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A chronological record of every significant event. Each entry is linked to its supporting evidence.
In 2021, a new owner purchased a neglected East Village building with two open violations dating back to 1998. Over three years, the owner resolved every violation, obtained a Certificate of Occupancy for the first time in decades, and secured a Certificate of No Harassment from HPD.
Then the building was hit by a 4.8-magnitude earthquake. DOB ordered emergency and permanent structural repairs. The owner complied immediately — installing emergency shoring in four days, engaging structural engineers, filing repair plans as ordered.
Then a complaint was filed. An unannounced joint inspection followed. Elected officials sent a misleading letter to HPD. Fourteen days later, HPD suspended the Certificate of No Harassment — blocking the very repair permits DOB had ordered the owner to obtain.
The result is a regulatory Catch-22: DOB says the owner must repair the building. HPD says the owner cannot. After a six-day administrative trial, the ALJ recommended revoking the CONH. The Commissioner’s final decision is pending. The structural damage remains. The tenants wait. The clock is still running.
Doing everything right (2021–2024)
New owner buys neglected building, spends three years clearing 24-year-old violations, obtains C of O and CONH.
This violation will sit unresolved for 24 years until the new owner corrects it.
Gas meter and piping in a public hallway supplying gas to a 3rd-floor stove. Unresolved for 24 years under prior ownership.
Evidence: Original 1998 DOB violation for hazardous gas piping
This violation will sit unresolved for 23 years until the new owner corrects it.
Illegal partitions creating kitchen and bathroom on 3rd floor without permit. Unresolved for 23 years.
Evidence: Original 1999 DOB violation for illegal conversion
Establishes Hall as a problematic tenant — he later files retaliatory complaints that trigger the regulatory crisis.
Judy Sabin (3C) files report against Zachary David Hall (4D) for stalking — texting from different numbers, knocking, leaving notes. Establishes Hall as a problematic tenant. He later files retaliatory complaints.
Evidence: NYPD domestic incident report — Sabin v. Hall
The new owner inherits two open violations that must be resolved before any renovation can proceed.
Michael Geylik purchases the building through 109E9 LLC, inheriting unresolved violations dating back to 1998.
Evidence: Bargain-and-sale deed — 109E9 LLC
First permit under new ownership — the compliance pattern begins.
The new owner's first permit — converting the ground-floor bar to office use. Permit M00504096-I1-GC.
Evidence: DOB work permit M00504096
First of two inherited violations cleared. The gas riser is physically removed and DOB formally confirms the correction.
The owner hires a licensed contractor to remove the hazardous gas riser that sat in a public hallway since 1998. DOB inspects and issues a Certificate of Correction, officially closing the violation. Total elapsed time from work to certification: 3 days.
Second and final inherited violation cleared. Illegal partitions and plumbing are physically removed, and DOB formally confirms the correction.
The owner removes the illegal partitions that created an unpermitted kitchen, then caps and removes the stove, sink, and shower. DOB inspects both and issues a Certificate of Correction. Both inherited violations are now resolved — clearing the path to a Certificate of Occupancy. Total elapsed time: 19 days from first removal to DOB certification.
The building is now legally compliant — a milestone after 24 years of prior neglect.
C of O #1008963-0000002 issued after 24-year-old violations resolved. Milestone: building is now legally compliant for the first time in decades.
Evidence: Final Certificate of Occupancy #1008963
The last bureaucratic gate before renovation permits can be issued. Owner files for Certificate of No Harassment to install kitchen, shower, and bathroom in unit 3B. Application #75/2023.
Evidence: CONH application #75/2023
All prerequisites met. The owner now has full legal authority to renovate. This certificate is later suspended.
CONH granted by HPD. Physically picked up March 13, 2024. All prerequisites met. Owner now has full legal authority to renovate. This is later revoked.
Evidence: CONH approval letter
Nature intervenes (2024)
Structural damage surfaces. DOB mandates emergency and permanent repairs. Owner complies immediately with emergency work.
First signal of deeper structural problems that the earthquake will make worse.
