Why?

Hello, allow us to introduce ourselves. My name is Chris and my wife's name is Mimi. We are the owners of 229 16th Street and your neighbors in Park Slope. We have decided to create this web site to document the experience we had with the construction of a condo next door. We are just presenting the facts and ask you to examine what we present here with an clear open mind. We invite you to draw your own conclusions. All we attempt to do on this web site is present our side of the story. We are in the process of digitalizing all of the documentation we have complied over the last two years. Please check back often to see newly added content. After many hours of negotiation some issues have been resolved with the owners and contractors. The owners contractors have attempted to fix some items but unfortunately many items were not resolved in a professional manner. We are currently hiring our own contractor to fix these items. We will then be litigating to cover our expenses. We will continue to document these issues as we go through them. This web site is not complete yet so keep checking in to get more info.

When we originally heard the house next door 231 16th Street had been sold we were very happy. The old house had been empty and was occupied by squatters. The property was in disarray and a general eye sore. One morning at 5:45 AM our sound sleep was shattered by a bulldozer tearing down the old house next door. Little did we know how our lives were about to change. The next day we had a huge gash ripped into the side of our house. This set off a sequence of events that led to this web site. You can follow the complete sequence of events at the timeline page. This timeline lays out many of the milestone points in this story. We have spent the last two years trying to work these issues out in an amicable manner but unfortunately the majority of attempts we have made were ignored.

This web site is here to help other families who may have construction going on near their homes. We have learned a lot the hard way. Some of the lessons we learned were as simple as, do not assume the contractor or your neighbor will be careful of your property and some lessons were a little more complicated such as being very specific when wording agreements in court. Although we wouldn't want to lump all developers and construction companies into one category our experience has been negative. If we did not stay on top of these people our house wouldn't have had any repairs. For example when our roof was finally fixed it was because we had a court order to have it fixed and installed a close circuit camera to monitor the construction, not because the contractors or owners were nice guys. In fact even with a court order they still were on our property long after they agreed to be there. I would also point out that they started working on it before they even asked permission to be on our property! Imaging coming home from work a little early and finding this. Pretty shocking isn't it?

Highlights of this site

This page is a quick summary of the site and lays out why we created it.
The Timeline page is a chronological view of how the events unfolded.
The documents page is where we house much of the correspondence that took place over the last two years.
The DOB page lists all the complaints that were made to the Department of Buildings.
The Pictures page houses the many pictures we took documenting the history of our experience.
The Links page has many links to other sites you may find useful.
The Contact page has an email address for you to send your comments or questions.
The What was done page will list the items that were fixed by castle house or the owners.
The What you can do page will list advice for people facing the same challenges we did.

We would like to clarify what we wish to accomplish making this web site. We do not want anything from the developers or the owners. We do not want them to fix anything else. What can be repaired is being repaired by contractors of our own choosing. Some items are not able to be repaired as they were ruined. When we trusted the developers fix damage they did not do a good job. You can judge that for yourself in the what was done section of the web site. We do not want money from anyone. We are not looking for a "pay day". We will be seeking enforcement of the existing agreement from the owners through legitimate means. When people make an agreement they should honor it. All we have ever asked of the Developers and owners was to be informed if anyone had to be on our property and to protect our property from damage. These two simple requests were ignored by all parties. We are not unreasonable people. This web site is a public record of what happened over the past two years. When people or organizations do things like this they should be exposed for all to see. Companies and individuals should be held accountable for their actions. We hope this information is useful to people who may be going through a similar situation.

© 229vs231.com all rights reserved 2006