COMPLETE VIDEO: 166th CityLaw Breakfast with Janet Sabel, CEO, The Legal Aid Society

On Friday, February 14, 2020, Legal Aid Society CEO, Janet Sabel, spoke at the 166th CityLaw Breakfast at New York Law School. Ms. Sabel was introduced by New York Law School Professor Alvin Bragg. Professor Ross Sandler, Director of the Center for New York City Law and Dean Anthony W. Crowell gave opening remarks. This Breakfast was sponsored by ConEdison, GreenbergTraurig, and Verizon. The Impact Center for Public Interest Law also co-sponsored the event. Attorney-in-chief … <Read More>


Building Code Order Upheld

City placed apartment building in program that forces owners to correct severe code violations. In February 2015, Trump Presidential Inc. purchased a three-story apartment building located in St. Albans, Queens. Trump filed a property registration form with New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development. A few months later, HPD selected the property for participation in the Alternative Enforcement Program. The program identifies the most distressed dwellings in the City and requires the owners … <Read More>


Emergency Order Upheld

Department of Buildings placed commercial building in program that forces the owner to immediately fix code violations. Rada Corporation is the owner of a commercial building located on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn. In May 2016, the New York City Department of Buildings issued a violation against the property, noting brick and cracked mortar joints. Buildings determined that due to the severity of the violations, an immediate emergency declaration was warranted. After the owner of the … <Read More>


Approval of Alteration – UPDATE: Case on Appeal

The owners of the Dean Sage Mansion in Crown Heights North Historic District sought to build addition to the 1870’s mansion. In the mid-nineteenth century the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn underwent suburban development of freestanding villas. Today, only a few of the Sturgis villas remain, one of which is the Dean Sage Mansion at 839 St. Mark’s Avenue, a rare High Gothic style mansion built in 1870 by architect Russell Sturgis. The Mansion, which … <Read More>


Tenant Wins Support Dog Claim

NYCHA put the tenant on probation after the tenant’s dog attacked the NYCHA employee. In April 2015, Lerone Washington’s English bulldog, Onyx, jumped and bit NYCHA’s employee who was delivering a hotplate to Washington’s apartment.  A few weeks later NYCHA informed Washington that it considered terminating Washinton’s lease due to his having an unauthorized and dangerous dog in the apartment. Although Washington attempted to register Onyx as a service pet, NYCHA ordered Washington to remove … <Read More>


Council in Agreement to Close Rikers, Questions Remain on Borough Based Jail Solution

Council received extensive testimony and differing perspectives on Borough Based Jails. On September 5, 2019, City Council’s Subcommittee on Landmarks, Public Siting and Maritime Uses held a public hearing regarding the City’s application to close Rikers Island and create a Borough Based Jail System. The proposed sites are 124-125 White Street in Manhattan, 745 East 141St Street in the Bronx, 126-02 82nd Avenue in Queens and at 275 Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn.