Community Continues Fight Against Huge Mosque in Residential Brooklyn N’hood

via A Muslim Brotherhood Mega-Mosque Fight Grows in Brookyn – Atlas Shrugs.

“This fight is far from over and we, the homeowners and residents of this community, will employ every possible avenue to ensure that this peaceful and quiet residential street remains just that-RESIDENTIAL.”

Elected officials and Community Board 15 have dismissed our quality of life concerns for “political correctness.” The proposed construction encroaches on our rights to privacy, health, safety and is an intrusive, unreasonable interference with the use and enjoyment of our properties. Religion cannot and will not be an excuse for zoning violations and inappropriate development. Bay People is a voice for thousands of property owners and residents of Sheepshead Bay who are simply trying to preserve their quiet residential existence, protect their property values, and peace of mind.”

ABOVE: BEFORE – 1,200 sq/ft. 2 People AFTER – 8,100 sq/ft. 1,500 people/day,

We are concerned with this project because we anticipate the following problems:

• Both pedestrian and vehicular round the clock heavy traffic because the prayers will be held 5 times a day between 3am and 11pm, 7 days a week, 365 days a year.

• Heavy traffic congestion. The streets around the proposed project are narrow with just 1 lane of traffic going each way, and congestion will inevitably result from this project, create unsafe conditions and put lives of residents as well as children attending PS 52 in danger. There are no traffic lights, no cross guards, and vehicles attempting to go around double parked cars will have to drive into oncoming traffic.
• The building is intended to accommodate hundreds if not thousands of people each day. As per approved plans over 300 people are allowed to occupy that building at once, but not a single parking spot has been allocated to the building. There are no garages, no parking lots, no meters on the streets.
• Overcrowding on the sidewalks (sidewalks are narrow with trees – 2 people cannot pass by without bumping into each other)
• The prayer times will coincide with morning and evening rush hour, as well as the time when children are being picked up and dropped off at PS52 (located less than a block away)

• Loud noise from cars, from calls to prayer which must be loud enough to be heard away from the building and must be done before each prayer
• The constant noise will disrupt classes at PS 52
• The building is allowed to be taller and bigger than a residential house; it will overshadow houses in its immediatevicinity and block sunlight, which wouldn’t have happened if there was a regular sized home build there instead.
• The project will irrevocably change the character of the neighborhood
• The project will bring an end to our quiet enjoyment of our property because the house of worship will be opened everyday of the week, bringing in people, pollution, noise, and creating unsafe conditions, endanger lives by blockingemergency vehicles along Voorhies avenue and the adjacent area.
• The project will permanently depress property values in the areaThe project is being forced on the neighborhood. Mr. Ahmed purchased the property quietly and without telling any of the neighbors what he was planning to build in place of a single-family home previously occupied by an elderly couple.DEPARTMENT OF BUILDINGS (DOB)In court filings, Muslim American Society (MAS) stated that certain city officials are helping them with this project and told them to stay quiet not to “ruffle any feathers”. Who are these officials and in what capacity are they involved? Is DOB one of the agencies whose officials are asking them to stay quiet not to “ruffle any feathers”?

  From the onset of the project, Bay People, Inc. exposed all attempts by the community center builders and owners to circumvent NYC zoning laws and regulations that were designed to protect tranquil residential communities. The size and purpose of this oversized structure will destroy the fabric of a quiet residential community. The presence of this structure will violate all the requirements of the zoning resolution and the Building code of the City of New York.

• The architectural drawings circumvented proper calculations of the occupancy of the facility. The occupancy of the 1st floor is 138 persons and the occupancy of the 2nd floor is 61 persons, for a total capacity of 199 persons. At the rate of 1 space per 15 persons, 13.26 parking spaces (rounded down to 13) must be provided on the zoning lot. However, by not disclosing / hiding the use of the 2nd floor on the zoning diagram and by calculating the occupancy of each floor separately the application incorrectly utilizes the parking waiver provide in zoning resolution 25-33. These drawings didn’t satisfy NYC Building codes, New York City Seismic Code local law 17/95. Men and women are praying at the same time but in separate rooms. This simultaneous use and the fact that these two rooms have common partition with two interior windows create a common “largest room”. The area of these two rooms should be added and should be counted as one ”largest room of assembly”.

• The structural, mechanical, electrical and plumbing drawings failed to implement various standards
• DOB failed to enforce adjacent building owner’s nonfiction requirement paragraph 27-165 of the New York buildingcode. Therefore the excavation and foundation permit was issued in error and should have been immediately revoked.
• Residents of Sheepshead Bay tried to obtain physical drawings on numerous occasions (at least twelve) and were notsuccessful in none of them. The reason as articulated by the DOB copy room supervisor was that the copy machine was broken.
• Numerous changes and amendments to schedule A (which defines floor occupancy) were filed in order to avoid off-street parking requirements. Architect keeps revising and resubmitting documents with different occupancy rates listed each time. This strategy confuses and misleads not only the community but DOB as well.

