Controversies
Building Codes & Zoning
Under the New York City system of zoning, buildings are regulated for things such as height, floor area, setbacks, and number of dwelling units. These regulations vary by neighborhood and street.
Many of the buildings designed by Scarano’s firm are instantly recognizable for being much larger than neighboring buildings.[5] This is often due to the double-height spaces and mezzanine levels commonly used on his residential projects. Under the New York City building codes, mezzanines (defined in part as spaces with ceiling heights of less than five feet) are not included when calculating the square footage of a building, but it was alleged that many of Scarano’s building plans classified habitable space as mezzanines.[6]
In February 2006, the Department of Buildings charged Scarano with "violating zoning or building codes on 25 projects in Brooklyn, including several cases in which it alleged that new buildings he designed were larger than they should have been."[7]
Speaking with a reporter in April 2006, Scarano defended himself, saying "If you’re allowed 60 percent lot coverage and 55 feet in height and the allowable floor area is a 2.0 FAR and that gives you three-and-a-half floors, what do you do with the extra height? We pushed that into the living spaces, creating double-height units with mezzanines. And you want that space in the living room and dining room and maybe the main bedroom, but not in the other rooms (kitchens, baths, home office etc). And we were allowed to exclude the mezzanines from the floor area based on memorandums that were circulating in the 1980s."[1]
With the publicity and increased scrutiny, the City required modifications to several of his buildings before granting the final Certificates of Occupancy.
Worker Deaths
On August 29, 2005, a worker was killed at 187 20th Street in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, a Scarano-designed project. The worker, Arturo Gonzales, 27, was positioning a 800-pound steel girder when it fell and crushed him. Some community members alleged that developers were rushing work in an effort to complete the building’s foundations before the neighborhood was downzoned.[8]
On November 2, 2005, a worker was killed after falling from the third floor of a Scarano-designed building under construction at 207 South First Street in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The contractor, Leeco Construction Corporation, was issued citations and fined by the Department of Buildings and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).[9]
In March 2006, a worker was killed at a Scarano project under construction in Brooklyn, when a retaining wall gave way and the adjacent structure collapsed. While the project architect is not usually liable for an incident of this sort, Scarano had signed off on the excavation and demolition permits, taking responsibility for the work.[7] Scarano asserted that the he was not liable in the incident, as a permit had not been issued and the contractor was working without his knowledge.[9]
Loss of Professional Certification Privileges
In an effort to streamline the approvals process, in 1995 the New York City Department of Buildings instituted a program of Professional Certification (more commonly known as "Self Certification") whereby Registered Architects and Engineers can certify that a project complies with all applicable laws and codes. This allows a project to proceed without a full review by the Department (though some twenty percent of applications are randomly selected for audit).[10][11]
In response to the alleged building code and zoning violations, and the March 2006 worker death, Scarano was brought before the City's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
He was not charged criminally, and in August 2006 the allegations were settled, with Scarano no longer allowed to participate in the Professional Certification program. Scarano did not admit any guilt, and he retained his license to practice architecture.[12]
In February 2007, the Brooklyn AIA announced in their newsletter[13] that the City Council had proposed revising the city's administrative code regarding misconduct related to Professional Certification. The revised code would establish a process whereby architects and engineers who's professional certification privileges have been revoked can have these privileges restored after one year. A six-month probationary period would follow, and any further misconduct would result in permanent revocation of privileges.[14]
Response to Critics
Scarano has continued to defend his work to the press and sometimes directly to critics.
In May 2006 hs showed up unannounced at a press conference in Queens organized by the Four Borough Neighborhood Preservation Alliance. After sarcastically announcing to the crowd, "I'm the poster boy for what's wrong with Brooklyn," he defended himself, saying "I'm practicing for 20 years [...] I can't be the be all end all of the evil around here, even if I have 150 properties. The Borough President's office thinks I'm the greatest thing since sliced bread."[15]
The architect has been a popular subject matter on New York City architecture and real-estate blogs, and has been known to reply to critical articles.
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