Cases in New York City Housing Court will be delayed due to a bed bug infestation at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the New York Post reported.
The blood-sucking creatures were reportedly found at the city offices around Nov. 15, and prompted fumigation of 5,000 documents and the evacuation of an entire floor. Nyc.gov lists 100 Gold Street as the address for HPD. [more]
The city has created a new list of buildings throughout the five
boroughs that are at risk of complete deterioration, Crain’s reported.
The list, on the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s
website
includes 34 buildings in Manhattan, Brooklyn and the Bronx that are at
risk based on their number of housing code violations. It was
created after a roof-to-cellar inspection by the city’s Proactive
Enforcement Bureau, which was created as part of the new Proactive
Preservation Initiative that surveyed 335 residential buildings. The
list will be updated every six months and allow for the tracking of
the landlords’ efforts to correct the problem. [more]
A 77-year-old man who has lived in the same rent-controlled, two-bedroom Bensonhurst apartment for the past 70 years may finally have to move out. According to the Daily News, Melvin Pearlstein is in a dispute with landlord Peter Pantelic over his $415-a-month 83rd Street home, where he says a mold infestation got so out of hand that his wife got asthma and had to move out. Pearlstein, who lived in the apartment with his brother and parents as a child, said Pantelic ignored orders by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development to have the mold removed. Meanwhile, building manager Halstead Management has filed to have the Pearlsteins evicted for being disruptive tenants, and the landlord tried to buy them out for $700. They declined. [more]
The city may extend the deadline for developers of multi-family buildings aiming to qualify for the coveted 421-a property tax break in an attempt to jumpstart stalled construction projects across the five boroughs, according to the New York Times. The city upped its qualification requirements for the tax break several years ago on the heels of criticism that it had been giving away too much potential revenue through the incentive, but many developers had rushed to file their building permits before those more stringent requirements took effect in June 2008. Those who qualified for the 421-a under the old rules had to complete
their projects within three years. For many builders, that three-year
mark is now fast approaching. [more]
Joseph Tahl and 1890 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd.Tahl Propp Equities is scheduled to face off tomorrow against the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in city housing court amid allegations that tenants were denied heat and hot water at one of the landlord’s newest condominium conversions in Harlem. Tahl Propp, which owns more than 3,000 apartments across the city and is one of the biggest landlords in Harlem, has faced dozens of complaints from tenants at 1890 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Blvd. in recent months. They claim they are being harassed through repeated loss of heat and hot water, among other problems. [more]
Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed into law today a bill that aims to beef up housing safety oversight by the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development by tweaking the requirements for distressed buildings’ inclusion in its Alternative Enforcement Program and identifying specific asthma triggers in dilapidated buildings. While the three-year-old program had originally targeted mostly smaller buildings, HPD will now be encouraged to bring larger properties under the program’s umbrella as well. TRD [more]
In the wake of scathing video footage that has circulated the internet in recent days of alleged hazardous conditions at the Flatbush Gardens housing complex (see the video after the jump), a housing official has informed The Real Deal that the sprawling, 2,500-unit residential development has garnered 400 new violations in the last month-and-a-half, or roughly 10 violations per day.
The added violations bring the 59-building complex’s total to 8,100 current, open violations, according to Eric Bederman, a spokesperson for the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development. The violations “run the gamut,” Bederman said, noting “this is bad — and we’re probably not getting the full extent of it.” HPD violations generally are for unsuitable or dangerous building conditions.
Landlord David Bistricer has filed a dismissal request for reinspection at the rental property, located at 1402 New York Avenue, but Bederman said HPD has yet to hear from him regarding a schedule for the reinspection. [more]
City officials are holding firm on their decision to award the redevelopment contract on the Greenpoint Hospital to an out-of-borough developer, according to the Brooklyn Paper. Despite the backlash from Brooklyn community groups, a spokesperson for the Department of Housing Preservation and Development said that it will not revoke the $32 million contract from Queens-based TNS-Great American Construction. Two local groups, the Greenpoint Renaissance Enterprise Corporation and its non-profit development partner St. Nicks Alliance, say they have rallied for redeveloping the Greenpoint Hospital site for 25 years and that they won’t back down. Still, housing spokesperson Eric Bederman indicated that it was unlikely the city would have a change of heart. “We are not considering the decision [to change contractors],” Bederman said. [Brooklyn Paper]
City fails to gather sensitive SRO ownership data on investors
Elected officials and advocates praised a new law passed by the City Council last week that requires far more disclosure from apartment building investors, and [more]
Move over, Daniel Goldstein. Dozens of tenants remain living in the footprint of the planned Willoughby Square Park in Downtown Brooklyn, even after their properties were seized by the city early last year through eminent domain, the Post reported. The 10 properties lie on the 1 1/4-acre site between Albee Square, Willoughby and Duffield streets, and their inhabitants allege that although the city has given them a July deadline to move out, they’ve been given little assistance in finding other accommodations. [more]
