Screen Shot of Department of State’s Rent Law Memorandum. Click the image to view the full memorandum.

Real estate community in state of confusion over 2019 Rent laws. On February 10, 2020, the Real Estate Board of New York Inc. (“REBNY’”), the New York State Associations of Realtors (“NYSAR”) and a host of residential real estate brokerages were granted a temporary restraining order, blocking the New York State Department of State’s guidance on broker commissions. The TRO comes in conjunction with their Article 78 filing seeking to invalidate the memorandum’s entire section prohibiting landlord’s brokers from collecting commissions from prospective tenants.

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PS 163 in Manhattan. Image credit: Citylaw.

Non-profit developer sought to build residence for the elderly in Manhattan adjacent to a public school. In 2012, Jewish Home Lifecare, a non-profit providing health care services, applied to the New York State Department of Health for a permit to construct a residential facility for the elderly and disabled to be located on West 97th Street in Manhattan next door to P.S. 163. After Lifecare submitted an environmental assessment statement and an environmental impact statement, pursuant to the State Environmental Quality Review Act, the Health Department approved the facility. Parents from P.S. 163 and nearby tenants objected and filed an article 78 petition seeking to annul the Health Department’s approval. The parents and tenants claimed that the Health Department had failed to address adequately the risks of exposure to hazardous materials and noise-levels. (read more…)

Image credit: NYC Water Board

Court of Appeals affirmed Water Board plan: credits to some, rate hikes for all. The New York City Water Board leases the reservoirs and water and sewage system from the City. Historically, the City tied the rental amount to the sum owed on the City’s water and sewer-related general obligation bonds. In 2003, however, the City began collecting rent above what was owed on the bonds. This increase led to a spike in water rates for ratepayers and an outcry of complaints. (read more…)

The Board of Standards and Appeals had denied the application based on its finding that the signage was an art installation rather than an “advertising sign,” as defined in the Zoning Resolution. Local Law 31 of 2005 amends the regulations governing the usage of outdoor advertising signs by requiring companies engaged in outdoor advertising to submit to the Department of Buildings an exhaustive list of all of the companies’ “signs, sign structures and sign locations” which are located within 900 feet and within view of an arterial highway. Pursuant to Local Law 31, a Sign Registration Application was submitted to the Department of Buildings on April 4, 2011 to register an advertising sign-structure on the south wall of a six-story parking garage located at 111 Varick Street in Lower Manhattan, which is 57 feet from the Holland Tunnel—a designated arterial highway under the Zoning Resolution. The Department of Buildings rejected the application on March 12, 2012 by pointing to evidence indicating that the sign’s size and orientation had been changed, which are actions in violation of the Zoning Resolution. On January 15, 2013, the Board of Standards and Appeals agreed with the Buildings’ determination that the sign structure’s status as an “advertising sign,” as defined by Zoning Resolution § 12-10, was discontinued when Terry Fugate-Wilcox leased the sign structure from 1979 to 1989 to display his art installation titled the “Holland Tunnel Wall,” and the Board affirmed the denial of the application.

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Google map view of St. Mary's Hospital

Opponent’s attempt to stop construction declared moot. St. Mary’s Hospital for Children operates a 97-bed children’s hospital on an eight-acre campus at 29-01 216th Street in Bayside, Queens. The hospital building was built in the 1950s. In 2006, St. Mary’s sought to add a five-story, 90,000 sq.ft. addition to the eastern side of the hospital. In October 2008, St. Mary’s sought a determination from the Department of Buildings confirming that the site was permitted a maximum floor area ratio (FAR) of 1.0. Buildings denied the request, stating that the proposed addition needed to comply with a 1973 amendment to the zoning resolution restricting community facilities like St. Mary’s to a maximum FAR of 0.5. The amendment included an exception clause indicating that the amendment “shall not apply to buildings for which plans were filed with the Department of Buildings prior to November 15, 1972 including any subsequent amendments thereof.” On October 20, 2010, Buildings reconsidered, approving the request and allowing an FAR of 1.0 because the hospital was built prior to November 15, 1972.

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Aerial View of Willets Point with Convention Center to the North. Image: Courtesy of EDC.

Willets Point 126th Street Across from CitiField. Image: Courtesy of EDC.

City targeting 12.75-acre site adjacent to Citi Field for first phase of construction. On May 9, 2011, The City’s Economic Development Corporation issued a request for proposals seeking a developer for Phase 1 of the Willets Point District redevelopment plan in Queens. The triangle-shaped Willets Point District comprises 61.4 acres generally bounded by Northern Boulevard, the Van Wyck Expressway, and 126th Street. The contentious redevelopment plan was approved by the City Council in November 2008. 5 CityLand 167 (Dec. 2008).

The Phase 1 site is a 12.75-acre parcel along 126th Street and Roosevelt Avenue across from Citi Field. The approved program for Phase 1 construction would permit up to 400 units of mixed-income housing, 680,000 sq.ft. of retail space, and 387 hotel rooms. The developer must create at least 2.08 acres of publicly accessible open space. There will be 7.5 acres of unbuilt area buffering the Phase 1 site. (read more…)