The City Council, Public Advocate and administration officials agree that new measures should be taken to ensure 421-a compliance, proposed legislation is a good start. On November 22, 2016, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings and Committee on Finance held a joint hearing on the City’s enforcement of 421-a requirements. The meeting also served as a public hearing for three proposed bills to strengthen enforcement efforts. (more…)

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman speaking at New York Law School, March 18, 2014. Image credit: CityLaw

The new Real Estate Enforcement Unit will be in charge of investigating tenant harassment and related complaints. On July 7, 2016, Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced his new plan to create a new legal enforcement team to combat tenant harassment and related housing issues affecting New York residents. These new initiatives come in the wake of several crackdowns on housing related incidents.

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Buildings amended crane law to stop crane owners from de-rating crane tonnage capacity. As part of Buildings’ new construction code, a provision was enacted to limit Class C1 licensed crane operators to single control stations. The provision was meant to limit crane owners’ ability to de-rate a crane’s maximum load capacity. De-rating is the practice of reporting that a crane has a lesser ton capacity than it actually has so that a lower licensee, a Class C1 licensee, can operate the crane. A crane with a capacity greater than 50 tons must be operated by a crane operator with a Class A license, a license that is less readily available in the industry. Before enacting the new provision, Buildings inspectors were having difficulty enforcing the licensing scheme because there was no obvious visual means of ascertaining a crane’s actual tonnage capacity. The new provision limited Class C1 licensees to operating single control station cranes because dual cab cranes tended to be larger and had maximum load capacities exceeding 50 tons. By limiting Class C1 operators to single control stations, Buildings could visually observe violations and better enforce compliance.

In 2008, a group of crane owners filed an article 78 petition, challenging the constitutionality of the provision and seeking to enjoin Buildings from enforcing it. A lower court granted a temporary injunction, ruling that the crane owners would likely succeed in showing that the provision as worded was unconstitutional, and that enforcement would cause irreparable harm to the crane owners. The court further ruled that the limit on Class C1 operators to single control stations made the provision arbitrary and capricious because it was not related to what Buildings was trying to regulate. (more…)

Audit found inadequate follow-up on violations; DOB to implement most, if not all,of Comptroller’s recommendations. City Comptroller William C. Thompson issued an audit report on Buildings’ handling of Building Code and other violations. The audit determined that Buildings’ follow-up efforts on violations were insufficient, not only because of program deficiencies, but also because Buildings lacked the authority to re-inspect flagged sites without a warrant and to compel property owners to remedy violations. As a result, many violations have remained outstanding for extended periods of time.

The audit focused on two of Buildings’ programs, the Certificate of Correction Audit Program, which ensures the integrity of certificates of corrections filed by property owners in response to issued violations, and the Hazardous Re-inspection Program, which ensures that hazardous conditions have been rectified. The audit found that in both programs, inspectors were not able to access properties nor were property owners required to, or had an incentive to, give inspectors access. Also, in cases where the Hazardous Re-inspection inspectors could not access a property, they sometimes failed to leave proper notice asking owners to contact Buildings to arrange an inspection. The Comptroller advised Buildings to ensure that inspectors left the requisite notices, and recommended evening inspections when a daytime attempt proved unsuccessful. In Fiscal Year 2007, the audit found that Buildings failed to inspect one-third of the owner-submitted certificates of correction and 20 percent of the audited properties in the Hazardous Re-inspection program. (more…)

Mayor Adams and administrative and agency leaders announce business violation reforms. Image Credit: Benny Polatseck/Mayoral Photography Office.

On May 15, 2022, Mayor Eric Adams announced reforms to 118 city regulations relating to small businesses. In January 2022, Mayor Adams signed the “Small Business Forward” executive order that required several city agencies to review their business regulations to determine which regulations could have reduced fines, extended cure periods, or be repealed to assist small businesses in their recovery from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The new announcement reveals the 118 regulations that will be altered or repealed.  (more…)