New loft protection law raises conflicts

A law passed this summer aimed at providing residential rights and protections to tenants in illegal lofts has failed to live up to its promise, according to a group of tenants at 360 Jefferson Street in Bushwick. After filing for protection under the new law, the New York Times reported, the group of seven tenants say that their landlords swung into action, angrily threatening eviction and claiming to city officials that they were unaware of their tenants’ residential status. The Department of Buildings temporarily ousted the tenants in October and, when they returned shortly thereafter, their homes had been made unlivable, with fire exits bricked off and shower heads tiled over. Experts say these kinds of conflicts could proliferate as the law becomes more well-known, as many loft landlords are reluctant to acknowledge their supposed commercial tenants are living there full time. [NYT]