I want to reply publicly to the many people who have asked where we're at.
Recently, New York City adopted a bylaw that says that if one tenant of a building has a Department of Buildings violation, no other tenant can get a building permit.
In our case, there are other premises in our building that have violations. Apparently, they are mostly about signage, and in at least one case go back to 1999.
The result is that we have been unable to get a permit since January to continue renovations.
Previous to this, our building permit was suspended for several months because a NYC Building Inspector cited us for making cosmetic changes to our space, citations that were thrown out in October, in their entirety, by the tribunal that deals with alleged violations.
My law firm tells me that I may get a building permit next week, at of course considerable cost, to continue working despite the City's position to this minute that we should be closed down because of violations by others over which we have no control.
I don't know what to say. First, a Building Inspector dragged us through the court system over making completely legal cosmetic changes to our space, and now we have been refused a building permit since January because other people have violations, and apparently the Department of Buildings is talking about minor sign violations that go back to 1999.
My lawyer tells me that we may get a building permit next week that gets around this craziness.
I just want to open, preferably before the City of New York forces me into bankruptcy.
Stew
