Council Speaker Corey Johnson, Council Member Robert Cornegy, and Council Member Andrew Cohen at the April 28th Committee public hearing held through Zoom./Image Credit: City Council
Testimonies at the public hearing revealed concerns about the two bills and their impact on the City’s tenants and landlords. On April 28, 2020, the City Council Committee on Housing and Buildings, and Committee on Consumer Affairs and Business Licensing held a joint public hearing on two bills that will provide protection to residential and commercial tenants who are financially impacted by COVID-19. Introduction 1912, sponsored by Council Speaker Corey Johnson, will prohibit court marshals and sheriffs from enforcing evictions and collecting debt for one month after the federal and state moratoriums on evictions are lifted. Introduction 1936, sponsored by Council Member Ritchie Torres, will make it illegal to harass a tenant based on how they were impacted by COVID-19. The bills were proposed to provide financial relief to tenants who have faced COVID-19 related economic losses and to prevent an increase of homelessness and displacement after eviction moratoriums are lifted.
(read more…)
Image Credit: NYC Human Rights Commission.
New local law bans employers from asking applicants about past salaries. On October 31, 2017, the new city-wide Salary History Law took effect. Public Advocate Letitia James, introduced the legislation in August 2017 in response to a report that women in the City earned $5.8 billion less than men in annual wages. Women in City government suffered a wage gap two-to-three times larger than women working in the private sector, with women of color hurt more than women from other backgrounds. (read more…)
Image Credit: NYC Commission on Human Rights
Mother and disabled daughter sought compensation for emotional distress for landlord’s failure to provide more appropriate bathtub. Bianca Torres, a disabled 17-year-old, was denied a lower, smaller bathtub by the landlord of the three story, rent-controlled building on Stephen Street in Queens where she lived with her mother, Lynn Blue. Bianca Torres suffered from autism and seizure disorders, and she had no cartilage in her left knee. Torres needed assistance with every aspect of her daily routine, including bathing, and a wheelchair to travel outside the apartment.
On October 30, 2014, the Commission on Human Rights filed a complaint charging that Milena Jovic, the landlord, had violated the City’s Human Rights Law by failing for two years to replace the existing porcelain tub on legs with a lower, smaller bathtub. The process of bathing sometimes caused injuries to both mother and daughter because of the small size of the bathroom. Jovic responded that the bathtub was in compliance with the building code, but that it could be replaced if Blue agreed to a rent increase. This was Blue’s second complaint involving Jovic—the first, in 2006, the Commission persuaded Jovic to allow Blue to store a wheelchair on the first floor instead of carrying it up three stories to the apartment for storage.
(read more…)
New York City Council Member Inez Barron. Image credit: NYCC/William Alatriste
If enacted, the bills would mandate the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to provide legal assistance information to susceptible tenants. On May 4, 2016, the City Council Subcommittee on Housing and Buildings held a public hearing on two bills introduced to ensure seniors and disabled persons facing eviction have access to information about the legal services available to help them. The bills would mandate the Department of Housing Preservation and Development to provide such tenants with referrals to legal services organizations upon being notified of the initiation of eviction proceedings.
(read more…)
