Dean Anthony W. Crowell and Professor Ross Sandler, Director
cordially invite you to the 158th CityLaw Breakfast.
Hon. Jonathan Lippman
Former Chief Judge, New York Court of Appeals
Speaking on
“The Closing of Rikers Island as a Catalyst for Criminal Justice Reform in New York”
Friday, January 18, 2019 (read more…)
HPD provided temporary housing for tenants and then filed liens against the tenants’ former landlords for expenses in providing the temporary housing. The Court of Appeals issued one opinion involving two separate cases concerning expenses incurred by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for temporary shelter. In 1995 the Fire Department issued a vacate order affecting two tenants of a building in Brooklyn owned by David Rivera. HPD provided the tenants with temporary shelter services in single-room occupancy apartments from June 1995 through December 1995. HPD, acting under the City’s Administrative Code, filed a notice of lien against Rivera’s building seeking reimbursement for HPD’s expenses. (read more…)
Image credit: CityLaw
The Court of Appeals, after 22 years of litigation, upheld the City’s adult use zoning rules and dismissed the complaint challenging the rules. In 1994 the City’s Department of City Planning completed a study of sexually focused businesses: adult video and bookstores, adult live or movie theaters, and topless or nude bars. The study led to the passage in 1995 of a zoning amendment barring adult establishments from residential and most commercial and manufacturing zones, and mandating that, where permitted, adult businesses had to be located at least 500 feet from houses of worship, schools, day care centers, and other adult businesses. The City defined an adult establishment as one in which a substantial portion of the business was devoted to adult uses. This was further refined under the so-called 60/40 test which defined substantial use as equating to 40 percent or more of the space devoted to adult use. This definition did not prove practical and the City amended the definition again in 2001 by removing the mandatory nature of the 60/40 rule, deleting the substantial use language, and adding qualitative criteria. (read more…)
Council Member Daniel Dromm. Image Credit: William Alatriste for the City Council.
City Council to have hearing on a bill to define “residency” in the City’s Lead Law in response to a decision by the Court of Appeals. In April 2016, the New York State Court of Appeals found that a landlord has no duty to remove lead paint from residences where children six-years or younger may spend time when the child does not live in the apartment. The Court found that a child spending in excess of 50 hours a week in an apartment did not trigger the landlord’s duty. Yaniveth R. v. LTD Realty Co., 27 N.Y.3d 186 (N.Y. Apr. 5, 2016). (read more…)
The Court of Appeals reinstated a revocation of Greater Jamaica Development’s Corporation property tax exemption. Image credit: GJDC
Court of Appeals reversed decision of Appellate Division recognizing a tax exemption. In 2011, the Department of Finance revoked a property tax exemption granted for five public parking facilities owned by the nonprofit Greater Jamaica Development Corporation and its LLC, Jamaica First Parking. The exemption, granted in 2007 pursuant to RPTL §420-a in recognition of Greater Jamaica’s mission to spur development and growth in the downtown Jamaica area, was revoked on the grounds that operating parking facilities were not inherently a charitable activity under §420-a.
NYU superblock development as originally proposed. Image credit: NYU.
Court found no implied dedication of target parcels as parkland. In 2012, the City Council approved a plan by New York University to develop two “superblocks” bounded by West 3rd Street, Houston Street, Mercer Street, and LaGuardia Place in the Greenwich Village section of Manhattan as part of an expansion plan for the campus. Assemblymember Deborah Glick, joined by the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, the Historic Districts Council, and other local community groups challenged the approval in court arguing the Council’s approval improperly granted four community parks to NYU for the expansion in violation of the public trust doctrine.
