Tenants in loft law units sought rent regulation protection based on 2010 amendments. 59 Crosby Street in Manhattan was an interim multiple dwelling covered under the 1982 loft law. This law required an owner to convert an interim multiple dwelling building into legal residential premises and obtain a certificate of occupancy. The owners of 59 Crosby in 1984 purchased the rights and improvements to the fifth-floor interim multiple dwelling unit from the then-current tenant. In 1992 the owners purchased the rights and improvements to the second-floor interim multiple dwelling unit, also from the then-current tenants.
In June 2010 the loft law was amended to expand the period under which residential units could qualify for coverage as an interim multiple dwelling. The current tenants residing in the second- and fifth-floor units at 59 Crosby, which the owners had purchased, sought protected-occupancy status under the 2010 amendments.
OATH ALJ Ingrid M. Addison found that the tenants qualified as protected occupants, but were not entitled to rent regulation under the loft law. When the owners of 59 Crosby purchased the rights and improvements to the two units, rent regulation of the units was lifted. The 2010 amendments, ALJ Addison found, did not re-regulate existing interim multiple dwelling units that had been rent deregulated. The ALJ concluded that the intent of the amendments was to cover units that had never previously been covered by the loft law.
Grundon, OATH Index Nos. 2445/11 & 2446/11 (Nov. 16, 2011) (Addison, ALJ) (Attorneys: Margaret B. Sandercock, for tenants; Harry Shapiro, for building owner). CITYADMIN