Sidewalk Cafes: What it Takes to Dine on the Streets of New York

Operating a sidewalk café requires a public review process and approval from the city. Summer is here and many restaurants open sidewalk cafés to give people a breath of fresh air while enjoying a meal. To operate a sidewalk café, the business must have a food service establishment permit and each year the business must pay consent fees, which are essentially a “lease” for use of the sidewalk space.


Schneiderman Announces $500,000 Settlement with Harassing Management Company

Schneiderman announces settlement with New York City landlord accused of harassing rent-stabilized tenants across two boroughs. On September 27, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric. T. Schneiderman announced that a settlement had been reached between the State and ICON Realty Management. ICON owns several rent-regulated buildings in the East Village, the Lower East Side, and Brooklyn. The Attorney General alleged that ICON had engaged in illegal methods to harass rent-regulated tenants, including dangerous construction … <Read More>


City Council Overwhelmingly Passes Tenant Harassment Bills Package

City Council passes a package of bills intended to strengthen protections for tenants subject to harassment by landlords. Since the mid-2000s and largely due to the housing bubble, predatory equity has become a metastasis on the New York City housing market. The expulsion of both rent stabilized and market-rate tenants is accomplished through means both legal, by abusing technical loopholes in State law, and illegal, by dangerous living conditions and intimidation.


A Better Path for East Midtown

Early in January 2017 the City of New York began the official public approval process for a proposal to rezone East Midtown Manhattan. The proposal was based in part on a report by the East Midtown Steering Committee co-chaired by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the District 4 Council Member Daniel Garodnick.

The new 2017 proposal is the third proposal for rezoning East Midtown. In 2013 the Bloomberg Administration proposed to rezone East … <Read More>


Tenant Harassment Bills Package to be Considered by Committee

City Council Committee to hear testimony on a package of bills intended to strengthen protections for tenants subject to harassment by landlords. Since the mid-2000s and largely due to the housing bubble, predatory equity has become a metastasis on the New York City housing market. The expulsion of both rent stabilized and market-rate tenants is accomplished through means both legal, by abusing technical loopholes in State law, and illegal, by dangerous living conditions and intimidation.


Audit Faults Landmarks’ Record Keeping, Enforcement of Fee Requirement

Comptroller found that Landmarks did not record issuance dates for Certificates of No Effect, did not send timely notices to applicants who submitted incomplete applications, and did not reconcile permit fees collected by Buildings with permits issued by Landmarks issued. On November 30, 2016, the New York City Comptroller Scott Stringer released an audit report on the Landmarks Preservation Commission procedures and controls surrounding the issuance of Certificates of No Effect. Certificates of No Effect … <Read More>