27 West 96th Street in Manhattan. Image Credit: Google Maps.
Landlord not responsible for more than four years of overcharged rent. On August 16, 2018, the Appellate Division for the First Department held that the landlord for 27 West 96th Street in Manhattan did not engage in a fraudulent scheme to evade the Rent Stabilization Law and therefore the New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) had miscalculated the amount of overcharged rent that was due back to tenants. (read more…)
429 East 64th Street. Image credit: Google Maps.
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 of six walk up buildings known as “First Avenue Estate,” after claiming financial hardship. The First Avenue Estate, was designated as a landmark in August 1990 by the Commission. In 2007, the Commission approved and adopted resolution to include Stahl York Avenue’s buildings as part of the landmark status. The tenement developments are “light-court” tenements which are designed so that every room in each apartment has natural light from exterior windows, or interior courtyards, which in turn makes the apartments appear larger. (read more…)
Spring Creek Towers. Image credit: Google Maps.
Rental Assistance program sought to establish lease renewal and limit rent increases based on rent stabilization regulations. In 2015, prospective tenants Regina Alston and Sandra Vaughn-Cooke inquired about apartment vacancies at Spring Creek Towers. Starrett City, Inc. owns Spring Creek Towers, located in the East New York neighborhood in Brooklyn. Spring Creek Towers is an apartment complex with 5,881 apartments. Alston and Vaughn-Cooke both had Living in Communities (LINC) rental vouchers. Starrett City, Inc. did not accept the LINC rent vouchers. (read more…)
Image credit: Real Estate Board of New York.
New law would hinder hotel conversions to residential use. On June 2, 2015, New York City adopted Local Law 50, placing a prohibition on owners of hotels with 150 or more sleeping units from converting more than 20 percent of their hotel space to full-time residential uses. The law is based on City findings that such conversions were adversely impacting the City’s multi-billion-dollar tourism industry, as well as hotel employment. The purpose of the prohibition is to allow the City to conduct a study of the impacts that such conversions have on these industries. Although the law provides that affected hotel owners can apply on an individual basis for waivers with the Board of Standards and Appeals (BSA), under the law the BSA can award waivers only to “the minimum extent necessary” to afford relief. (read more…)
City and Suburban Homes Company, First Avenue Estate. Image credit: LPC.
Developer claimed that Commissioners irrationally and prejudicially analyzed hardship application, and that designation amounted to an unconstitutional taking. In 1990, Landmarks designated the City and Suburban Homes Company, First Avenue Estate an individual City landmark. The block-sized development is bounded East 64th and 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. Built between 1819 and 1915, it was constructed to provide high-quality housing to low-income New Yorkers in an alternative to crowded, poorly ventilated tenement buildings. The First Avenue Estate is one of only two full-block light court tenement complexes in the City. (read more…)
