Excerpted from the New York Times’:

By Sewell Chan
Administrative charges have been filed against Robert M. Scarano Jr., an architect who built his career during Brooklyn’s construction boom, alleging that he made false or misleading statements on applications submitted to the Buildings Department in connection with two projects in Greenpoint, the authorities announced on Thursday.

The administrative charges — which could result in the suspension or revocation of Mr. Scarano’s ability to file documents with the Buildings Department — involve documents for two Brooklyn apartment houses that Mr. Scarano filed with the Buildings Department in 2000 and 2002. The city’s Buildings and Investigation Departments said in a joint statement:

Scarano is alleged to have improperly divided a zoning lot into two smaller lots for the two new buildings, 158 Freeman Street and 1037 Manhattan Avenue, resulting in the construction of two noncompliant buildings. With the two independent zoning lots, 158 Freeman Street could not have been legally built at all as a residential building and 1037 Manhattan Avenue as designed would have been smaller by approximately 2,000 square feet.

Both buildings are in Greenpoint, a neighborhood historically known for its large Polish immigrant community but now associated with the forces of gentrification.
In the wake of two fatal crane accidents this year that resulted in the ouster of the city’s buildings commissioner, the city has stepped up efforts to improve construction safety and to scrutinize every step of the building process.

“We will not tolerate anyone who knowingly attempts to mislead the Department with false documents,” said Robert D. LiMandri, acting commissioner of the Buildings Department. “Our Special Enforcement Team is identifying repeat offenders and building cases against them. Flouting building and zoning regulations undermines the quality of life for all New Yorkers, and we will continue to identify and hold accountable individuals who abuse the rules.”