Month: September 2011

As you may recall back in April, Mayor Bloomberg announced a new rule requiring the phase out of Number 6 and Number 4 oil, the city’s two most-polluting grades of heating oil with Number 6 being the dirtiest.

About 10,000 buildings in New York City are burning the toxic oils with 60 percent of these buildings being located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan. The sooty pollution caused by Number 6 and Number 4 oil irritate lungs, aggravate asthma, and increase the rates of heart attacks and premature death.

What this means to you as a building owner, Co-op board member, or property manager is by 2015 you’ll need to convert your building’s boiler to burn at least Number 4 oil if not the most environmentally friendly option Number 2. Then by 2030, all boilers in NYC need to run only on Number 2 oil. This could mean a brand new boiler for many buildings.

Changing the type of oil that your boiler runs on is not as easy as it seems and requires a permit from NYC’s Department of Buildings (DOB).

S&M Expediting can file these boiler conversion permits for you. You can convert your boiler to gas as well through ConEdison. Converting to gas also requires a permit as does completely replacing your boiler. We can expedite all of these permits for you and get you burning cleaner fuel this year.

S&M supports all of New York’s green programs and hope you take your own initiative to make your building healthier today.

The most common DOB violations in NYC are expensive and complicated to deal with on your own, especially if you’ve inherited violations with a newly acquired property. Your first fine will likely be in the hundreds, but if you let those violations go, or if you bought a property that has a long-ignored violation—you could be stuck with a $10,000 fine!

How to Remove Building Violations and Reduce Fines

Once you call our expediting company we look over your violation details to determine the best course of action based on feasibility of legalization, time factor, and cost. When it’s determined whether your violation can be removed completely or your fines negotiated down to the minimum we carefully explain your options to you.

Then, depending on the type of violation, we may need to represent you in ECB court. Many violations do not require appearance at ECB court.  If you have non-hazardous violations which can be cured on or prior to the “cure by” date, we can obtain a Certificate of Correction Approval letter for you.

Hazardous violations are mandated to have have a hearing. DOB violations, or those not requiring a hearing, are resolved either at the borough office or at the centralized unit office.  S & M Expediting has long-standing relationships with these city agencies as well as the ECB court.

If your violation requires an appearance at ECB court, one of our permit expeditors will sit with the administrative judge for you and either plead guilty and obtain a minimum fine or present evidence to have the violation completely dismissed.

Once we receive the ECB court’s decision by mail, we submit a Certificate of Correction to have your violation completely removed from the system. All you have to do is make one phone call. It’s that easy!