(1)        Norman Resnicow advises German businessman in real estate dispute concerning improperly applied loophole in zoning regulations, with case having possible far-reaching benefits of protecting New York's cityscape by preventing many room additions on rooftops.

(2)        The weekly newspaper New York Observer reports, in a full-page article on February 15, the saga of a German businessman's efforts to remove a room constructed on a roof terrace by his condominium neighbor at Essex House. The room - built while he was away from his New York pied-a-terre - blocks his Central Park views. The New York Department of Building officially agreed that the room violated zoning regulations, but later mysteriously changed its position by inappropriately applying a little known loophole. That is now under appeal to the Board of Standards and Appeals. Because this now publically exposed loophole opens the door to rooftop additions on many other buildings, the New York Historic Districts Council has provided a letter opposing the interpretation that creates the supposed loophole.

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