Owner maintained unlawful apartments in the garage, cellar and upper floors of Queens three-story building. In March 2019, the Department of Buildings received a complaint about people sleeping in the cellar of 136-02 35th Avenue in Queens. Buildings’ inspectors obtained access to the three-story apartment building and observed illegal apartments, a cellar did not match plans filed in 1997, and a garage that had been converted illegally into an apartment. Buildings charged the owner with … <Read More>
CityLaw
FDNY’s actions established duty
Williamsburg warehouse burned to the ground just minutes after FDNY left the scene. A Williamsburg warehouse owned by Recall Corporation and located on the Brooklyn waterfront at 5 North 11th Street burned to the ground in the early hours of the morning on January 31, 2015. The New York City Fire Department had responded to a fire alarm at approximately 4:36 a.m. and found a fire ablaze on storage shelves inside the warehouse. The FDNY, … <Read More>
COMPLETE VIDEO: 167th CityLaw Breakfast with Polly Trottenberg, NYC DOT Commissioner
On July 30, 2020, NYC DOT Commissioner Polly Trottenberg spoke at the 167th CityLaw Breakfast. Professor Ross Sandler, Director of the Center for New York City Law gave opening remarks and Dean Anthony W. Crowell gave closing remarks. This Breakfast was sponsored by ConEdison, Greenberg Traurig, and Verizon. Commissioner Trottenberg spoke on “NYCDOT & COVID-19: Response Challenges, Recovery Opportunities.” As in-person events are not feasible at this time due to the COVID-19 pandemic, this was … <Read More>
NYC Property Tax System Upheld
An organization challenged New York City’s property tax system as unfair, unconstitutional and discriminatory. Tax Equity Now NY LLC, an association of property owners and renters, filed a lawsuit challenging the New York City property tax system. The owners and renters alleged that the City’s property tax system was unfair and results in racial discrimination. The association made several claims: the owners of one-, two- and three-family homes pay too little in taxes as a … <Read More>
Public urination violation sustained
Individual claimed medical condition as a defense for public urination violation. A subway rider stepped off the subway car at 12:30 a.m. when he felt the sudden need to use a restroom. The rider proceeded to the station’s restroom, but found it to be locked. When the rider could not locate another public restroom, he walked to Lippmann Plaza and urinated on the tree bed in front of a McDonald’s at 136-61 Roosevelt Avenue, Queens. … <Read More>
Tort claim against HPD advances
HPD performed an emergency excavation without giving owner time to comply. The Trustee of a family Trust hired three workers to excavate soil on the Trust’s Brooklyn property to fix an emergency condition at 146 Wilson Street, Brooklyn. The three workers were trapped when the excavation collapsed. The City Department of Buildings issued a full stop order to the Trustee for excavations without a permit. The Housing Preservation & Development Department then advised the Trustee … <Read More>