COMMENTARY – Subway Warning Signs: Make Them Tougher

The number of persons killed by contact with subway trains is truly alarming and, worse, consistent year to year. The victims include persons with severe mental problems and drug and alcohol addiction on the one hand, and, on the other hand, adventuresome youths who see romance and challenge in the subways’ dark tunnels, speedy trains and endless tracks. All the deaths are tragedies.


Landlord Loses Eviction Motion

Taiwanese man on student visa sought succession rights in rent-stabilized apartment after his partner’s untimely death. Ta-Wei Yu, a Taiwanese citizen, has resided in New York City since being admitted to the United States in 2005 on a still-valid F-1 student visa. While pursuing his doctorate in music, Yu entered into a committed romantic relationship with a native New Yorker. In 2012 Yu moved into his partner’s rent-stabilized apartment. His partner died suddenly in 2015, … <Read More>


Emergency Order Upheld

Department of Buildings placed commercial building in program that forces the owner to immediately fix code violations. Rada Corporation is the owner of a commercial building located on Remsen Avenue in Brooklyn. In May 2016, the New York City Department of Buildings issued a violation against the property, noting brick and cracked mortar joints. Buildings determined that due to the severity of the violations, an immediate emergency declaration was warranted. After the owner of the … <Read More>


Approval of Alteration – UPDATE: Case on Appeal

The owners of the Dean Sage Mansion in Crown Heights North Historic District sought to build addition to the 1870’s mansion. In the mid-nineteenth century the Crown Heights neighborhood of Brooklyn underwent suburban development of freestanding villas. Today, only a few of the Sturgis villas remain, one of which is the Dean Sage Mansion at 839 St. Mark’s Avenue, a rare High Gothic style mansion built in 1870 by architect Russell Sturgis. The Mansion, which … <Read More>


HPD Opens City’s First LGBT-Friendly Affordable Senior Housing

The project is a part of NYCHA’s efforts to build 10,000 units of affordable housing over the next decade. On December 17, 2019, the Department of Housing, Preservation and Development (HPD) announced the opening of Stonewall House, a new LGBT-friendly affordable elder housing at 112 St. Edwards Street in Fort Greene, Brooklyn. The project is the first elder housing in both the City and State to be designed as “LGBT-friendly.”