Cobble Hill owners to glaze dubious see-through shower

An exposed glass shower in the back of a townhouse  in Cobble Hill is a work in progress, according to the property’s owners.

The see-all shower at 14 Tompkins Place, which sent neighbors into a concerned frenzy, is still under construction and will ultimately be covered to ensure privacy, said owner James Cavoli, a partner at law firm Milbank. Cavoli and his wife paid almost $2.2 million for the home in May 2011, city property records show.

“We are flattered and mildly fascinated that our neighbors have taken an interest in a bathroom that has never been used and is still under construction,” he told the New York Daily News. “And we can only hope they will be as friendly when installation of the glass privacy coverings are complete.”

Cavoli’s wife, Julie Scelfo, is a journalist who wrote an article about voyeurism for the New York Times. In the story, titled “Window Watchers In a City of Strangers,” Scelfo wrote that voyeurism in the city can give “rise to relationships that can be deeply meaningful.”

The duo, who have three children, told the Daily News they use a second-floor bathroom — that is well covered — to bathe, as do their little ones.

The real source of neighborly beef, in fact, may be the home’s three-story extension, which includes the see-through shower, rather than the shower itself.

“They blocked my view and in blocking my view they made a shower with a lovely view,” one neighbor, who refused to give her name, told the Daily News. “I hope they knock themselves out.” [NYDN] — Julie Strickland