99 Vandam Street
Loft Law prevents using bankruptcy as a tool to circumvent housing law. In 2002, Bridge Associates of Soho, Inc. (“Bridge Associates”) acquired 99 Vandam Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. 99 Vandam is a seven-story residential loft building that has been governed by Article 7-C of the New York Multiple Dwelling Law (“Loft Law”) since approximately 1991. Loft Law governs the conversion of manufacturing and commercial use buildings to residential use buildings. The law generally requires landlords to bring buildings into conformity with the required laws and codes for residential occupancy. Since acquiring the once commercial building, Bridge Associates never received a certificate of occupancy for residential use, nor have they commenced the process to bring the property into compliance with the Loft Law.
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Partial Site Rendering Image Credit: NYCEDC
A Bronx not-for-profit sues City over the sale of waterfront property to a private developer. The City sold Pier 5 to a private developer to facilitate the construction of the Bronx Point development. Pier 5 is a 4.4 acre plot of land bounded by Mill Pond Park to the North, the 149th Street Bridge to the South, the Major Deegan Expressway to the East and the Harlem River to the West. The development anticipates mixed-affordable housing, state of the art community facilities, open spaces and a waterfront esplanade. To read Cityland’s prior coverage of the Bronx Point development click here.
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346 Broadway. Image Credit: Brett.
Landmarks acted within its authority when it approved the LLC’s certificate of appropriateness. On March 28, 2019, the New York Court of Appeals ruled that the Certificate of Appropriateness granted the Landmarks Preservation Commission for 346 Broadway in 2014 was proper, reversing two lower courts’ decision. In 1987, the Landmarks Preservation Commission designated 346 Broadway as an interior landmark. The designation included the building’s banking hall and the 13th floor clock tower, which houses a mechanical clock. At the time of designation, the City owned the building and the clock tower was opened to the public for weekly tours.
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Park West Village superblock on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. (808 Columbus Ave, center). Image Credit: Google Maps.
Appellate Division finds that Buildings improperly issued construction permit for nursing home after misinterpreting the zoning resolution. Park West Village is a complex located on a superblock bounded by West 100th Street to the north, West 97th Street to the south, Columbus Avenue to the east, and Amsterdam Avenue to the west on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The complex was built in the 1950s and 1960s as part of a federally subsidized middle-income urban renewal project, and includes residential buildings, a parking lot, a school, a church, a public library, a health center, and commercial buildings. Three original 16-story residential buildings remain on the eastern portion of the superblock at 784, 788, and 792 Columbus Avenue. The Park West Village buildings all exist on the same zoning lot. (read more…)
360 West 43rd Street in Manhattan. Image credit: Google Maps.
The Appellate Division affirmed fines for illegal conversion of residential units as hotel rooms. 360 West 43rd Street is a 28-story, 264 rent-stabilized unit building in Midtown, Manhattan. On June 5, 2015, the owner sent three tenants a letter advising them that their leases would be terminated and they would be evicted if they continued illegally renting out the apartments for hotel use. (read more…)
