Non-Compliant Glassed-in Balconies/Terraces

One case is at 35 Sutton Place, where the tenant and co-op have been in court for years, but finally settled. Tenant had expanded her kitchen, LR, BR, and bath out to and onto the parapet walls, without a permit, including a fireplace and whirlpool tub. Neighbors below were flooded, building slapped with violations by the DoB, and so on.

I have noticed this at 112 west 56th and wondered if it was just too windy up there for a balcony. In the last five years, quite a few have been enclosed and I have wondered how that was possible.

The DoB site shows lots of permits issued for "temporary balcony enclosure" at 112 W 56, from the 1990s through 2011. They're not really temporary, since the pictures and plans show that the full-width sliding glass doors between living rooms and balconies have been removed. Either the city didn't inspect, or inspected after the enclosures went up but before the doors were removed.

Penn South has many examples of enclosed balconies and I have always wondered whether the conversions were legal.