Cinderblocks and the Promise of Orange Bricks

This building (at 713-715 43rd Street) is going to grow up to be a five floor, ten unit building. A year ago, the two one-family houses that stood here were torn down. The thing is, there isn't anything posted about building something. There's only something posted about a sidewalk barrier. The application is in, but it seems nothing has come of that yet. (As always, I could be reading these things incorrectly.) The lack of necessary paperwork hasn't stopped the preparations for quintupling the amount of residents, however! The above photo was take at the beginning of April, 2009. The photo below was taken on the last day of April, 2009.
True, it's not a whole lot of work that's getting done, but the brickwork has begun! If anyone has the time, could you chime in about whether or not this building is being built with proper go-ahead? The 713/715 addresses have two different sets of "job filings." The primary structural system also is claimed as wood. Is there any wood going on here?