• The roof of the building was designed to support crowd of prayers: roof is designed for 100 pounds per square foot. Up to one hundred people now will crowded on the roof (that number is not included in any of the calculations)
• Dozens of missing documents and numerous mistakes have not stopped the DOB from signing off on the project.

• The project is filed at the DOB as “Place of Worship”. However it is being advertised as a community center which is misleading and would require additional parking
• Many violations were never issued.

o Work with expired insurances (For four month the contractor AB design was allowed for work with expired general liability and disability insurances)

o work with expired permits

o Violation for the defective fence were swept under the rug (On May 26, 2011, when complaint of the deficient strength and construction of the fence was logged, the City turned its blind eye again and stated that the fence permit was not expired. This is how the City resolved that complaint).

o To correct excavation violations the drawings for the support of excavation (shoring drawings) were developed but this shoring was never installed. The City was not able and reluctant to enforce its Rules even though every contractor in the City obligated follow these Rules. The Excavation Unit was created to forced reluctant contractors to follow the Rules but nothing was done.

o Mr. Noorata the structural engineer of this project had his filing privileges suspended in 2011. However, he continued to file documents until March of 2011. The Disciplinary actions were taken against him in 2010. The privileged of the performing the special inspections were revoked in 2010. The engineer also lost his professional certification and directive 14 privileges the same year.

o The Class 1 (hazardous) Environmental Control Board (ECB) violation was not resolved and fines were not paid. Numerous ECB violations are still open and fines are not paid. Hearings have been postponed to drag out the time. Violations happen in the beginning of 2011, hearings have been rescheduled from August 2011 to March 2012.

All this was done with direct knowledge and consent of the owners of the lot: Mr. Allowey Ahmed, the lending company 2004-000088, LLC from Virginia, and a future occupant: Muslim American Society (MAS). So far, even in the face of the numerous mistakes, omissions, and plain falsifications associated with the project’s building plans, including mistakes and omissions in the construction work, we are unable to make the DOB follow its own set of policies and procedures in examining the plans and in monitoring the construction work.

Since the DOB approved this application and issued construction permits (October 2010), two full stop work orders, OSHA & 15 ECB violations have been issued (2 of those are listed as Class 1 – Immediately hazardous), over $30,000 in fines have been issued. As of today, DOB has issued permits to 4 different contractors. Every time a violation was issued, the owners terminate that contractor and hire someone else. Once a new permit is issued the contractor may continue work without correcting the violations: so the construction continues despite the fact that none of the problems which caused the issuance of the stop work orders have been corrected. Termination of the contractor does not correct violation. The fee and the correction of violation has to be made or owners goes to the court to argue to reduce fee and to remove violations as this is the case.

CITY OFFICIALS / ELLECTED POLITICIANS

Despite having contacted the local politicians with our concerns regarding traffic and the general effect of the proposed construction on the community, Bay People have been repeatedly ignored. It is particularly disturbing that our pleas for attention have gone unanswered while these politicians themselves expressed concerns with how bad traffic already is in our neighborhood. Bay People are appalled by the lack of concern for the problems of the constituents, and suspect that politicians are afraid and unwilling to be perceived as opposing a religious group, when in fact all we are asking is attention to a quality of life problem.

● Community Board 15 = Ms. Scavo is trying to be politecly correct. At the same time, Teresa Scavo, the Chairperson of CB15 expressed concerns about other construction in the neighborhood, such as the Marshalls Department Store being built on Avenue Y. Her concerns with double-parking and congestion are well-documented in the local papers. CB15 also denied the request of the developer at 1501 Sheepshead Bay Road for a reduction of the required number of parking spaces for a multi- story building due to concerns about congestion. Sheepshead Bay road is a one-lane each way street, very similar to Voorhies Avenue, yet they have no concerns about traffic congestion on Voorhies Avenue. http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2011/08/controversial-development-site-up-for-sale-project-may-be-nixed/

http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2011/01/confirmed-marshalls-coming-to-sheepshead-bay/

● Steven Cymbrowitz, who was also contacted by and ignored requests from Bay People, had also expressed numerous concerns regarding congestion and traffic in the area. He criticized proposed development at 1501 Sheepshead Bay Road, which, again, was to be located on a street very similar to Voorhies Avenue. Yet he turned a deaf ear to Bay People. http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2011/08/controversial-development-site-up-for-sale-project-may-be-nixed/

● Michael Nelson was so outraged with traffic congestion in the area that he requested that a part of Voorhies Avenue be made into a one-way street. He himself did not want to sit in traffic on his way to work every day. Yet traffic congestion further down Voorhies Avenue does not seem to bother him – after all, he does not pass it on his way to work. Despite Bay People’s requests for attention to the situation on Voorhies Ave, he refused to get involved even though he clearly agrees that traffic is a problem in the area and was willing to direct resources to address it. Yet he wouldn’t do the same for our area. Bay People got a traffic study done with its own funds and it was proven that the proposed construction will create a nightmare for the surrounding area.
http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2011/03/nelson-to-dot-make-voorhies-avenue-one-way/

http://www.sheepsheadbites.com/2010/11/councilman-nelson-to-drivers-dont-block-the-box/

● Kruger is under investigation for corruption charges.
● Weiner is out of the pictures because of the way he was presenting himself.
● Fidler sent one letter to DOB on our behalf and gave up without receiving a satisfactory answer.

OTHER CITY OFFICES

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Lamis Deek –an attorney hired by Alloway Ahmed, the mosque developer, stood up in court and accused Bay People of being racist, yet she herself is on record multiple times over as an anti-Semite, opposed to the existence of the state of Israel, and even having called for its annihilation. She has defended multiple cases involving anti-Israelis. We do not tolerate hate and violence in our community, be that hate directed at ourselves or others.\

• Video of Lamis Deek, the Lawyer for the Mosque

• The Jihad Lawyer Pamela Geller, American Thinker

• Lamis Deek Incites Intifada at the Palestinian “statehood” Protest (video here)
• Said and Deek on Palestine and Israel’s Right to Exist (video here)Mohamed Sadeia admitted to collusion with city officials in the SWORN affidavit filed by their lawyer Lamis Deek. Moreover, Mohamed Sadeia goes on to mislead and apparently lie in this court filing. Sadeia claims that he has “personal knowledge” that the owner of 2708 East 28th Street has refused to sell his property to Muslims - but there is no such building number

…

CONCLUSION:

Residents of Sheepshead Bay have constitutional rights to enjoy the property, protect quality of life and DOB ignored all of it when they signed off on a proposed project. This community facility creates an objectionable influence in a residential area. This construction arouses disapproval of local residents because of increased traffic to the area, lack of parking, lowering of our property values, increased noise by auto and pedestrian traffic and an amplified call to prayer 5 times per day. The plan, design, size, and scope of this project is drastically different that surrounding residential homes. Residents voice their objections to unreasonable interference with enjoyment and use of their properties by contacting city official and all of these attempts were ignored. We demand an investigation into the situation and protect our rights and safety. We have a right to know why a project that is clearly unsafe and unsuitable for the area is allowed to continue with no oversight. The welfare of the neighborhood residents is being ignored under the guise of political correctness, when in fact all we are asking is attention to a quality of life problem and our property rights are being trampled upon with no response from elected officials. Thousands of the neighborhood residents view this construction for what it is: a DOB assisted manipulation of zoning laws and building codes by the developer who is trying to squeeze an enormous structure in a quiet residential block. Residents are concerned that once completed, the increase in foot and vehicular traffic and inevitable traffic congestion, combined with five daily calls to prayer (start as early as 3AM and continue until 11PM) will destroy the quiet neighborhood as well as the property value of their homes. The structure will be able to accommodate up to 1,500 people daily, yet not a single parking spot has been allocated for it due to continuous changes and clever manipulation of the number of attendees in the building plans submitted to the DOB. Bay People, Inc. collected more than a thousand of signatures from neighborhood residents who oppose construction under its current design and location. Members of the community, including Bay People, have been accused of Islamophobia, bigotry, racial intolerance, while all we are trying to do is to defend our rights. We are not opposed to anyone exercising their right to freely practice their religion. We are, however, opposed to a construction project that is putting our lives and the lives of our children in danger. This is an ill-conceived structure that is being built in the wrong place, a place that is too small to accommodate the grandiose plans of the developers. Voorhies Avenue is a small, two-lane street, that cannot handle the increase in traffic and has no space for parking of all the additional vehicles that will come to the neighborhood once the project is completed. The DOB so far refused public access to building plans and has been turning a blind eye to all the inconsistencies, fines, and manipulation of figures that have been going on.

The main purpose of the parking regulations was to minimize traffic and traffic congestion in the area. However, all congregants will come to the house at the same time for the same purpose. The total number will be 292 as Lamis Deek stated during BSA hearing. The main floor is assigned for men and the second floor is assigned for women. Due to this segregation of men and women only number of occupants (men) on the main floor went in to calculation for the parking. The women congregates were not accounted. Thus the number of the occupants that come to the house of worship at the same time for the same purpose (maximum simultaneous occupancy) is significantly reduced.

The present waiver was written for the Locally Oriented Houses of Worship. The Locally Oriented Houses of Worship as stated in the Zoning Law ZR 25-33 can get waiver when with congregation of less than 150 people: 10 spots x 15 cars per one person. During hearing Lamis Deek stated that there will be 292 persons in the mosque. So the 2812 Voorhies is too big for a local house of worship.

Read it all – there are more details, more obfuscation and deception, more photo evidence, and more city departments in on the charade.

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