The Center for Urban Research at CUNY’s Graduate Research Center recently launched the “Welcome to 1940s New York” Web site. When you enter your building’s address, the site displays 1940s Census data, Web maps, and pages from a rare 1943 book called NYC Market Analysis, found in 1997 by then-graduate student Steven Romalewski. The book […]
Late last year, the Fire Department issued two violation notices to a building owner for failing to maintain the building’s fire alarm system. The building’s fire alarm had gone off unnecessarily on two occasions, once from construction activities and another time for reasons unknown. The owner didn’t deny that the alarm went off, but argued […]
Owners of large apartment buildings in the city are bearing more of the property tax burden than owners of one- to three-family homes, according to a recent report released by NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. The report is titled “State of New York City’s Housing and Neighborhoods 2011.” According to the […]
Q: Is a New York City apartment building owner required to buy a workers’ compensation insurance policy even if she has only one employee? A: Yes. Under New York State law, residential building owners are required to buy a workers’ compensation insurance policy even if they have only one employee. Even if an owner contracts […]
After months of build-up and the solicitation of responses from the city and state, the Supreme Court has decided not to hear an appeal about the legality of rent stabilization. The case was that of James Harmon, an Upper West Side owner who argued that the city’s rent laws were the equivalent of illegally taking […]
The Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-member panel that sets annual rent increases on rent-stabilized apartments, met on May 1 to vote on preliminary numbers for increasing rent-stabilized rents. The board voted for rent hikes of between 1.75 and 4 percent on new one-year leases and increases of between 3.5 percent and 6.75 percent for two-year […]
The problem of mold recently got more dangerous for New York owners. Four years ago, a key appellate court decision in Manhattan blocked millions of dollars in legal claims for damages for health effects of mold in buildings, saying that the scientific evidence that mold caused illness was in dispute. However, that conclusion was recently […]
A New York superintendent was recently sentenced to three to nine years in prison for stealing thousands of dollars’ worth of art and jewelry from tenants. He pleaded guilty in February to grand larceny and declined to speak at his sentencing. The super had a record that dates back to 1984 and includes convictions or […]
The City Council is considering two new elevator safety bills. One would require certification for mechanics, and the other would require elevators to be equipped with extra safety mechanisms. The proposed legislation is prompted by the tragic death of the advertising executive who was killed last December when the elevator she was entering at her […]
In January, a family’s 8-year-old daughter was one of several children screened for lead at an apartment complex in the Bronx with more than 30 violations for lead. She had her blood tested in a mobile examination unit sponsored by state Sen. Jeff Klein and two local clinics. Her results showed positive results for lead […]
