Can I Stop My Neighbor From Building an Intrusive Balcony?

Stop by the neighbor's and ask to borrow a cup of sugar. In your best "Columbo" imitation, get the real scoop on what the heck they think they're doing, if they got the proper permits, and then report back to us here.

what is questioner's course of action if his expert feels the balcony violates his coop's light and air restrictions but co-op board will not take any action on his/her behalf thinking it is "not the co-op's problem rather it is the shareholder's?"

It pains me to read the types of complaints. Very literally "NIMBY". Is the answer not obvious? Is neighbor following code? If yes, tough luck. If no, yes, you have legal recourse.

I had a one bedroom apartment that faced southeast over Navy Pier, Lake Michigan and the Chicago River. We were the only rental building in the master plan. Three high rises went up dead center in our view and the unit that faced my balcony had a tertiary balcony off a side bedroom. Their main balconies faced south over the Chicago River. Grills and planters were allowed; however, bike storage and brooms were not allowed. A foreign family decided that because they lived in a fancy building they could store bikes and brooms on that balcony, like luggage in a store room. Our building management would do nothing, but then I got the number of their doorman. And those bikes and brooms disappeared just as fast as you can say River Place East. Unfortunately, the balcony remained.

I'm trying to understand the setup here. Their view looks out and down into their garden. How does a balcony on the neighboring building affect their view forward? I guess it could obstruct their view into the _neighbor's_ yard, though.

Call 311 or the Dept of Buildings immediately. I had an upstairs neighbor hammering the walls at odd times day and night. I looked from outside the building into his third floor apartment and saw about a 1 foot wide strip of plaster being carved out of the plaster exposing the interior of the walls. I looked up on the computer whether they had any permits filed. No. I immediately called 311, they sent out the DOB and within a couple weeks I got a nasty letter from the neighbor saying I "ruined" their lives because now they needed to file the proper paperwork and get permits for the DIY work the husband was doing which violated the building code and also violated the coop's rules.

Write a letter, from your lawyer, outlining for your neighbors exactly why their build is un-neighborly and unwelcome, and inform them that you will be following up with the DOB to ensure that all permits and clearances are in place, up to code, and that you will keep an eagle eye on their build. If possible, get other co-op owners similarly impacted to join you in signing and putting your neighbors on notice. They may decide its not worth the community censure.

You can call 311 and the DOB will send an inspector out pretty quickly. Anything is possible, but I tend to doubt anyone would build something like this in Manhattan no less without a proper permit. It is just too likely that it will be reported and checked on. Even so, it costs nothing to make a complaint and have it checked. If the balcony is legal, there isn't much else the letter writers can do. There is no right per se to a view or light or privacy for that matter, if the work complies with the relevant codes.

There are city regulations that limit the number of "rooms" permitted in a given location. An open balcony is never a room, but a glassed in one might cross the line. This would be a question for professionals to answer.

Forget about calling 311 to report a neighbor's illegal balcony. It's 2018. Rat them out the high-tech way via the internet: https://www1.nyc.gov/nyc-resources/service/1270/building-construction-complaint

Calling the Dept. of Buildings is not likely to solve the problem. Even if they issue a violation to the neighbor, they are not going to force the neighbor to remove the balcony. For that you'll have to hire a lawyer. That's my experience.

NYC is being overbuilt and the fabric that made this city unique will be destroyed. Look at Brooklyn , it’s being turned into and already has into a clone of Manhattan

May also inform builder that if they build a illegal structure they will have huge problems if they ever attempt to sell their property, and you will be there to inform potential buyers that there is a illegal structure. I suspect that because it is not street side that they're thinking the can get around building codes. I doubt their claim of permits obtained.

The DOB website is very user friendly. The homeowner does not need an architect to begin a search. Start there, you might be happily surprised.

Just checking up may be enough on its own. Many people who take steps which are of dubious legality are banking on no one checking up. But do it quickly, since the further on your neighbors have progressed with their plans, the more likely they are to make a fight of it. Also, you should find out if there are any periods after which a development which was illegal at the time becomes legal because it has gone unchallenged.