A notorious Queens developer has hit a roadblock in Bayside after a community board unanimously voted down a variance that would have allowed him to complete construction in the area.
Tommy Huang — whose properties have racked up a laundry list of complaints and violations, according to the city’s Department of Buildings (DOB) — was denied variance approval by Community Board 11, meaning he may not be able to finish constructing four single-family homes in Bayside.
The properties in question — located at 39-39 223rd Street and 39-01, 39-15 and 39-19 Mia Drive — have been a problem site for years, local leaders said. The 223rd Street site has accumulated 93 complaints and 46 violations from city agencies so far, according to the DOB.
The controversial builder’s “shoddy” developments have also been allegedly tied to the death of an immigrant worker last year in Elmhurst when a 20-foot faulty concrete wall constructed by Huang’s company collapsed on top of him, State Senator Tony Avella said.
“[He] is no stranger to the Queens community. He is infamous in engaging in unscrupulous building practices on a repeated basis, with his unsafe construction practices dating back almost 20 years,” said Avella. “Previous patterns of behavior are the best indicator of future behavior.”
According to Community Board 11’s district manager Susan Seinfeld, board members felt the work permits Huang received back in 2004 were obtained “erroneously and improperly to begin with.”
“It was a misuse of the zoning done purposely,” she said.
The development was also deemed an “interior lot” and not a “through-lot,” officials said, which means Huang may be violating zoning resolutions if he does not include a 30-foot rear yard as required for the site.
The variance application will still need to go through the borough president’s office and then to the Board of Standards and Appeals, Seinfeld said, but there is currently a stop work order on the homes, which are built but not completely finished.
“This was a recommendation to the Board of Standards and Appeals to please not approve the variance because it was wrong to begin with,” Seinfeld said.
