🚧 1105 Fulton is Being Demolished

🌟 Author’s Note

Hello and welcome to the 8 new advocates of the Better Block Project bringing our group to 87 members. Thank you for subscribing and all the work everyone in this group does to make our community a better place 💪 

Before we dive into our full update, we have two pieces of exciting new this week:

1. Better Block now has Pro Bono Legal Representation 💼 This week, the law firm Cole Schotz has officially agreed to represent the Better Block Project and our advocates. Cole Schotz is a top firm in New York City with experience in a range of issues, ranging from non-profit support to real estate. We wanted to get legal representation for two primary reasons: (1) to help us set up as a formal entity so we can start applying for grants and protect our work, and (2) to be a resource for blocks to take legal action when necessary to solve problems in the community. I’m grateful they have decided to work with us, and if you think you might need legal representation to solve a problem in the community, let me know and we can determine if it’s a good fit

2. Our Sidewalk Art Installation is Only 1 Week Away 🧑‍🎨 We’re just 1 week away from taking to the streets with artist Felix Morelo to raise awareness about cleaning up Fulton Street! Next Saturday, August 23rd at 9:30am we’ll be doing a sidewalk chart installation, starting at Franklin and Fulton, to educate residents about illegal dumping and help folks take pride in Fulton. RSVP here, we’d love to see you there

🚧 1105 Fulton is Being Demolished

It’s official. Almost 8 months to the day after the Department of Buildings’ (DOB) detailed inspection of 1105 Fulton on December 16th, 2024, we heard the news from the City Council this week that they have ordered the property to be demolished. You can find the official emergency violation order here. The decision to demolish the report was the result of an engineering inspection the DOB had conducted, here are details from Chi Osse’s office:

“The engineering report is an assessment of the buildings stability and recommendation on how to mitigate structurally unsafe building conditions and eliminate hazards or prevent damage to neighboring properties and public. Review of the report resulted in the issuance of the ED.”

It wasn’t surprising to hear this news. As we shared in a prior update, we had heard from the prior owner a rumor that the building may be demolished, and recently saw individuals clearing out property from the building when the HPD Zombie Homes inspection occurred. However, we didn’t expect to hear it this quickly.

Last Friday, August 8th, we had a call with a community liaison at the DOB. In that call, it felt like there was no real news on removing the scaffolding at 1105 Fulton, our primary ask. We heard a couple of things from them:

1. The building was being inspected by the engineering unit, but the DOB liaison had no news on the report

2. There were no permits to repair the building based on the open violations, and the scaffolding permits could stay up through March 2026

Following this, we found out on Wednesday that the engineering inspection was finalized, and they had decided to demolish the building.

🌺 History of 1105 Fulton

When we first started trying to improve the vacant property at 1105 Fulton, we learned that it wasn’t always this way. More than 25 years ago, there used to be a flower shop there. The building dates all the way back to 1930. The first official sale record in ACRIS is in 1975 (I am sure more happened before this) is between Sarah Smith who sold the property to Kununuana Inc.

The current owners of the property, 101 Fulton LLC, purchased the property from Angela Weusi back in 2019. We’ve known for a long time that it was their intention to redevelop the property into a larger building as the property is zoned for R7D, which allows you to build an 8 to 10 story property. However, COVID, disagreements and higher interest rates stymied that goal, and as a result, it continued to sit vacant and in disrepair.

➡️ So, What’s Next?

I spoke with a nearby developer about what a demolition meant, and they shared it will likely cost the current owners ~$150,000 to demolish the building. In New York City, when you demolish a building you have to take it down, truck in dirt to fill the empty hole, and haul away all of the materials from the building.

It’s unclear exactly when this will happen. It’s possible 1105 Fulton could appeal and get this order rescinded, but that’s also unclear at this point.

If and when the building ends up being demolished, it’s our hope they decide to fulfill their original goal with the property and re-build a new building in it’s place. This property has been vacant for such a long time, and rebuilding it will not only make the block safer, but will also provide more housing in an area that desperately needs it. We’re going to continue tracking 1105 Fulton in the meantime to see this through.

⏳ Where we are on the other problems we’re working on

• 🌳 Simplifying Tree Maintenance in NYC: We have a call tomorrow with Council Member’s Gutierrez office to discuss potential legislation to make tree maintenance much simpler for residents. We’re writing the policy now, so if you have any feedback on this, reply to this email

• 🚌 Improving the Bus Stop on Franklin and Fulton: We completed our second round of follow ups this week, and still have not heard back from Phara Souffrant Forrest’s office or Chi Osse’s office regarding the issue. We’ll plan to bring this up at the upcoming community board meeting in September to ensure it gets resolved as quickly as possible

• 🏠️ Improving Vacant Buildings on Fulton, Jefferson and Macon: For 75 Macon, we learned this week that the relatives of the prior owner of the property had been contacted by the city already. Given this, we’re going to pursue our prior route of looking to find a quality buyer for the property to ensure it is occupied as soon as possible

• 🗑️ Fulton Street Trash Clean Up: We still did not hear anything back from DSNY regarding increasing clean up, but we continue to promote our sidewalk art installation on August 23rd in order to educate the community on how to keep Fulton clean, to build more momentum to stop the illegal dumping. We’re going to continue outreach this week to see if we can get attendance from media and the city

That’s all for this week’s update. If you like what we’re doing here, share betterblockproject.com with other community members you know who are looking to drive change in Brooklyn.

See you next week,

David