photos were sent to us by the same very special GL correspondent who provided yesterday’s tale of the Carniceria sign on Smith Street. Our correspondent writes:
Picture one [left] is of very nice, renovated brownstone with, not-quite-original- but-it’ll-do, iron shutters. On Union Street in Carroll Gardens. This lovely thing sits [...]

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Earlier this year, the American Institute of Architects proposed “text amendments” to city zoning that have flown relatively under the radar could result in bulkier, taller buildings in areas of the city with certain zoning (including many Brooklyn neighborhoods). Aaron Brashear of Concerned Citizens of Greenwood Heights sent out an email over the weekend about [...]

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This is 66 N. 1st Street in Williamsburg, which was a What’s That Thing on Top honoree back in May. The building has evolved since then and its latest turn has left it looking like a facadomy victim. Not only does it have that rather odd thing on top, but it now sports a new [...]

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