Government briefs

Loft tenants had until March 11 to register for protection; State posts RFP for sale of Farley development rights; Suit claims city real estate taxes discriminate

NYC Supreme Court
NYC Supreme Court

Loft Law deadline passes

March 11 marked the deadline for tenants to register for protection under the Loft Law, a state measure that granted New Yorkers who live in illegal loft buildings immunity from eviction, while also putting them on the path toward rent stabilization. The current law is an amendment of the original law passed in 1982, which exclusively protected loft dwellers in lower Manhattan. The latest version not only expanded protection to residents in the outer boroughs, but also implemented a series of rules necessary to qualify for protection, including minimum-square-footage guidelines on apartments, stipulations on windows and doors and a time line during which residents must have lived in their apartments. In addition, residents were given a six-month window to apply, which raised concerns about the possibility that some loft dwellers who were unaware of the law missed the deadline. New York City Loft Tenants, a tenant advocacy group, is lobbying for an amendment that would either extend or eliminate the deadline.

Penn Station expansion takes another step

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The Cuomo administration is moving forward with plans to expand Pennsylvania Station into the Farley Post Office, which is located across Eighth Avenue. The expansion plan has been 20 years in the making, with multiple setbacks, including funding issues and bureaucratic conflicts. The most recent step was posting a request for proposals seeking a broker to market the 1.5 million square feet of air rights attached to the post office, and then using those profits to fund the expansion. The plan foresees the sale generating hundreds of millions of dollars that would be used to convert the post office into an Amtrak waiting room, the Wall Street Journal reported. However, a concrete time line has yet to be set, and state officials remain reticent about disclosing further details.

Lawsuit claims NYC real estate laws discriminate

A class action lawsuit filed against the city claims that New York City real estate laws discriminate against black and Hispanic renters. Plaintiffs Ernest Robinson and Rosa Rodriguez alleged that according to the Fair Housing Act, New York’s real estate tax system unfairly privileges owners of one-, two-, and three-family houses, most of whom are white and Asian. The plaintiffs argue that residents who fall under Class 2 housing — that is, condos, co-ops and multi-family buildings — end up paying 37 percent of the city’s real property tax, as compared with the 15.5 percent paid by Class 1. The complaint cited a report issued by the Furman Center for Real Estate and Policy at New York University, which stated, “Tenants in Class 2 rentals are also much more likely to be black or Hispanic and to have children than co-op and condo owners, so the burden of undervaluation may threaten the city’s ability to attract and retain a diverse range of households.”