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 … <Read More>
Search Results for: Buildings
Residents Prevent Development in Fight Over Open Space
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 … <Read More>
Landlord Fined $53,100 for Residential Tenants’ Illegal Transient Use
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.
Court Finds Commercial Tenants’ Guilty Plea Voided Lease
The owners of a midtown antique shop were convicted of illegally selling $1.5 million worth of elephant ivory, which allowed their landlords to evict them pursuant to New York Property Law. In 2015, an undercover officer entered the Metropolitan Fine Arts & Antiques shop and bought ivory for $2,000. The sale of ivory without a permit became illegal in 2014 in an effort to protect elephant population. The authorities found and seized 126 ivory articles, … <Read More>
Racial Impact Studies Not Required For Rezoning
Local residents and community activists brought an action to stop a rezoning that would encourage gentrification and racial disparity. Churches United for Fair Housing, along with local residents and other local groups, brought an action against the City in the Supreme Court of New York County to stop the construction of a housing development in the Broadway Triangle section of Brooklyn. Churches United is a local grassroots organization that seeks to preserve communities by advocating … <Read More>
UES Tenement Development To Keep Landmark Status Despite Owner’s Lawsuit
Building owners claimed landmark status caused financial hardship. Stahl York Avenue Co., LLC, tenement development owner of 429 East 64th Street and 430 East 65th Street in the Upper East Side, sued the City and the Landmark Preservation Commission in January 2016, asking the court to release the property landmark status in order to permit demolition and construct new high-rises for larger profits. Stahl York Avenue sought to demolish the two buildings, which are part … <Read More>