Expedite This: The Interesting Tale of the Fekete Brothers

Those that actually look at building permits see the name Fekete constantly. This is because the Fekete Brothers are expediters hired to, well, expedite the filing of building plans and permits. They are responsible for thousands of building permits and regularly work for very busy architects like Karl Fischer. (The building above, our friend 525 Union Avenue, is a Fekete expedited Fischer.) If you think that the expediting business is boring, you're dead wrong. Tom Robbin's piece in this week's Village Voice about the Feketes and how they operate is quite the read, actually, and helps shed a bit more light on how the curious building approval process works. The older of the Fekete brother, Jacob, used to be very busy. Since he ran into some issues related to a Bushwick arson and a Federal indictment, however, his brother Hershey has picked up the slack, filing 1,798 permit applications. There is a great deal of detail to the story and the personal connections that allow expediters to, you know, expedite things.