Central Park West tenants win rent case

Owner claimed that federal law pre-empted Central Park West building from rent stabilization. In 1969, Jacob Haberman purchased nine separate tenement buildings at 431–439 Central Park West in Manhattan. Haberman took out a loan from the Federal Housing Administration in order to rehabilitate and combine the tenements into a single apartment building containing 120 units. In 1980, Haberman received a subsidy grant from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, and contracted with HUD … <Read More>


Stuy Town Tenants’ Claims Dismissed

Tenants at Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village claimed that owners covered by rent regulations. Tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village sued property owner PCV ST Owner LP and general partner Tishman Speyer Properties, seeking damages for rent overcharges and a declaration that rent regulation should continue as long as the property owner received J-51 tax benefits. The tenants alleged that the owner had deregulated more than 25% of the units … <Read More>


London Terrace case remanded

Landlord classified rental apartments as being destabilized and charged tenants market rate rents despite receiving J-51 tax benefits. London Terrace Gardens, located along West 23rd Street in Manhattan and built in 1930, occupies an entire block and has 1700 apartments. After the enactment of the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1993, London Terrace Gardens began deregulating rent-stabilized apartments through high-rent vacancy decontrol. London Terrace Gardens subsequently received J-51 tax abatement and exemption benefits after … <Read More>


Public Advocate’s Bill Creates a Centralized Database on the City’s Landlords

New Yorkers will now have access to detailed information on individual landlords in the City. On December 19, 2017, Public Advocate Letitia James’s legislation to create a centralized database on New York City’s landlords was passed unanimously in the New York City Council.


Council Members Denounce HPD Efforts Against Predatory Equity

City Council Members seek to strengthen tenant protections from predatory equity landlords. On October 31, 2016, City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings held a five-hour public hearing on a complement of five bills, two of which related to predatory equity.

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 predatory equity get-rich-scheme works as thus: private investment money is … <Read More>


Daniel R. Garodnick on serving the City and his district

Council Member Daniel R. Garodnick, the recently re-elected representative for Manhattan’s 4th District and chair of the subcommittee on Planning, Dispositions & Concessions, takes pride in being born and raised in the district he represents. Garodnick grew up in a rent-stabilized apartment in the Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village community and still lives in that neighborhood with his wife. His district also includes parts of the Upper East Side, Midtown, and Murray Hill.

After graduating from … <Read More>