Residents Prevent Development in Fight Over Open Space

Appellate Division finds that Buildings improperly issued construction permit for nursing home after misinterpreting the zoning resolution. Park West Village is a complex located on a superblock bounded by West 100th Street to the north, West 97th Street to the south, Columbus Avenue to the east, and Amsterdam Avenue to the west on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The complex was built in the 1950s and 1960s as part of a federally … <Read More>


Advertising sign application denied

Owner sought to install billboard capable of running 54 advertisements. Baychester Retail III LLC filed applications to install an LED billboard capable of displaying 54 video screen advertisements on a commercial property located near Co-op City, in the Baychester section neighborhood of the Bronx near the New England Thruway. Buildings denied the applications.


CityLand’s Top Ten Stories of 2018

Welcome to CityLand‘s seventh annual top ten stories of the year! We have selected a range of our most popular and prominent stories, and guest commentaries concerning New York City land use in 2018. Our 2018 coverage was highlighted by articles concerning approvals for affordable housing, proposals for rezoning developments, legislation providing the right to housing counsel, and a guide on barbecuing in the city. We at CityLand are excited to continue providing in-depth … <Read More>


Landlord Fined $53,100 for Residential Tenants’ Illegal Transient Use

The Appellate Division affirmed fines for illegal conversion of residential units as hotel rooms. 360 West 43rd Street is a 28-story, 264 rent-stabilized unit building in Midtown, Manhattan. On June 5, 2015, the owner sent three tenants a letter advising them that their leases would be terminated and they would be evicted if they continued illegally renting out the apartments for hotel use.


Sixth Unit Triggered Rent Laws

Owner of a five family house added unit intended for residential use. Nicolae Gogarnow, the owner of a five family house in Queens, lived on the first floor of the house. The house had five residential units, a commercial space that partially occupied the first floor, and an additional unoccupied space on the first floor.  Owner Gogarnow filed a petition to evict one of the tenants, Rosalia Silvia. Silvia defended by claiming that she had … <Read More>


Court Finds Commercial Tenants’ Guilty Plea Voided Lease

The owners of a midtown antique shop were convicted of illegally selling $1.5 million worth of elephant ivory, which allowed their landlords to evict them pursuant to New York Property Law. In 2015, an undercover officer entered the Metropolitan Fine Arts & Antiques shop and bought ivory for $2,000. The sale of ivory without a permit became illegal in 2014 in an effort to protect elephant population. The authorities found and seized 126 ivory articles, … <Read More>