Owner of a five family house added unit intended for residential use. Nicolae Gogarnow, the owner of a five family house in Queens, lived on the first floor of the house. The house had five residential units, a commercial space that partially occupied the first floor, and an additional unoccupied space on the first floor. Owner Gogarnow filed a petition to evict one of the tenants, Rosalia Silvia. Silvia defended by claiming that she had a right to remain under the rent stabilization law. Owner Gogarnow responded that the building was not covered by rent stabilization because it had only five residential units, one less than the minimum of six residential units needed to trigger application of the rent stabilization law. (read more…)
St. Nicholas Avenue between 124th Street and 125th Street. Image credit: Google Maps.
Police officers were injured when their car struck a pothole that had been repaired by the City. On September 7, 2011, at about 12:40 a.m., while on patrol, two New York City police officers sustained personal injuries when their vehicle’s tire fell into a roadway hole located in the northbound lane of Saint Nicholas Avenue between 124th Street and 125th Street. (read more…)
Third Avenue Residential Apartments at 160 East 84th Street. Image credit: CityLaw.
State used sampling method to set new base rent for studio improperly deregulated under luxury decontrol. The owner of a rental building at 160 East 84th Street, Manhattan, took advantage of the luxury decontrol provisions of the Rent Stabilization Law to deregulate a studio apartment. Subsequently, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that buildings like 160 East 84th Street were ineligible to take advantage of luxury decontrol because the building was also receiving tax incentive benefits under New York City’s j-51 program. (read more…)
Image credit: NYC Department of Parks & Recreation.
Sidewalk contractor injured City trees during sidewalk reconstruction. A property owner hired Tri-Rail Construction, Inc., to repair the sidewalk adjacent to the owner’s property. During the course of the sidewalk repair work Tri-Rail injured City-owned trees. The City sued Tri-Rail for money damages for the injury to the City trees. (read more…)
475 Kent Avenue in Brooklyn. Image credit: Google Maps.
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 threshold if the exterior terrace/balcony were included in the calculation. The parties stipulated that the interior space was less than 400 square feet and submitted the issue of coverage to OATH. (read more…)
