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The de Blasio administration has made recent efforts to increase protections for rent-stabilized tenants, including free legal representation for tenants in up to 15 neighborhoods. It’s also launching a new Tenant Harassment Prevention Task Force with State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman to combat illegal practices that push tenants out of their apartments.

As rent laws come up for renewal on June 15, the mayor’s latest focus has been to call for s...

On March 27, the Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) formally recommended a water rate increase of 3.24 percent to the New York City Water Board. This marks the second consecutive annual increase since Mayor de Blasio took office, but the lowest one in a decade.

Two Brooklyn owners were arrested for intentionally wrecking apartments in order to drive tenants out of their rent-stabilized buildings. The owners, who are brothers collectively known as JBI Management, had destroyed the kitchens and bathrooms of two ground-floor apartments with a sledgehammer, taking down a wall that divided the apartments in the process. The owners said the work was necessary for repairs, and would be done in three weeks; it took 17 months and the h...

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently appointed a new chair of the City Commission on Human Rights (CHR): Carmelyn Malalis, a partner at the law firm Outten & Golden LLP. He also appointed eight new commissioners to the agency. Ms. Malalis replaces Patricia Gatling.

“Hailing from Brooklyn to Brazil and ranging from rabbis to pastors, today’s appointees represent a diverse, progressive, and exceptionally qualified group sharing an unwavering commitment to s...

As the annual fight on increases nears, Mayor de Blasio has appointed three new members to the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) that sets rents for about one million rent-stabilized apartments in the city, completing the process of filling all nine seats with his selections.

A sweeping corruption investigation led to the recent indictment of 16 employees in the Department of Buildings and Department of Housing Preservation and Development, along with various property managers, contractors, and expeditors. The defendants are charged in 26 indictments including bribery, bribe receiving, falsifying business records, tampering with public records, and official misconduct.

Newly elected New York Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie recently stated that renewing and strengthening New York City rent-regulation laws will be his “No. 1 priority” during his first public appearance with Mayor Bill de Blasio. “When it comes to the issue of affordable housing, he’s going to fight for the people of New York City,” Mayor de Blasio said of Mr. Heastie. “He’s going to see the faces of the families of this city while...

City Council Member Corey Johnson seeks to introduce new legislation that would change the methodology of the city’s Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) for determining rent guidelines for rent-stabilized apartments. At a rally in front of City Hall, he said that while owners’ operating expenditures have gone up slightly in the past few years, their incomes have risen much faster.

On Jan. 20, the City Council’s Housing and Buildings Committee held a hearing to discuss various matters related to short-term apartment rentals, especially those listed through Airbnb, the pioneering home rental service. New York has emerged as Airbnb’s largest market. The company says it has 25,000 active hosts in the city and is waging a perception campaign against the idea that its service is exacerbating the housing shortage in New York.

Council members Mark Levine and Vanessa Gibson are co-sponsors of a City Council bill that would establish the right to legal counsel in eviction cases. The bill, Intro 214, would create a position of civil justice coordinator under the commissioner of Housing Preservation and Development. If passed, it would make New York City the first city in the U.S. to recognize a right to counsel in eviction proceedings.