Neighbors on a quiet block in Throggs Neck reached out for help after they saw a lot of construction work being done behind a house without any Department of Buildings permits posted.
Contractors at the house, located at 1035 Hollywood Avenue, were adding an additional room on the rear of the modest, wood frame two-family home..
A stop work order was issued by the Department of Buildigns for the structure on Thursday, August 13 after Councilman Jimmy Vacca was informed of the situation.
“Property owners have got to understand that in order to have work done on their homes, they need to get permits and plans approved,”
Vacca said while visiting the scene. “We don’t know if what is being built here complies with the zoning or not since no permits have been filed.”
Vacca said he had the Department of Buildings issue a stop work order after hearing complaints from residents on the block.
“The neighbors called me because they couldn’t figure out what this was,” Vacca said. “It could be a garage, or it could be something else – we don’t know since no permits have been issued.”
Carpenters were working on the structure a few hours before the stop work order was issued.
Attempts to contact the owner of the house yielded no response. Someone identified only as a tenant said that she thinks it could be additional living quarters.
“It looks like a little house being built, to me,” she said.
The property’s owner is Jorge Mujica, according to Department of Building records.
The DOB found “a wood structure with a masonry foundation” that was 10 feet high in the backyard. The structure measured approximately 20 feet by 18 feet.
“This area was downzoned in 2005 to prevent overdevelopment, and we need to see if this construction complies with the new zoning,” Vacca said.
