Loft status denied for non-resident

Loft occupant moved out prior to applying for protected status. Frank Hughes was a resident at 401 Wythe Avenue, Brooklyn, New York, a commercial building with several residential units. In 2012, Hughes and other residents of the building applied to the New York City Loft Board for Loft Law occupant protection status, which referred the applications for an OATH hearing. The 401 Wythe Avenue residents sought Loft Law status because lofts in split commercial/residential buildings … <Read More>


Loft board determination upheld

Tenants claimed a permanent residence in loft building. Loft tenants Maria Nazor and Peter Mickle have occupied units 4N and 4S of 544 West 27th Street in Chelsea since 1983 and 1995, respectively. In 2009, after two unsuccessful holdover proceedings, landlord Sydney Sol Group Ltd. (f/k/a Mushlam, Inc.) won a judgement of ejectment against Nazor and Mickle in New York County Supreme Court. In December 2010, the Supreme Court vacated the judgement of ejectment and … <Read More>


Balcony Ruled Not Part of Loft

Loft tenant counted terrace/balcony to reach statutory minimum of 400 square feet. David Coventry rented unit 1109 of a loft building located at 475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn. Coventry applied for coverage and protection under the Loft Law. The owner of 475 Kent Avenue opposed, arguing that unit 1109 measured less 400 square feet, the minimum size required to be covered by the Loft Law. Coventry responded that unit 1109 would meet the 400 square foot … <Read More>


Loft Tenant Wins Parking Space

New owner of a Brooklyn loft building demanded that resident vacate his parking space. Andrew Ohanesian, an artist, is the tenant of loft Unit 709, located at 475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn.  Ohanesian signed a one-year lease with the building’s prior owner in February 2009 and has lived in the building ever since.  The prior owner verbally agreed that Ohanesian could use a designated parking space in the loading bay area of the building for an … <Read More>


Reducing Racial Bias Embedded in Land Use Codes

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race … <Read More>


Owner Wins Rent Stabilization Dispute

Tenants of a Tribeca high rise luxury rental building claimed protection of rent stabilization. Tenants of Tribeca House, a luxury rental residential building located at 50 Murray Street, Manhattan claimed that the owner of the building overcharged the tenants. Tribeca House, a twenty-one-story luxury loft apartment building, has 389 apartments comprised of studio, one, two, and three bedroom units.