Senator Avella Stands With Community Against Construction of McMansion Towering Over Semi-Attached Home in Bayside

(Bayside, NY) Today, State Senator Tony Avella stood with members of the Bayside community living near the construction site of a “McMansion” which towers over its adjacent semi-attached home. Avella was joined by members of multiple civic associations in his call to grant homeowners living in semi-attached homes a say in any alterations to their conjoined neighbor's home.

Senator Avella initially became aware of the situation after a Bayside resident living nearby the home had posted pictures of the construction to the popular blog QueensCrap. Although semi-attached homes typically feature mirrored architecture, the construction site depicted in the pictures showed an absurd level of a-symmetry, with one half of the home being built to tower above the other half. The Department of Buildings (DOB) issued a stop work order on February 18th in response to a complaint that construction was contrary or beyond approved plans or permits.

Senator Avella argued that, until homeowners living in semi-attached homes are given the right to have a larger say over what happens to their conjoined neighbors, situations like this one are bound to happen more frequently. Even though the block’s zoning allowed for a larger home, Avella said that alterations to a semi-attached home should not be permitted without some level of input from the neighboring property.

“This ‘McMansion’ serves as the perfect example of what can happen when we don’t have regulations in place to protect homeowners of semi-attached residences. Just because zoning allows for the construction of a larger home doesn’t mean that it is appropriate. When someone purchases a semi-attached home, there is a certain expectation that the symmetrical architectural and general aesthetic will not drastically change. These homes stand side-by-side; You cannot argue that the character of one does not effect the character of the other. Homeowners deserve to have some input into what happens to the building on the other side of the wall and, until they do, asymmetrical semi-attached homes like this one will become more and more frequent,” said State Senator Tony Avella.