SUSAN BYRNE and William A. Connors, the residents of a loft on West 21st Street, were caught in a bureaucratic twilight zone.
The couple’s landlord had obtained a certificate of occupancy from the New York City Department of Buildings, claiming that work required to bring the building into code compliance had been completed. The landlord’s architect had certified that the building at 5 West 21st Street met the safety and fire requirements of the city loft law. A city building inspector, who was subsequently indicted and pleaded guilty to issuing a false inspection report at a different building, found that all the work necessary for the issuance of certificate of occupancy had been completed. But, in fact, the work had not been done the City Buildings Department would later acknowledge.
