In the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB) September monthly enforcement bulletin dated Nov. 12, the department announced 11 violations at 11 separate construction projects across New York City and issued a total of $125,000 in resulting fines.

 

DOB also reported 12 violations for illegal building alterations at two City locations, and the property owners were slapped with $117,000 in fines. According to the bulletin, Lamar Advertising, based in Baton Rouge, LA, was fined $10,000 for a large advertising sign installed without a permit on the roof of a two-story building at 58 East Fordham Road in the Fordham Manor section of The Bronx.

 

According to its website, Lamar Advertising was founded in 1902 and currently has over 360,000 billboards and displays across the United States and Canada. A website extract reads that Lamar Advertising is “committed to safety” and “committed to creating and maintaining safe working environments for all of our employees.”

 

On Monday, Nov. 17, Norwood News asked a woman who answered the phone at the advertising agency about the sign in Fordham Manor and the associated fine. “Unfortunately, I am not able to comment on that but if you contact our New York City office, someone there should be able to help you with this,” she said.

 

Norwood News made multiple attempts to obtain a comment from Lamar Advertising’s NYC office but was unsuccessful. The billboard in question sits atop a 2-story building that houses Portabella, a clothing store. Two attempts to reach Portabella’s manager, Marcos, were also unsuccessful.

 

The billboard is an advertisement for the Manhattan-based law firm, Harris, Keenan & Goldfarb, who has several billboards displaying their firm’s number, 1-800-PAIN-LAW, along East Fordham Road. Repeated calls to the firm and an email sent to their “media specialist,” Andy Vazquez, also went unanswered.

In a follow-up request on Nov. 28 for additional information from DOB about the violations, David Maggiotto, DOB deputy press secretary, said the department initially received a complaint about the billboard Jan. 7 and issued multiple violations for the sign in February.

 

According to Maggiotto, the owner paid a $10,000 penalty after a hearing in September. “The sign remains in place, but DOB inspectors are in contact with the advertising company that installed the sign, and they are currently preparing a job application that will legalize the sign once it is submitted and approved,” Maggiotto said.

 

According to Google Maps, the current billboard had been atop the building since at least June 2024. A different ad by Harris, Keenan & Goldfarb was on top of the building in June 2024.

 

Maggiotto was asked about sign enforcement and said the DOB Sign Unit monitors illegal advertising signs visible from arterial highways, which localities are required to do to obtain certain types of federal funding.

 

He added, “Due to the high number of advertising signs citywide, DOB also relies on 311 complaints and other referrals to help us determine when signs need to be investigated for compliance.”

Norwood News asked DOB about a second billboard with an advertisement for Harris, Keenan & Goldfarb at 119 East Fordham Road, and were told the department had not received any complaints about that particular ad.

 

Meanwhile, Bronx property owner MST Tahmina Akter was slapped with $62,000 in penalties for making illegal conversions to a 2-story private home at 1731 Zerega Avenue in the Castle Hill section of the borough. An DOB enforcement bulletin extract reads, “DOB inspectors issued violations for illegal conversions after finding that the legal two-family dwelling had been converted into an illegal four-family dwelling.”

 

According to the bulletin extract, inspectors issued additional violations for work performed without permits for installed water and waste lines and gas stoves, and additional fines were incurred by the property owner for an erected canopy, obstruction of public hallways with household items, and the storage of combustible materials in the boiler room.

 

According to the bulletin extract, the inspection was carried out based on a 311 complaint received Oct. 21, 2024 that alleged an illegal basement dwelling existed at the property. After attempts to inspect the building in December and January were unsuccessful, DOB officials said an inspector was able to gain access on March 26.

 

The inspector determined that the 2-family home had been converted into a 4-family home, and DOB issued a partial vacate order for the basement and second floor of the building. DOB did not have any information on the number of occupants living in the building at the time of the inspection.

Norwood News visited the two-story building on Sunday, Nov. 16, and found a combination lock, often used by property managers and owners, on the doorknob to the building. Residents of the area either didn’t want to speak about the building and its residents, or they didn’t know anything about it.

 

Two phone numbers listed for landlord MST Tahmina Akter at the building’s address were no longer in service. Messages were left at two separate phone numbers belonging to Mst Akter in Jamaica, Queens, but the messages produced no response.

 

Norwood News also reached out to the American Red Cross of Greater New York to ask if they had received any requests for assistance from anyone who may have been displaced from the building. We did not receive an immediate response.