Section of sidewalk on Westchester Avenue between St. Ann’s Avenue and Brook Avenue. Image Credit: Google Maps
Pedestrian injured on a defect in the sidewalk owned by the City. Pedestrian Luis Sanchez was injured when he tripped and fell on a defect in the sidewalk located on Westchester Avenue between St. Ann’s Avenue and Brook Avenue in the Bronx. Sanchez sued the City. The City, citing the generality of the mark on a Big Apple Map, moved to dismiss the complaint for lack of prior notice. (read more…)
New York City has general capacity to sue for negligent destruction of trees. A private property owner hired Tri-Rail Construction company to perform sidewalk repairs for a property adjacent to City property. During the course of the sidewalk repairs, Tri-Rail damaged City trees. (read more…)
Credit: CityLaw
New York State in 2021 must redraw the State’s senate, assembly and congressional districts. The process will be different from the process used to draw legislative and congressional district lines in the past. Previously, the State legislature redrew the districts for its own members and for the State’s congressional members. After years of efforts to reform a process seen as too self-interested, New York State voters in 2014 approved an amendment to the State constitution that created a new Redistricting Commission that will propose new district lines to the legislature. The legislature still gets the last word, but the commission process opens the redistricting process up, provides an outside entity to act as the initial proposer, and adds guidelines for map design for fairness. (read more…)
435 West 23rd Street, Manhattan. Credit: Google Maps
Landlord classified rental apartments as being destabilized and charged tenants market rate rents despite receiving J-51 tax benefits. London Terrace Gardens, located along West 23rd Street in Manhattan and built in 1930, occupies an entire block and has 1700 apartments. After the enactment of the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1993, London Terrace Gardens began deregulating rent-stabilized apartments through high-rent vacancy decontrol. London Terrace Gardens subsequently received J-51 tax abatement and exemption benefits after making appropriate improvements to the property. (read more…)
Pedicabs on a Manhattan street. Credit: Molly Kaszuba
A pedicab driver refused to stop and dragged a Park Officer approximately 40-60 feet on his pedicab. On May 9, 2018, Bent Greenberg, a pedicab driver, was stopped by two Park officers for soliciting customers in a prohibited area outside Tavern on the Green, Central Park at 67th Street, Manhattan. Officer Moye approached Greenberg and asked for his identification papers. Greenberg told the officers he was leaving and began peddling. Officer Moye tried to stop Greenberg, but Greenberg accelerated in Officer Moye’s direction, nearly hit her, and fled. Officer Moye grabbed the metal bar on the back of the pedicab to stop Greenberg, but Greenberg continued pedaling. Officer Moye’s radio got tangled in the back wheel and she lost her footing, fell, and was dragged on the pavement for 40 to 60 feet until another Parks officer caught up and stopped Greenberg. The Parks officers served Greenberg with a summons, charging him with endangering another person and operating the pedicab in a reckless manner. (read more…)
