NYLS students and alumni ask Mayoral Candidate Shaun Donovan questions. Image Credit: CityLand

On Thursday, May 20, 2021, New York Law School hosted the latest in its Law and Leadership series with a Q&A session with Mayoral Candidates Shaun Donovan and Art Chang. Dean Anthony W. Crowell provided opening and closing remarks. New York Law School students and alumni were given the opportunity to ask the mayoral candidates questions about management style, and policy positions. For Mr. Chang’s portion of the Q&A session, NYLS Adjunct Professor and Senior Fellow Michael Pastor joined the discussion. (more…)

Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz, one of the three sites calendared by LPC on January 19th. Image Credit: LPC

Support for landmarking included a push for further preservation of the area south of Union Square. On March 23, 2021, the Landmarks Preservation Commission held public hearings on two proposed landmarks located in Manhattan. The Holyrood Episcopal Church-Iglesia Santa Cruz at 715 West 179th Street in Washington Heights and the Educational Building at 70 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village were two landmarks originally calendared as part of the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s new Equity Framework. The Equity Framework highlights the agency’s efforts for landmark designations that represent the city’s diverse and inclusive history. For CityLand’s prior coverage of the Equity Framework and calendaring, click here.  (more…)

Landlord sued to evict tenants from six-unit building in order to provide apartment for son. Shlomo Karpen owns a six-unit, rent-stabilized building in Brooklyn comprised of two rented units on the first, second and third floors. In June 2018, Karpen notified the tenants in the rented apartments that he would not renew their leases and intended to take over the apartments to make a four-bedroom apartment for his son. In October 2018, Karpen commenced an eviction proceeding against the tenants. Before the case could be completed, the State Legislature passed the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, which amended Rent Stabilization Law Section 26-511(c)(9) to provide that a landlord can recover only one apartment in a building for owner occupancy and must show compelling necessity. (more…)

Image credit: New York City Council.

The three bills provide transparency and protections for people seeking rental assistance. On October 29, 2020, the City Council voted to approve three rental assistance bills that would address income discrimination and provide more transparency in the rental assistance application process. (more…)

544 W 27th Street. Image Credit: Google Maps

Tenants claimed a permanent residence in loft building. Loft tenants Maria Nazor and Peter Mickle have occupied units 4N and 4S of 544 West 27th Street in Chelsea since 1983 and 1995, respectively. In 2009, after two unsuccessful holdover proceedings, landlord Sydney Sol Group Ltd. (f/k/a Mushlam, Inc.) won a judgement of ejectment against Nazor and Mickle in New York County Supreme Court. In December 2010, the Supreme Court vacated the judgement of ejectment and granted the tenants leave to pursue their rights under the 2010 amendment to the Loft Law before the New York City Loft Board. The 2010 amendment protects tenants of buildings that were residentially occupied by two or more families between 2008 and 2009. (more…)