The Board of Standards and Appeals ordered that developer Ben Shaoul remove a controversial seventh-floor penthouse at 515 East 5th Street in the East Village.
Shaoul received 60 days to finish demolition of the penthouse. The board will then decide whether to approve the zoning variances needed for the sixth floor to remain. After completing the addition in 2007, Shaoul ran into trouble with the Board of Standards and Appeals, which reversed the 2006 Department of Buildings ruling allowing the additional two floors, as previously reported.
According to the board, the new structures violated the Multiple Dwelling Law with regard to safety and elevator requirements. The board voted to approve Shaoul’s new sixth story, but not the penthouse above. Adding the two additional floors required Shaoul to install elevators in the rent-stabilized building, which he had not done, the board said.
Shaoul told The Real Deal last year that he had “every right to rely on the department’s approvals and no reason to suspect that anything was wrong.” [Curbed] — Mark Maurer