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In conjunction with the 29th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Mayor de Blasio and the Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities (MOPD) Commissioner Victor Calise recently released the 2019 AccessibleNYC report. The fourth annual report provides a comprehensive roadmap to improve quality of life for New Yorkers with disabilities in the areas of: transportation, employment, financial empowerment, housing, health, technology,...
Mayor de Blasio recently announced that the city financed 25,299 low-income homes in Fiscal Year 2019, and a total of 135,437 affordable homes since 2014. This represents significant strides toward the mayor’s goal to create 300,000 low-income homes by 2026 through the Housing New York (HNY) plan. FY 2019 saw the highest production of units for homeless, seniors, and supportive housing of any year on record.
A Brooklyn Airbnb host who claimed he was unfairly targeted by the city in retaliation for his advocacy against legislation regulating home-sharing activity will move forward with a civil rights lawsuit after a U.S. District Court judge dismissed some of his claims but declined to throw out the suit in full. The Airbnb user had sued New York City in federal court, claiming that the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement retaliated against him for speaking out in fa...
The de Blasio Administration recently announced it submitted formal comments to the federal government in opposition to a proposed rule that would evict thousands of New Yorkers from federally assisted housing based on immigration status. It’s estimated that the rule change would have an immediate effect on approximately 11,400 New Yorkers, including nearly 5,000 children.
Two owner groups, the Rent Stabilization Association and the Community Housing Improvement Program, are expected to file a lawsuit soon challenging the new rent law signed in June by Gov. Cuomo. The lawsuit is likely to be argued on the basis that the new rent law violate owners’ constitutional right against the “unlawful taking of property.”
The legal team is expected to be led by Andrew Pincus, an appellate specialist who has filed numerous cha...
At a recent protest in Albany, hundreds of protesters frustrated by the slow movement of proposals to strengthen tenant protections in New York State blocked access to the Senate and Assembly chambers in Albany. Sixty-one people throughout the Capitol were arrested and charged with disorderly conduct.
At a recent press conference, Gov. Cuomo rejected the idea of eliminating the major capital improvements (MCIs) and individual apartment improvements (IAIs) mechanisms for recouping owner capital investments in rent-regulated buildings. He said the package of reforms he and the state Legislature must agree upon should retain MCIs and IAIs but limit how long building owners can increase rents after improvements. "I support reforming them so that they're fair to ...
Public Advocate Jumaane Williams intends to introduce legislation that would force a racial impact analysis as part of the city’s environmental impact statement of zoning changes. City-led rezonings have faced criticisms for targeting neighborhoods of color. “Rezonings have had a net effect of speeding up gentrification. If people are going to be gentrified out, that should be paid attention to and studied,” Williams said in a statement. The bill is al...
For the third year in a row, New York Apartment Law Insider has been recognized by the Specialized Information Publishers Association as one of the best business newsletters published today. Also among the top three newsletters awarded was the Insider's sister publication, Fair Housing Coach, which trains property management staff nationwide on how to avoid costly discriminatio...
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently initiated NYCHA’s new lead-based paint testing program. For the first time, 135,000 apartments will be tested with portable X-ray fluorescence (XRF) analyzers. Surpassing local and federal requirements, this effort will determine the presence of lead paint and abate any hazards found in these units. These 135,000 units were built before 1978, when lead paint was banned at the federal level. Testing will be completed by the end of 2020...