187 East 4th Street, Manhattan. Image credit: CityLand

East Village landlord improperly deregulated luxury apartment while receiving a City J-51 tax benefit. Until 1999, apartment 5M at 187 East 4th Street in Manhattan’s East Village was a rent-stabilized unit with a rent of $1,464 per month. When the apartment became vacant the owner, 72A Realty Associates L.P., installed new windows, closets, cabinets, countertops and other improvements totaling over $18,000 in costs. Based on the improvements, the owner obtained a J-51 real property tax abatement. At the same time the owner raised the rent by 20 percent based on the vacancy, and added an additional 1/40th of improvement costs. These increases raised the rent above the $2,000 threshold for decontrolling the apartment. (read more…)

39 Fifth Avenue, Manhattan. Image credit: CityLand

Rent-stabilized tenant substantially profited from 93 individual Airbnb sublettings. In 2010, Linda Lipetz was diagnosed with cancer and was unable to work for over a year. From March 2011 to August 2012, in order to subsidize her rent, Lipetz sublet her rent-regulated apartment located at 39 Fifth Avenue in Greenwich Village. Lipetz hosted 93 different people for 338 total days through Airbnb, charging a nightly rate of $95 for one person and $120 for two, and generating $33,592 in revenue. (read more…)

620 West 182nd Street. Image credit: GoogleMaps

HPD ordered owner to replace dangerous floor joists in residential building. In 2007 the New York City Council amended the Housing Maintenance Code and created the Alternative Enforcement Program. The Program authorized the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to conduct building wide inspections and to compel building owners to correct within four month their violations of the Housing Maintenance Code. (read more…)

25 West 24th Street. Image credit: CityLaw

Landlord attempted to evict three HRA clients residing in single-room-occupancy facility. In 2013 the owners of a single-room-occupancy facility at 25 West 24th Street, Manhattan, entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Human Resources Administration to set aside 30 units for clients referred by the agency. The referrals would register their attendance automatically by swiping their HRA benefits card at the facility. The landlord submitted monthly bills to HRA, and could also collect additional money from referrals if their income exceeded $359 per month. Under the agreement, the landlord could not evict or remove a tenant without the approval of HRA, but if the tenant became a permanent resident under the provisions of the Rent Stabilization Code, having resided continuously at the facility for 30 days or longer, the tenant could only be removed by a warrant of eviction or other court order. (read more…)

258 West 97th Street, Manhattan. Image credit: CityLand

Hotel continued to operate transient use despite amendments to the Multiple Dwelling Law. The Royal Park Hotel, located at 258 West 97th St., Manhattan, operates as a transient use hotel. On July 5, 2012, Buildings issued a notice of violation to the Royal Park Hotel charging that it was operating as a transient hotel in violation of its 1964 certificate of occupancy. The 1964 certificate of occupancy classified the building as class A, a multiple dwelling.  Class A requires that the majority of rooms be used for “permanent resident purposes.” (read more…)

Trump Village at 2940 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn. Image Credit: GoogleMaps.

Residents of Trump Village challenged size of rent reduction when Trump Village switched to individual electric metering. Trump Village, located at 2940 Ocean Parkway in Brooklyn, has 433 rent-regulated apartments. In January 2006, Trump Village applied to the State Division of Housing and Community Renewal to convert Trump Village to individual electric metering and to separate the cost of electricity from rent payments of tenants. In June 2006, the Division approved Trump Village’s application, including a required rent reduction based on the Division’s Operational Bulletin 2003.  Some tenants filed for administrative review with the Division, which the Division rejected in April 2008.  In June 2008, Michael Knee, a tenant, along with the Concerned Tenants For Equitable Submetering commenced an article 78 challenging the rent reduction. They argued that the Division should have updated its Operational Bulletin 2003 using data from the 2005 NYC Housing Survey.  While the petition was pending, the Division updated the Operational Bulletin. (read more…)