Text from Judy Sabin (3C) notifying owner of a worsening crack below the 2nd floor landing. First signal of deeper structural problems.
Evidence: Text messages from Judy Sabin (pages 57-58)
4.8 Mw earthquake — visible structural damage worsened in area previously reported by tenant. Transforms a maintenance issue into a structural emergency.
Evidence: April 5, 2024 NYC earthquake reference
Owner responds proactively — before any government mandate.
Licensed PE engaged due to worsening wall cracks and severe floor sloping. All renovation work placed on hold. Owner responds immediately and proactively — before DOB mandates anything.
DOB now formally mandates repairs. This mandate becomes impossible to fulfill once HPD suspends the CONH.
FEU requires immediate evaluation including exploratory openings. DOB now formally mandates repairs. This mandate is later impossible to comply with.
Evidence: DOB Forensic Engineering Unit email (Philip Ng)
Temporary fix only. Permanent structural repairs are still required under a separate order.
Emergency work order: full-height temporary shoring from cellar through 2nd floor. Temporary fix only. Permanent repairs still required under separate order.
Evidence: DOB emergency work order — Control No. 341657
This is the order the owner cannot fulfill once HPD blocks the permits. The deadline becomes the measure of impossible non-compliance.
Owner must retain PE to assess entire building and submit repair drawings. Deadlines: work by 10/14/2024, completion by 12/13/2024. This is the order the owner cannot fulfill once HPD suspends the CONH.
Evidence: DOB structural evaluation order — Control No. 341658
The emergency track is complete. Seven full-height jacks installed, paperwork filed, permit issued. But this is temporary — permanent repairs are still required under a separate order (#19).
Four days after DOB’s emergency shoring order (#18), the owner installs seven full-height temporary shoring jacks from cellar through second floor. The DOB job is filed two days later, and the structural permit is issued in December. The emergency response is fully documented and permitted.
Probes conducted in vacant units to minimize tenant disruption — feeding into the permanent repair plans.
Probes conducted in vacant units to map structural schematics and identify compromised areas. Minimized tenant disruption by working in vacant units only.
Structural engineer's report confirms framing failure within the building. Permanent repairs are not optional — they are structurally necessary. This makes the later deadlock dangerous.
Evidence: Structural engineering report — additional probing
Agency error 1 of 3. DOB cites the owner for “work without permit” on emergency shoring that DOB itself authorized. The violation is dismissed — but not before consuming the owner’s time and resources.
DOB issues Violation #391-310-83H for “work without permit” targeting the emergency shoring installation (#20). But the shoring was performed under Emergency Work Order Control No. 341657, which by definition does not require a standard permit. The violation is administratively dismissed on December 6, two weeks after it was issued.
Same tenant accused of stalking in 2020 now files a complaint dismissed with no violations found.
Filed by Zachary Hall (4D) against neighbor James Hicks (4B). DOB Special Ops and FDNY inspected. Closed Jan 14, 2025 — no violations found. Same tenant accused of stalking in 2020 now files baseless complaint.
Evidence: DOB complaint #1684322 — resolved, no violations
Bureaucratic Catch-22 (2025)
A complaint triggers a joint inspection, elected officials send a misleading letter, HPD suspends the CONH, DOB moves to revoke permits. The owner cannot comply with the law.
Three chains converge here: the CONH, the FEU mandate, and the engineering findings.
The owner files permanent structural repair plans with DOB as ordered by the Forensic Engineering Unit. The plans address the framing failure confirmed by the November 2024 probing report. Job M01181265.
Evidence: DOB job filing M01181265-I1
This complaint triggers the chain of events leading to the CONH suspension. Who filed it remains unanswered.
Filed with Manhattan Construction Enforcement Unit. Triggers the chain of events leading to CONH suspension. Who filed this? If traceable to Hall or the tenant's attorney, it connects the harassment subplot to the regulatory crisis.
Evidence: DOB complaint #1690793 — resolved
HPD CONH investigator, 6 DOB inspectors, and the tenant's attorney arrived without notice. Scale and composition of this inspection is extraordinary. Attorney's presence suggests coordination.
