Landlord loses eviction action

Landlord sued to evict tenants from six-unit building in order to provide apartment for son. Shlomo Karpen owns a six-unit, rent-stabilized building in Brooklyn comprised of two rented units on the first, second and third floors. In June 2018, Karpen notified the tenants in the rented apartments that he would not renew their leases and intended to take over the apartments to make a four-bedroom apartment for his son. In October 2018, Karpen commenced an … <Read More>


COMPLETE VIDEO: 170th CityLaw Breakfast with James E. Johnson, Corporation Counsel

On December 3, 2020 James E. Johnson, Corporation Counsel, spoke at the 170th CityLaw Breakfast. Mr. Johnson spoke on “The Common Good and the Municipal Lawyer: Managing Risk and Building Trust.” Professor Ross Sandler, Director of the Center for New York City Law provided opening remarks and Dean Anthony W. Crowell provided closing remarks. This Breakfast was sponsored by ConEdison, Greenberg Traurig, and Verizon. This was the fourth virtual CityLaw Breakfast as in-person events are <Read More>


Parks Dept Completes $3.8 Million Upgrades to Norwood Playground in the Bronx

New upgrades make the park safer, more fun, and accessible to all New Yorkers. On November 6, 2020, NYC Parks Commissioner Mitchell J. Silver, Bronx Borough President Ruben Diaz Jr., City Council Member Andrew Cohen, State Assembly Member Nathalia Fernandez, State Assembly Member Jeffrey Dinowitz, Bronx Community Board 7 parks Chair Barbara Stronczer, and representatives from the Friends of Mosholu Parkland unveiled the reconstructed Kossuth Playground located along Mosholu Parkway North and Kossuth Avenue in … <Read More>


City Announces Plan to Reopen Schools After Temporary Halt to In-Person Learning

Elementary schools will reopen December 7th but middle and high schools will remain remote only for the foreseeable future. On November 29, 2020, Mayor Bill de Blasio and Department of Education Chancellor Richard Carranza announced a plan to reopen New York City public schools for in-person learning after temporarily shutting schools on November 19th after the City’s COVID-19 positivity rates exceeded three percent. 


Reducing Racial Bias Embedded in Land Use Codes

Even though the Supreme Court struck down race-based land use controls over a hundred years ago in Buchanan v. Warley, 245 U.S. 60 (1917) it has long been known that zoning continues to create or increase racial and economic segregation. Today communities across the U.S. are reexamining their zoning regulations to create more equal, equitable, inclusive, and resilient communities by removing requirements, limitations, or prohibitions that disproportionately and negatively impact individuals based on race … <Read More>