Landmarks Releases Online Timeline in Honor of its 55th Anniversary

The interactive timeline aims to foster civic pride for New Yorkers during the COVID-19 pandemic. On April 16, 2020, the Landmarks Preservation Commission announced the release of an online timeline, Fifty-Five Years of LPC. Fifty-Five Years of LPC was released in honor of Landmarks’ 55th year anniversary. The timeline is interactive and includes excerpts of Landmarks’ history and highlights its notable accomplishments through the decades.


Citywide Policy Adjustments Made by Agencies and Industries Responsible for Housing

COVID-19 outbreak has forced NYCHA and DHS to take extra precaution. Throughout the City and State, agencies and industries responsible for housing individuals, are taking measures and adopting policies to address the COVID-19 health crisis. The policies and measures generally focus on preventing the spread of disease, isolating infected individuals and answering questions on how compromised services would operate. In the hospitality industry many have also implemented policies regarding the refunds and the cancellation of … <Read More>


Council Subcommittee Hears Application for Affordable Homeownership Project in Bedford-Stuyvesant

HPD’s Open Door Program a key facet of Rochester Suydam application. On February 26, 2020, the City Council Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Sitings and Dispositions heard the Department of Housing Preservation and Development and BJF Development’s application for the disposition of City owned property, the designation of an Urban Development Action Area and the approval of a property tax exemption under Article XI of the Private Housing Finance Law. The approval would facilitate the development … <Read More>


REBNY Challenges Department of State’s Memo Prohibiting Broker’s Fees

Real estate community in state of confusion over 2019 Rent laws. On February 10, 2020, the Real Estate Board of New York Inc. (“REBNY’”), the New York State Associations of Realtors (“NYSAR”) and a host of residential real estate brokerages were granted a temporary restraining order, blocking the New York State Department of State’s guidance on broker commissions. The TRO comes in conjunction with their Article 78 filing seeking to invalidate the memorandum’s entire section … <Read More>


COMMENTARY – Subway Warning Signs: Make Them Tougher

The number of persons killed by contact with subway trains is truly alarming and, worse, consistent year to year. The victims include persons with severe mental problems and drug and alcohol addiction on the one hand, and, on the other hand, adventuresome youths who see romance and challenge in the subways’ dark tunnels, speedy trains and endless tracks. All the deaths are tragedies.


Second Circuit Upholds Ruling that Loft Tenants Have Property Rights in Bankruptcy Proceedings

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>