Broadway Triangle. Image credit: Google Maps.

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 for non-exclusive and affordable housing. Churches United claimed that rezoning the area without evaluating segregation would result in discrimination against people of color, and violate the Fair Housing Act and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act. (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. (more…)

Image Credit: NYCHA.

Son lived in mother’s apartment to care for her in her last years, but had not been granted permanent permission to live in the apartment. Victoria Aponte was the tenant of record, and sole authorized occupant, of a one-bedroom apartment located in a NYCHA-owned housing development at 150 West 174th Street in the Bronx. In 2009, Ms. Aponte’s son, Jonas Aponte, moved into the apartment to assist his mother who had been diagnosed with advanced dementia and could not live alone without regular assistance.  During Ms. Aponte’s lifetime Mr. Aponte submitted two requests for permanent permission to live with his mother. NYCHA denied both requests, stating that approval would violate NYCHA’s rules by creating an overcrowded condition in a one-bedroom apartment. (more…)

103 Waverly Place in Manhattan. Image credit: CityLaw.

Hotel claimed tax credit for purchases of continental breakfasts provided to guests. The Washington Square Hotel LLC, located at 103 Waverly Place, Manhattan, purchased continental breakfasts from Café C–III, a vendor located on the hotel’s premises, and provided the continental breakfasts to guests. The hotel did not charge their guests separately for breakfasts, nor did the hotel give guests an option to decline breakfasts in return for a lower rate for a hotel room. (more…)

PS 163 in Manhattan. Image credit: Citylaw.

Non-profit developer sought to build residence for the elderly in Manhattan adjacent to a public school. In 2012, Jewish Home Lifecare, a non-profit providing health care services, applied to the New York State Department of Health for a permit to construct a residential facility for the elderly and disabled to be located on West 97th Street in Manhattan next door to P.S. 163. After Lifecare submitted an environmental assessment statement and an environmental impact statement, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Health Department approved the facility. Parents from P.S. 163 and nearby tenants objected and filed an article 78 petition seeking to annul the Health Department’s approval. The parents and tenants claimed that the Health Department had failed to address adequately the risks of exposure to hazardous materials and noise-levels. (more…)