City Revokes Permits For Major Development

The acting commissioner of the Department of Buildings, Robert LiMandri, is revoking permits for a major mixed-use development project on the Upper West Side just days after taking office, a signal, some say, of a tougher city stance on construction safety.

Mr. LiMandri was appointed last month after Mayor Bloomberg accepted the resignation of the buildings commissioner, Patricia Lancaster, following a series of highly publicized construction site accidents, including the East Side crane collapse, which killed seven people.

The city is revoking the permits for the 220,000-square-foot mixed-use project at 808 Columbus Ave., between West 97th and 100th streets, known as the Park West Village. The developer, the Chetrit Group, is seeking to create three contiguous blocks of retail and to build a 30-story apartment building. The project previously has been criticized by neighbors and the president of Manhattan, Scott Stringer, for violating the building code, and it is at the center of a lawsuit filed on behalf of a resident group.

Reversing its previous position on the project, the buildings department is now saying the project's parking spaces and street curbs do not conform to the building code.

The developer now has 10 business days from the date of the letter, May 2, to address the two issues.

"This is the first concrete step the buildings department has taken against this fiasco, and I am pleased. This is not about 'I told you so.' This is about a commissioner with a fresh look at a lot of these issues, and this is a positive step in building a mandate and I applaud him for it," Mr. Stringer said in an interview yesterday.

The attorney representing a residents group that filed a suit against the Department of Buildings and the Chetrit Group, Jack Lester, said the suit would be temporarily withdrawn as long as the permits remain revoked. He said the residents also are challenging the developer's inclusion of a large department store and its failure to supply adequate open space.

"We are gratified that the Department of Buildings finally ruled, but we are dismayed at how long it took because significant work has already been done," Mr. Lester said.

A spokeswoman for the developer, Anna LaPorte, said in a statement: "We are working with the Dept. of Buildings to respond to their concerns and believe all permits for the project were correctly and validly issued."

The city presently is searching for a full-time replacement for Ms. Lancaster. The City Council will hold a hearing tomorrow on new construction safety legislation, which was brought forward by the mayor's office.