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On March 27, Mayor de Blasio called for a rent freeze for 2.3 million tenants in nearly 1 million rent-stabilized units across the city amid the COVID-19 epidemic.
Elected local officials and community housing advocates are applying pressure and calling for actions to address COVID-19’s economic fallout for tenants for New York City. Here are three such proposals:
On March 27, Governor Cuomo announced a New York State fine would take effect on March 31. According to new DOB protocols, project teams in New York City may be fined up to $10,000 if found working on non-essential or non-emergency construction—or if workers on projects that are allowed to continue don't practice social distancing to prevent spread of the novel coronavirus. Essential construction includes roads, bridges, transit facilities, utilities, hospitals or health care facilities, affordable housing, and homeless shelters, according to the DOB.
The NYC Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform announced that the first hearing following the release of its preliminary report will take place on Thursday, March 12 at 6:30 p.m. at the Petrides School Auditorium (C-Building) at 715 Ocean Terrace on Staten Island.
Residential evictions in New York City decreased 15 percent from the previous year, representing the largest single-year decrease in evictions since Mayor de Blasio signed the first-in-the-nation right-to-counsel law and launched the city’s Universal Access to Counsel Program. Residential evictions by marshals have declined more than 40 percent since 2013.
Mayor de Blasio recently signed a package of bills intended to strengthen existing lead laws, close loopholes that endanger children, and increase protections for pregnant women from the devastating effects of lead poisoning. In 2019, the City Council passed several pieces of lead-related legislation to amend Local Law 1 of 2004 (Local Law 1), also known as the Childhood Lead Poisoning Prevention Act. The latest legislation further strengthens Local Law 1.
The New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform recently released its preliminary report with an analysis of the city’s property tax system and a set of 10 initial recommendations for system reforms. The report marks the first review of the property tax system by a government-appointed commission since 1993. The report can be found here.
The DHCR recently released its new online service that will enable building owners to report information concerning individual apartment improvements (IAIs) for apartments subject to rent stabilization or rent control. This service was mandated by the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA) of 2019, which required the DHCR to develop a notification form for building owners to file with the DHCR for all IAIs made in vacant and occupied apartments.
Sen. Zellnor Myrie, who represents Central Brooklyn, is drafting new legislation that would give tenants the first opportunity to buy their building should it come up for sale. The bill, which is expected to be introduced soon, is being modeled after right-of-first-refusal legislation in a handful of states and in Washington, D.C.
The New York Court of Appeals on Tuesday, Jan. 7, held a hearing on five cases that involved claims that tenants were overcharged rent by their landlords, who had removed their apartments from rent stabilization while collecting J-51 tax benefits.
Each of the cases cite the pivotal 2009 Court of Appeals ruling, Roberts v. Tishman Speyer Properties, in which the high court ruled that landlords couldn’t receive J-51 tax benefits in New York City if they removed an apartment from rent stabilization via luxury decontrol.
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