For the residents of prewar cooperative Chelsea Gardens, the discovery
of 5,000 feet of unused basement space seemed like a gold mine. Now it seems more like fool’s gold. The
co-op’s plan to build four new apartments in the basement has spawned a
number of lawsuits from angry residents, who claim the project damaged
their apartments and endangered their health (to listen to the sound of jackhammers one of the tenants recorded in his/her apartment see video after the jump). Meanwhile, the city
Department of Buildings slapped the project with a stop-work order for
almost a year, and required the board to revamp the plans. Just
this week, after months of inactivity, the stop-work order was lifted
allowing the project to proceed, according to a buildings department
spokesperson. Built in the 1930s, Chelsea Gardens is a
160-unit co-op housed in two buildings separated by a courtyard, one at
250 West 24th Street and the other at 255 West 23rd Street. As detailed
in a splashy 2008 New York Times profile, the additional space in the
basement was discovered in 2002, and shareholders voted to convert it
into a new superintendent’s apartment and three additional units. The
board anticipated a profit of at least $500,000, plus yearly
maintenance income from the residents, after selling the newly built
units, according to the lawsuit. They hoped to use the profits to
offset the cost of strengthening the building’s wooden frame and its
supports. [more]