Agency errors 2 and 3 of 3. Inspector Butler serves two “work without permit” violations during the March 19 joint inspection. DOB withdraws prosecution of both on May 13. The pattern is now complete: three erroneous violations issued, all three reversed.
During the unannounced joint inspection (#30), Inspector Butler serves violations #391-421-76K and #391-421-77M. Like the first erroneous violation (#24), these target work that was authorized or permitted. DOB withdraws prosecution nearly two months later — but not before the violations contribute to the atmosphere of enforcement pressure surrounding the CONH suspension.
A permit that exists on paper but cannot be used. Evidence of the paradox.
DOB issues the structural permit for permanent repairs — then HPD nullifies it by suspending the CONH. A permit that exists on paper but cannot be used. Issued the same day as the joint inspection and the erroneous violations. Permit M01181265-I1-ST.
Evidence: Structural permit M01181265-I1-ST
Facts misrepresented in complaint to Building Marshal's Office. No violation issued. Third bad-faith complaint in the same period. All dismissed or found baseless.
Evidence: DOB complaint #1691324 — resolved
This letter is the proximate cause of the CONH suspension. What specific claims were false remains the most important unanswered question.
Joint letter — described as misleading and factually incorrect — sent to Acting Commissioner Ahmed Tigani. Discovered after CONH suspension. What specific claims were false? This is the proximate cause of the CONH suspension.
The Catch-22. DOB orders repairs the owner is now prohibited from making.
HPD suspends the CONH just 14 days after receiving the elected officials' letter — a process that normally takes months.…
Evidence: HPD suspension letter and initial determination
Hover over any element for details, click to jump to the timeline event
DOB now acts against its own mandated repairs. The deadlock is complete.
Borough Commissioner complaints #1693132 and #1693134 targeting repair applications. DOB now moves against the very permits it told the owner to file. The deadlock deepens.
Evidence: DOB stop-work complaints — Exhibit C (LT-307504-25)
Resolution pending (2025–present)
Tenants sue, court intervenes, erroneous violations get withdrawn. The deadlock remains.
The tenants need the repairs that HPD is blocking. The proceeding adds legal complexity to the regulatory deadlock.
HP proceeding LT-307504-25/NY filed against building owner by TakeRoot Justice. Key question: are tenants suing because the owner won't repair, or because the city won't let the owner repair?
Evidence: HP petition LT-307504-25/NY
HPD relied on a letter the subject never saw and had no chance to rebut. This is a due process violation.
Owner learns for the first time on May 4, 2025 that elected officials sent a letter to HPD on March 25. The letter was never shared with the owner before HPD acted on it.…
Court directs owner and city agencies to appear. First time a neutral third party enters the picture. The court can break the deadlock.
Evidence: Order to Show Cause — LT-307504-25
HPD must prove its case before a judge. Six hearing days over five months. The ALJ recommends revoking the CONH. The Commissioner’s final decision is pending. This is where the story stands now.
HPD brings its case to revoke the Certificate of No Harassment before OATH, Index No. 25-1984. ALJ Christine Stecura presides over six hearing days spanning May through September 2025. Six volumes of court submissions, witness testimony, and documentary evidence are presented. Both sides submit post-trial closing memoranda. On February 20, 2026, the ALJ recommends revocation. The Commissioner has not yet issued a final determination.
After a physical inspection of the premises on June 27, 2025, DHCR Rent Administrator Margaret Ramroop issues an Order denying the decreased-services complaint filed by Shiras Patterson Beckwith (Apt 2E) on December 20, 2024.…
Evidence: DHCR Order MX 410058 B — Order Denying Application
DHCR Rent Administrator Margaret Ramroop issues an Order terminating the building-wide decreased-services proceeding filed October 27, 2025 by tenants Remigiusz Chlapek (2D), Shiras Patterson Beckwith (2E), Judy Sabin (3C), Thomas Dukleth (3D), and Z…
Evidence: DHCR Order NV 410032 B — Order Terminating Proceeding
Note: This timeline is a living document. New entries are added as events unfold and evidence is verified. Every entry is backed by at least one piece of documented proof.