Pilot Program Will Require Certification of No Harassment Before Approval of Construction Permits

Building owners denied certification may not significantly alter their buildings for five years. On October 12, 2018, the de Blasio Administration announced the application of the Certification of No Harassment (CONH) Pilot Program, which seeks to expand tenant harassment protections. The program will require buildings to meet certain criteria to certify that no previous tenant-harassment has occurred prior to obtaining construction permits for significant alterations to their property. CONH currently applies to more than 1,000 <Read More>


Challenge to Denial of Hardship Application Fails on Appeal

Developer claimed that Commissioners irrationally and prejudicially analyzed hardship application, and that designation amounted to an unconstitutional taking. In 1990, Landmarks designated the City and Suburban Homes Company, First Avenue Estate an individual City landmark. The block-sized development is bounded East 64th and 65th Streets and York and First Avenues. Built between 1819 and 1915, it was constructed to provide high-quality housing to low-income New Yorkers in an alternative to crowded, poorly ventilated tenement buildings. … <Read More>



Schneiderman Announces Sentencing of Harassing Manhattan Landlord

Schneiderman announces one-year jail sentence and $5 million settlement with major New York City landlord who fraudulently refinanced loans and committed tax fraud. On October 3, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the sentencing of landlord Steven Croman who owns more than 140 apartment buildings across Manhattan. In June 2017, Croman pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third, Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Criminal Tax Fraud in … <Read More>


Mayor Urges Emissions Reductions for Existing Buildings

Mayor Bill de Blasio calls for emissions reductions by mandating improvements to existing buildings. On June 2, 2017, Mayor Bill de Blasio signed Executive Order No. 26, Climate Action Executive Order, to commit New York City to the principles and goals of the Paris Agreement. On September 14, 2017, the Office of the Mayor announced new mandates on building upgrades to implement the executive order. According to the Mayor’s press release, these mandates … <Read More>


Old Saint James Episcopal Church Designated

City’s second-oldest surviving religious structure designated an individual landmark. On September 19, 2017, the Landmarks Preservation Commission voted to designate the Old Saint James Episcopal Church at 86-02 Broadway in Elmhurst, Queens as an individual City landmark. Completed in 1736 for the Anglican community in the town then known a Newtown, the timber framed meeting hall featured a single tower and wood shingling. In 1848, the building was converted to a parish hall as … <Read More>