Months After Massive Fire, Jackson Heights Tenants Struggle to Resettle in Queens (apartments, rental)
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In NYC/NYS (surprise, surprise) being "worth it" doesn't factor into things when it comes to rent regulated tenants.
"“In cases where the building is destroyed, it does raise an issue as to whether the tenants have the right to return” to a rent-stabilized apartment, said Ronald S. Languedoc, a Manhattan lawyer who represents tenants. Rent-stabilization law does not cover this exact scenario, and the courts have not addressed the matter in much detail. A judge could rule that tenancy rights terminated when the building was destroyed, and the landlord is not obligated to rebuild and provide rent-stabilized tenants with apartments. But if the landlord’s actions played any role in the disaster, a tenant’s case would be stronger."
remember the explosion in the east village that the three buildings had collapsed? weren't there rent regulated tenants living in those buildings also, along with some market rate, anyway, point I am trying to make is, none of the tenants got back an apartment, as there is a new building built already except for one parcel of land, which is still vacant.
I am thinking if a building is fully destroyed all regulations are destroyed along with it. maybe?
article - July 2013
Ronnie Landfield is a painter whose works have hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, but most of his paintings — powerful waves of color, many measuring 9 feet by 10 feet, or 9 feet by 12 — rest in racks in his Manhattan art studio. And that setup is not too shabby, either.
His studio is on the ground floor of a TriBeCa loft building, with giant windows and 14 feet between the paint-splattered floor and the hammered-tin ceiling. For nearly 45 years, he has lived in a loft right up the stairs, now rent stabilized, and for that duplex, he and his wife pay $2,153 per month.
Unfortunately for them, the building has hosted an unwelcome addition since the fall: a red sticker from the Buildings Department declaring the structure unsafe, one of just eight such markers remaining in Manhattan.
Hurricane Sandy sent 28 inches of water into the ground floor of the building, at 31 Desbrosses Street, flooding into the electrical wiring and lapping at the base of Mr. Landfield’s bright paintings. When the water receded, building inspectors found the property to be so damaged, by both the water and time, that it was too dangerous to inhabit. The owner says it will cost more to fix the building than it is worth. The tenants disagree, and have sued to force repairs so they can go home.
article - July 2013
Ronnie Landfield is a painter whose works have hung in the Metropolitan Museum of Art and the Museum of Modern Art, but most of his paintings — powerful waves of color, many measuring 9 feet by 10 feet, or 9 feet by 12 — rest in racks in his Manhattan art studio. And that setup is not too shabby, either.
His studio is on the ground floor of a TriBeCa loft building, with giant windows and 14 feet between the paint-splattered floor and the hammered-tin ceiling. For nearly 45 years, he has lived in a loft right up the stairs, now rent stabilized, and for that duplex, he and his wife pay $2,153 per month.
Unfortunately for them, the building has hosted an unwelcome addition since the fall: a red sticker from the Buildings Department declaring the structure unsafe, one of just eight such markers remaining in Manhattan.
Hurricane Sandy sent 28 inches of water into the ground floor of the building, at 31 Desbrosses Street, flooding into the electrical wiring and lapping at the base of Mr. Landfield’s bright paintings. When the water receded, building inspectors found the property to be so damaged, by both the water and time, that it was too dangerous to inhabit. The owner says it will cost more to fix the building than it is worth. The tenants disagree, and have sued to force repairs so they can go home.
well, sadly, Ronnie Landfield lost his loft and home as did the rest of the tenants.
It was a shame though, had the building been sandblasted and new windows installed, it would look nice.
It did look as though the building was not kept well at all, clearly by looking at the pictures, one can not be surprised that after hurricane Sandy, it was unsafe.
if you google map it, 31 Desbrosses does come up,
old brick building in Oct 2014, with scaffolding.
2017 it is gone, completely wiped off the face of the map
2019, there is now a brand new building.
Typically your rights to the apartment ends when it no longer exists..landlords are under no obligation to provide housing for tenants when a building is no longer able to be lived in
Typically your rights to the apartment ends when it no longer exists..landlords are under no obligation to provide housing for tenants when a building is no longer able to be lived in
That's what I had thought also.
Isn't this going to be the same as the Miami building that collapsed?
Isn't this going to be the same as the Miami building that collapsed?
would that be under the same category?
I don’t know what their state laws say .
But here if anything makes your apartment not usable all you have a right to do is not pay rent or break your lease….there is nothing normally that makes a landlord responsible to pay for or find you housing at the same price.
That is why renters need renters insurance if they need temporary housing
Typically your rights to the apartment ends when it no longer exists..landlords are under no obligation to provide housing for tenants when a building is no longer able to be lived in
Again it depends upon what exactly is going on with building in question. There is a world of difference between something found structurally not sound, and fire damage.
Rent regulated tenants are more difficult to get rid of than vermin. Yes, they can and have retained rights to return to fire damaged apartments/buildings in past. It all likely would come down to as noted above what a judge says if issue is pushed.
IIRC rent regulated tenants don't exactly get a free lunch; they must make some sort of nominal rent payments for time they are temporarily unable to live in apartment. This allows them to preserve rights to return.
Fly in ointment is just that; many rent regulated tenants were busted before fire or whatever event forced them out, and thus cannot afford to pay rent (even if only a nominal reduced amount) on two apartments. More so if repairs or restoration of damaged unit or building drags out for year or years. Many will simply give up and find someplace else to move.
Out of the dispossessed tenants in this case only a small fraction are still homeless/living in Red Cross or whatever accommodations. These are likely those RS tenants with sweetest deals; large to huge apartments that were going for below market rent, *and* big households that needed all that space. You aren't going to find anything for a household of *twelve* people for $1000k per month anywhere in NYC. Not legally anyway.
Plastic power strips are responsible for many fires.
Only purchase metal case ones. They also should be replaced periodically.
Plastic or metal it doesn't matter. Fact is people overload those power strips, and or things malfunction. This plus people ignore basic warnings about never placing an extension cord or power strip under carpeting, rugs, blankets, or any other sort of fabric.
You usually hear about these sort of fires in old NYC buildings (and we've got tons of them) that went up ages ago predating the huge array of mod cons available today.
Know people living in RS apartments where building went up in 1960's or 1970's that have few outlets. Thus you get that Lisa Douglass thing from Green Acres; people plugging many appliances into a few outlets. In this situation however they're using power strips or extension cords.
Other thing is what it is; people living in over crowded conditions with tons of *shy* piled all over. This includes hoarders but also those living as if it were early 1900's tenement conditions. Clothing, and other flammable stuff piled or stashed all over. It's a tinder box.....
We just had such a fire on UES back in April that took lives of two elderly gentlemen. Cause was same old, same old... power strip, cluttered apartment.....
Fact is that these tenants either become homeless or move to a cheaper locale. The heavily subsidized rents that they were paying cannot be borne by landlords bleeding cash on the property. If they need a place to stay in the interim I already posted about the commercial real estate office hack but that is NOT meant for whole families. Moreover the laws for commercial real estate HEAVILY favor the landlord unlike residential real estate. That means if there is a dispute they cannot cry before a housing court judge and liberal free lawyers given by the ACLU or non-profit flavor organization of the week.
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