Agencies Distribute Information on the Dangers of Illegally-Converted Apartments

As part of campaign, list of 10 dangers created to help residents before they rent an illegally converted apartment. On December 5, 2018, the Department of Buildings in conjunction with the New York City Fire Department announced a citywide campaign to educate both tenants and property owners on the dangers of illegally-converted apartment. Representatives from both agencies will be distributing flyers throughout the five boroughs over the next three week.


Follow-Up Comptroller Audit Finds Previously Cited Privately Owned Public Spaces Still Non-Compliant

Audit reveals that Department of Buildings did not inspect non-compliant POPS locations. On November 22, 2017, the Office of the City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of a follow-up audit to determine whether the Privately Owned Public Spaces (POPS), previously found noncompliant in an April 18, 2017 audit, now provided all required amenities, and what action if any were taken by the Department of Buildings to bring these POPS into compliance. To read CityLand’s<Read More>


HPD’s Lien for Shelter Upheld

HPD provided temporary housing for tenants and then filed liens against the tenants’ former landlords for expenses in providing the temporary housing. The Court of Appeals issued one opinion involving two separate cases concerning expenses incurred by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development for temporary shelter. In 1995 the Fire Department issued a vacate order affecting two tenants of a building in Brooklyn owned by David Rivera. HPD provided the tenants with temporary … <Read More>


CityLaw Profile: Pei Pei Cheng-de Castro

Pei Pei Cheng-de Castro, the Director of Investigation and Enforcement at the New York State Joint Commission on Public Ethics, has had a diverse career in which public service has remained a constant. Education has also been at the core of Cheng-de Castro’s career—she taught legal writing at New York Law School, founded a charter school, and now works for an agency that educates public officials on ethics laws as part of its mission.

Cheng-de … <Read More>


Council Approves Construction Safety Training Requirement

City Council unanimously passed a landmark construction safety bill mandating worker training. On September 27, 2017, City Council voted 42-0 to pass Int. No. 1447-C, which will implement mandatory construction safety training standards citywide with equal accessibility. This bill was a controversial aspect of a package of construction safety bills, some of which were passed in May 2017. For CityLand’s prior coverage on this matter, click here.

This bill drew the most debate <Read More>


Adjacent Building Owners Win Protections For Demolition

City sought to demolish derelict, mid-block row-house. The Department of Buildings issued an emergency declaration to demolish a deteriorating, vacant, and dangerous row-house at 32-49 37th Street between Broadway and 34th Avenue in Astoria. In order to demolish the abandoned mid-block building, contractors were required to erect scaffolding protecting the adjoining row-houses that physically abut the derelict building. The owners of the neighboring row-houses refused access to construct the scaffolding unless the City obtained legal … <Read More>