Queens Congregation Cited a Third Time for Defying Stop-Work Order

New York City’s Department of Buildings cited a Kew Gardens Hills, Queens congregation’s building expansion for continuing work in defiance of an active stop-work order for the third time since June, according to city violation records, after inspectors found workers at the site on September 22 with the front of the property paved and part of the required construction fence removed.

Why it matters

The two adjoining parcels at 150-58 and 150-60 78th Road are held separately, records show: 150-60 was deeded to the congregation Kehilat Sephardim of Ahavat Achim in June 2022, and 150-58 was bought by a private individual for $850,000 in April 2024 with a $510,000 mortgage. DOB filings for construction on both lots list the congregation as the owner’s business name, with the 150-58 owner signing as the individual applicant, and the two-lot job is converting 150-60’s ground floor into a community facility while adding a third story to the building. For anyone pursuing an as-of-right expansion in New York, the file is a record of what an unresolved stop-work order actually costs: DOB does not need to catch new construction to escalate a penalty, only the same crew back on site before the order is lifted.

The numbers

DOB records show an escalating pattern rather than a single incident. A partial stop-work order first appears in the record June 11, 2026, alongside two ECB violations at 150-58 for an exposed excavation with no formal construction fence, penalties of $1,030 and $1,250. On July 10, DOB cited 150-60 again for continuing work under the same order, a $10,000 penalty, with a hearing calendared for September 22. That is the date inspectors returned and issued two more citations, one at each address, this time $25,000 apiece, citing the identical code section for unlawfully continuing work while on notice of a stop-work order. The September 22 violations describe three men working, the front of the property paved, and a section of the construction fence taken down. Combined, the three citations tied specifically to defying this order total $60,000 in penalties, all listed with a hearing status of pending.

What’s next

Both properties carry active DOB NOW filings tied to the same job: a $129,600 interior alteration converting 150-60’s ground floor to community-facility use, approved June 3, 2026, and a separate plumbing filing submitted September 8 that remains in plan examiner review. The three pending ECB hearings, the earliest calendared for September 22 and the two newest for December 1, will determine whether the $60,000 in penalties stands, and whether the stop-work order itself is lifted or tightened. Until then, the record shows continued activity at the site each time DOB has checked. The case is a reminder for New York developers and contractors that a stop-work order does not expire on its own, a lesson also on display at 112 Liberty Street, where a different Financial District site drew its own stop-work order this month over a lapsed site safety manager.