Owner of collapsed Crown Heights church faces demolition order
Measured Endeavor LLC bought a Pentecostal church at 1597-1599 St. Johns Place in 2020. DOB found a collapsed roof Sept. 24 and ordered full demolition.
Measured Endeavor LLC, a Brooklyn holding company, owns a Crown Heights church complex the city now wants torn down, and the record shows it did nothing to stop the roof from falling in.
Why it matters
A DOB inspector found both attached buildings at 1597 and 1599 St. Johns Place vacant, unsafe and with “no safety measures in place” on Sept. 24, citing a collapsed roof and a collapsed interior staircase. On Sept. 25 the department issued emergency violations for full demolition of each building and a fenced, graded site. For a developer, an owner forced into demolition on a double lot is a possible seller, and the deed trail below shows who to call.
The numbers
Per ACRIS, Sunlight Pentecostal Holy Church deeded the lot at 1599 to Endeavor LLC in June 2020. Winnifred Griffith deeded the adjoining 1597 lot to Measured Endeavor LLC in October 2020, and Endeavor LLC passed 1599 to Measured Endeavor in November 2020. The deed amounts are recorded as $0 in the public index, so we do not report a price.
Measured Endeavor also recorded a zoning-lot document on both lots in October 2024 (ACRIS). We found no new-building or demolition job from the owner. The only DOB NOW job on the site is an HPD-owned fence filing dated Oct. 1, with a stated cost of $2,989. The two ECB violations carry $2,500 penalties each, nothing paid, hearing set for Dec. 2.
What’s next
The owner must demolish or shore up both buildings, and if it does not, the city can do the work and bill the lots. Watch for a demolition permit, a lien from HPD’s emergency repair charges, or a deed to a buyer. More distressed Brooklyn sites are tracked in our New York coverage.
On the record
What we checked ourselves, and where you can check it too.
- Public recordACRIS shows the church deeded both lots to Endeavor LLC in June 2020, and Measured Endeavor LLC took title by deeds dated October and November 2020View the record on a836-acris.nyc.gov
- Public recordDOB issued emergency violations on Sept. 25 ordering both buildings fully demolished, with an HPD fence job filed Oct. 1 on the owner's behalfView the record on data.cityofnewyork.us
On the record
- Primary recordNYC Department of Finance (ACRIS)Deed, 1599 St. Johns Place, church to Endeavor LLC
- Primary recordNYC Department of Finance (ACRIS)Deed, Endeavor LLC to Measured Endeavor LLC
- Also reported by
- NYC Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (ECB violations)ECB violations 35718658R and 35718659Z