DOB issued two Class 1 violations on October 8 against W5 Group LLC for conditions at 253 West 35th Street in Manhattan, according to ECB Violations records. Class 1 is the department's most serious violation tier, reserved for conditions DOB considers an immediate safety hazard.
The first violation, number 39560363H, cites a fire incident that occurred October 7. Per the violation description, an inspection found a torch operation cutting a column on the 27th floor of the building, with hot slag and sparks falling to an 18th-floor terrace and igniting combustible material there. DOB imposed a $10,000 penalty.
The second violation, number 39560365L, was recorded at the same address and describes a demolition in progress on what the record lists as a 30-story building. Inspectors found a prefabricated enclosure chute — used to move debris down from the demolition floor — had a section cut open, which DOB says does not conform to the approved construction documents. That violation carries a $2,500 penalty.
Both violations are listed ACTIVE with hearings scheduled for December 17 at DOB's ECB tribunal — one at 8:30 a.m., the other at 10:30 a.m. Neither penalty has been paid as of the record date; both carry the full balance due. No injuries are mentioned in either violation record.
The building is identified in DOB records under BIN 1035473, block 1287, lot 33. The respondent's address of record is 50 E Palisade Avenue, Englewood, New Jersey.
For contractors running active demolition on high-rises: this pairing — a torch-related fire one day and a breached debris chute the next — is the kind of combination DOB inspectors flag together, and it's worth a gut-check of your own hot-work permits, spotter coverage, and chute inspection logs before an ATOI inspector does it for you. The hearings are five weeks out; anyone tracking this site's compliance history should pull the full ECB record for BIN 1035473.