161 Stationery Inc., located at 90 East 161st Street in the Bronx. Image Credit: Google Maps.
161 Stationery Inc., a prior violator, sold a single cigar for a price below City-required minimum. On October 21, 2017, Awad Ahmad, N., an employee of 161 Stationery Inc., located at 90 East 161st Street in the Bronx, was on the phone and helping other customers when an inspector from the Department of Consumer Affairs entered the store. The inspector placed $2.00 on the counter to purchase a cigar, and Awad Ahmad, N. sold the inspector a single Entourage Palma cigar for $1.50. (read more…)
Nagle WashRite LLC, located at 228 Nagle Avenue, Manhattan. Image Credit: Google Maps.
New York City residents subjected to City nuisance laws alleged that the City violated their constitutional rights. The City of New York, in separate proceedings, charged Sung Cho, David Diaz, and Jameelah El-Shabazz with violating the City’s nuisance abatement law. Under the nuisance abatement law, the City has the authority to shut a business or vacate a residence for up to one year on proof that offenses such as drug or stolen property crimes have occurred on the premises. The City relied on this nuisance law when it charged Sung Cho with the sale of stolen electronics at Sung Cho’s laundromat, Nagle WashRite LLC, located at 228 Nagle Avenue in Manhattan. In a separate case, the NYPD had arrested and subsequently sought to evict David Diaz and his family members after cocaine was found being sold from his apartment. The City also relied on the nuisance abatement law as it sought to evict El-Shabazz and her son following an arrest for drug possession. (read more…)
A Chevron oil tanker. Chevron was one of five companies sued by the City of New York over climate change. Image Credit: Wikimedia Commons/Lahti213
The City sued major oil companies for flood damage and climate change costs. On January 8, 2018, The City of New York filed a related lawsuit in federal court against BP, Chevron, ConocoPhillips, Exxon Mobile Corporation, and Royal Dutch Shell, PC, the five largest fossil fuel producers in the world. The City alleged that the oil companies downplayed the risks of climate change and promoted the use of fossil fuels despite environmental risks. The City sought to hold the oil companies liable for injuries to New York City from sea-level rise. (read more…)
280 East Burnside Avenue. Image Credit: Google Maps
Landlord attempted to evict tenant who owned a pitbull as an emotional support animal. On December 8, 2017, Javada James moved into a rent-controlled apartment located at 280 East Burnside Avenue in the Bronx. Ms. James signed a two-year lease which contained a conspicuous provision prohibiting pets on the premises without landlord consent. In December 2017, in an exchange of emails Ms. James notified the building’s landlord that she owned a female pitbull named “Bella,” and that she was medically in need of an emotional support animal. The landlord took no action with respect to the pet until after Ms. James notified the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development about the building’s lack of hot water and heat. (read more…)
An overhead view of the vacant disputed property. Image Credit: Google Maps
City claimed condemned property designated as wetlands was overvalued at $10 million. In 1985, seven acres of property covering six blocks in the Oakwood Beach section of Staten Island was donated to a yeshiva. The yeshiva’s plans for the property included development of a school and synagogue. Due to fiscal setbacks and a freshwater wetland designation, the yeshiva in 1991 sought and the City approved a hardship exemption in development of the planned school and synagogue. The yeshiva never actually began development on the property. (read more…)
Billboards on Citi Field as seen from a highway. Image Credit: Google Maps
Advertising companies sought to erect outdoor billboards in the Willets Point neighborhood. Mucho Media and other property owners in Queens’ Willets Point neighborhood sought to construct large advertising billboards on their property. For safety and aesthetic reasons, the City denied or ordered the removal of billboards in the Willets Point neighborhood. These actions were pursuant to the City’s zoning law that prohibits commercial billboards within two hundred feet of an arterial highway. (read more…)
