City Mandatory Rental Terms Violated State Law

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. … <Read More>


City To Streamline Rental Assistance Programs

Old rental assistance programs will be combined into one. On July 18, 2018, the de Blasio Administration announced the new City Fighting Homelessness & Eviction Prevention Supplement (CityFHEPS) program, which will replace the Living in Communities, the Special Exit and Prevention Supplement, and the City Family Eviction Prevention and Exit Plan Supplements programs, creating one unified rental assistance program. The new CityFHEPS program will simplify the rental assistance process making it easier for New Yorkers … <Read More>


Audit Faults Shelter Contracts

State Comptroller’s audit criticized the high costs of past homeless shelters leases; the agency responded that it is in the process of tightening its leasing procedures. In October of 2017, the New York State Comptroller’s office released an audit regarding contracts signed over the past four years between the City and landlords providing homeless shelters. The audit found that the Department of Homeless Services does not have written policies and standard operating procedures for key … <Read More>


YMCA Sprinkler Summons Dismissed

Vestibule lacked connection to the building’s sprinkler system. The YMCA maintains a location at 99 Meserole Avenue in Brooklyn in a building constructed in the mid-1900’s. The YMCA at this location has a gym, locker room, rooms for hosting communal activities and classes as well as living quarters to serve as a Department of Homeless Services shelter. The second, third and fourth floors consist of 102 bedrooms and kitchen areas.


Three Affordable Housing Projects Approved by Land Use Committee with Measured Disapproval

The City Council’s Land Use Committee approved three projects in Brooklyn with varying forms and degrees of affordable housing. On April 20, 2017, the Land Use Committee voted to approve three new projects with some dissent registered. During the meeting, Council Member Jumaane Williams remarked that as a body the City Council was presenting two faces. One face to the public in discussing homelessness and affordable housing, and another face when voting on projects “that … <Read More>


City Planning Green Lights 70 Supportive and Affordable Units in Brownsville

The City Planning Commission approved the construction of 70 new affordable and supportive units in Brooklyn’s Brownsville neighborhood. On March 8, 2017, the City Planning Commission issued a favorable report on an application by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to designate the properties at 210–214 Hegeman Avenue as an Urban Development Action Area and Project, and for the disposition of the lots. The designation and sale would facilitate the construction of an eight-story, … <Read More>