Neighbors of a planned condominium development in the West Village being developed by Julian Schnabel, the artist, protested outside the offices of the New York City Department of Buildings at 280 Broadway today.

Led by Andrew Berman, executive director of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, shown at the left in the accompanying photograph, the group of about 20 demonstrators chanted "DOB, Shame on You" and "Illegal work should never be rewarded."

Mr. Schnabel owns a three-story former stable at 360 West 11th Street and obtained a building permit to add nine-floors to the building in which he planned a total of six condominium units.

The Department of Buildings had issued a stop work order on the project in early November after complaints that Mr. Schnabel was continued to work on the project after it had been rezoned October 11 to permit smaller buildings than he planned.

Mr. Berman said that the department apparently lifted the stop work order shortly before Christmas and that work at the site has resumed. He called upon the department to reverse its decision and revoke the permits, arguing that the 167-foot-high project exceeded the area's new zoning limit on heights to 75 feet.

Mr. Berman said his organization and the neighbors were "calling on the Mayor to intervene because the decision to lift the stop work order was a failure of the 311 system and the Department of Buildings to respond in time to complaints of illegal work that enabled Mr. Schnabel to "beat the clock" and finish foundations before the new zoning went into effect.

Mr. Berman said that he had a conference call with the department about a week ago but the department had a "low priority" for dealing with complaints and that its decisions could only be made by its inspectors. "By greenlighting this project, the City sends a terrible message to unscrupulous developers all across the City: 'Flout the law and do illegal, after-house work to rush your foundations in place in time to beat a rezoning, and we'll wave you in."

Many neighbors, according to Mr. Berman, reported that construction work was being done at the site after hours and according to the department's records, "most of these complaints were not followed up with an inspection until several days or even weeks later, but which time alleged work had stopped, and no illegal work was found by DOB.

As a result, the Department of Buildings has said that they are unable to substantiate the allegations, attested to in sworn affidavits by a dozen neighbors."

In a January 13, 2006 letter to Mayor Bloomberg and to Amanda Burden, chairperson of the City Planning Commission, Mr. Berman said "we find this outcome quite disturbing, and completely inequitable. Worse, we understand that DOB's slow response to these after hours work complaints is standard practice?.The City claims that they can't stop the project because we have provided no proof of illegal work, but any lack of proof is the fault of DOB for neglecting to respond to multiple 311 calls in a timely fashion."

This can "effect every rezoning in the city" and the city's action indicates it may never "try to catch an unscrupulous developer rushing" to beat deadlines, Mr. Berman declared. "The city has recently rezoned dozens of neighborhoods and plans to rezone several more, all of which are affected by this flawed system," he said.