Tenants claimed a permanent residence in loft building. Loft tenants Maria Nazor and Peter Mickle have occupied units 4N and 4S of 544 West 27th Street in Chelsea since 1983 and 1995, respectively. In 2009, after two unsuccessful holdover proceedings, landlord Sydney Sol Group Ltd. (f/k/a Mushlam, Inc.) won a judgement of ejectment against Nazor and Mickle in New York County Supreme Court. In December 2010, the Supreme Court vacated the judgement of ejectment and … <Read More>
Loft Law
Second Circuit Upholds Ruling that Loft Tenants Have Property Rights in Bankruptcy Proceedings
Loft Law prevents using bankruptcy as a tool to circumvent housing law. In 2002, Bridge Associates of Soho, Inc. (“Bridge Associates”) acquired 99 Vandam Street in the SoHo neighborhood of Manhattan. 99 Vandam is a seven-story residential loft building that has been governed by Article 7-C of the New York Multiple Dwelling Law (“Loft Law”) since approximately 1991. Loft Law governs the conversion of manufacturing and commercial use buildings to residential use buildings. The law … <Read More>
Balcony Ruled Not Part of Loft
Loft tenant counted terrace/balcony to reach statutory minimum of 400 square feet. David Coventry rented unit 1109 of a loft building located at 475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn. Coventry applied for coverage and protection under the Loft Law. The owner of 475 Kent Avenue opposed, arguing that unit 1109 measured less 400 square feet, the minimum size required to be covered by the Loft Law. Coventry responded that unit 1109 would meet the 400 square foot … <Read More>
Loft Tenant Wins Parking Space
New owner of a Brooklyn loft building demanded that resident vacate his parking space. Andrew Ohanesian, an artist, is the tenant of loft Unit 709, located at 475 Kent Avenue, Brooklyn. Ohanesian signed a one-year lease with the building’s prior owner in February 2009 and has lived in the building ever since. The prior owner verbally agreed that Ohanesian could use a designated parking space in the loading bay area of the building for an … <Read More>
Owner Defeated Tenants’ Loft Claim
Tenants sought loft law protection by claiming that two attached structures on one zoning lot were two separate buildings. A two-story building was constructed at 538 Johnson Avenue in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn in 1916 using timber and wood planking. A four-story building was constructed adjacent at 75 Stewart Avenue in 1919 using concrete columns, beams and slabs. The four-story structure abuts the eastern wall of the two-story structure, and the stairwell in the … <Read More>
Resident Fined $475 for Blocked Sprinkler
Loft-owner had a freestanding structure in their studio with a suspended ceiling that blocked access to sprinkler system. Marsha Pels owns a studio space at 99 Commercial Street in Greenpoint Brooklyn. In the middle of the studio the owner had a freestanding structure that contained a bed. On May 11, 2012, a fire department inspector observed that the freestanding structure had a suspended ceiling that was approximately 10 feet below the studio’s ceiling where sprinkler … <Read More>