Bay Ridge stores suddenly fined for little-known sign regulations
Businesses in Bay Ridge are suddenly being fined by the Department of Buildings for violations that haven’t been enforced for years.
For example, United True Value Hardware at 7905 Third Ave. has had a large awning outside its store for at least 30 years. No one mentioned the awning as a problem until several months ago, when DOB fined the store almost $8,000, NY1 reported.
According to city building codes, signs larger than 6 square feet require a special installation permit.
The Buildings Department told NY1 that it is not operating a crackdown, but the number of 311 complaints about business awnings and signs has doubled this year to almost 1,900 complaints.
Bay Ridge Councilmember Justin Brannan said he’s worried that sign companies are making many of these anonymous complaints, hoping that shopkeepers will then come to them and spend money on new signs.
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How many complaints does the DOB get regarding CURB CUTS? Probably thousands of them. If you look up in the DOB database (and you can), you can get the violations for any building in the city by address. Look at the history and you’ll see the complaints, the the action by an inspector and then it’s CLOSED for some reason. But the curb cut is still there. How do these inspectors keep their jobs? Curb cuts are illegal and people have done them illegally. They should be fixed or fined and none of them are ever fined.