HPD provided temporary housing for tenants and then filed liens against the tenants’ former landlords for expenses in providing the temporary housing. The Court of Appeals issued one opinion involving two separate cases concerning expenses incurred by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for temporary shelter. In 1995 the Fire Department issued a vacate order affecting two tenants of a building in Brooklyn owned by David Rivera. HPD provided the tenants with temporary shelter services in single-room occupancy apartments from June 1995 through December 1995. HPD, acting under the City’s Administrative Code, filed a notice of lien against Rivera’s building seeking reimbursement for HPD’s expenses. (read more…)

221 North 9th Street, Brooklyn. Image credit: GoogleMaps

Construction company failed to erect sidewalk shed when construction reached planned sidewalk shed height. In 2015, the owner of 221 North 9th Street in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn obtained a construction work permit from Buildings to tear down a one-story structure that was previously occupied by the Sugarland Nightclub, a gay bar and nightclub. The owner contracted with King’s USA Group Inc. to replace the club with a four-story 70-foot-tall mixed-use building. (read more…)

75 Stewart Avenue, Brooklyn. Image credit: CityLand

Tenants sought loft law protection by claiming that two attached structures on one zoning lot were two separate buildings. A two-story building was constructed at 538 Johnson Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in 1916 using timber and wood planking. A four-story building was constructed adjacent at 75 Stewart Avenue in 1919 using concrete columns, beams and slabs. The four-story structure abuts the eastern wall of the two-story structure, and the stairwell in the two-story building was extended to reach all four floors. Both buildings were owned by Goldberger Dolls for 50 years, and were used in the production of dolls. In 1997 Goldberger sold the buildings under a single deed to Brocho V’Hatzlocho Corporation. (read more…)

885 Park Avenue, Brooklyn. Image credit: GoogleMaps

Bedford-Stuyvesant developer converted commercial building into residential apartments. 885 Park Avenue Brooklyn LLC owned a commercial building located in the Bedford-Stuyvesant neighborhood of Brooklyn that had been used solely for commercial purposes. Beginning in 1999, 885 Park converted the building into 23 new residential units. The conversion was completed in 2003. In 2011, Daniel Goddard signed a one-year market-rate lease with 885 Park. (read more…)

39 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Image credit: CityLand

Rent-stabilized tenant substantially profited from 93 individual Airbnb sublettings. In 2010, Linda Lipetz was diagnosed with cancer and was unable to work for over a year. From March 2011 to August 2012, in order to subsidize her rent, Lipetz sublet her rent-regulated apartment located at 39 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Lipetz hosted 93 different people for 338 total days through Airbnb, charging a nightly rate of $95 for one person and $120 for two, and generating $33,592 in revenue. (read more…)