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Old 09-03-2021, 09:12 AM
 
Location: Manhattan
8,923 posts, read 4,726,225 times
Reputation: 5955

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Basement apts have always been a problem. But they're cheap & people live in them. That is the dilemma.
Listening to de Blasio's daily briefing in NY1 just now, a reporter asked if he's going to get rid of them & declare them illegal to which he responded, "...and then where are they all going to go...?"

https://www.thecity.nyc/housing/2021...r-legalization

The majority of the at least 13 New Yorkers killed in Wednesday’s historic storm had one tragic thing in common: They were trapped in flooded basement apartments.

The day after the remnants of Hurricane Ida pounded New York, housing advocates and a handful of elected officials swiftly pressed the city to accelerate stalled efforts to make currently unauthorized basement apartments legal, which would bring higher safety standards and periodic inspections.

A pilot program launched in March 2019 to convert basements in Cypress Hills and East New York, Brooklyn, into legal dwellings collapsed last year when Mayor Bill de Blasio took away 92% of its funding.

At least 11 people — the youngest just two years old — drowned in basements in Queens and Brooklyn, offering evidence of the urgent need for citywide legalization, advocates argue.

“We are done with pilots, we don’t need one to prove that this is important. We just last night got all the proof we need,” Annetta Seecharran, executive director at Chhaya, a nonprofit group focused on the South Asian and Indo-Caribbean communities in Queens, said Thursday.

“The reality is people have always lived in basement apartments in New York City,” she added. “They will continue to live in them unless we can wave a magic wand and put over a hundred thousand units online tomorrow, people will continue to live in basement apartments.”

Tenants Afraid to Speak Up
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Old 09-03-2021, 10:14 AM
 
Location: Staten Island
2,309 posts, read 1,134,171 times
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I think it's a very bad idea to legalize basement apartments. Adding the required 2nd egress alone costs a fortune if done properly. Adding more people will put a strain on school seats, water/sewer lines, gas/electric systems, parking spaces. To do it correctly will also require big zoning changes in many neighborhoods. For example a neighborhood currently zoned for 2-family homes will have have it's zoning changed to allow 3-family homes. This is just a bad idea all around.
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Old 09-03-2021, 10:21 AM
 
Location: Brooklyn New York
18,403 posts, read 31,525,250 times
Reputation: 27863
Basements were not made for human habitation.

No one should ever live in a basement for so many reasons.
They were not meant to be lived in.
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Old 09-03-2021, 10:26 AM
 
Location: Staten Island
2,309 posts, read 1,134,171 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by nightcrawler View Post
Basements were not made for human habitation.

No one should ever live in a basement for so many reasons.
They were not meant to be lived in.

All basement apartments tend to be dark and damp.
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Old 09-03-2021, 10:32 AM
 
6,192 posts, read 7,328,641 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by dfc99 View Post
All basement apartments tend to be dark and damp.
My basement is light and bright. I can leave from the front and the back. I would still not want to live there.
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Old 09-03-2021, 05:57 PM
 
31,735 posts, read 26,686,195 times
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People have rented out basements and "rooms" legally for decades. None of them in large numbers are going to rush out and get themselves legal for several reasons.

First, doing so would make city (and or state) aware of their activity. That could subject property owner to all sorts of rules, laws, and regulations (which most a currently violating anyway).

Second most of those renting out illegal spaces ain't paying taxes on all that rent. Even with legal two or three family homes property owners want cash each month, period.

Between having to pay taxes then costs of coming into compliance with "legal" apartment or whatever, many such property owners will feel it's all not worth bothering.


Other thing is just how far does any legalization of basement apartments go? Is it just when they are being rented out or for other commercial purposes, or what?

All my family, friends and nearly everyone else I know or knew on Staten Island that owns has a finished basement. Grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, people on my block, etc.... We're taking fully finished off with kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

Many times this basement space is for family use. During holidays it acts a overflow or even main entertaining space (that's why they also have bars, pool tables, cable and whatever else down there). But many times older children living at home take one of the bedrooms if not entire space down there for a bit of privacy while living at home.

Few if any of these properties have one much less two separate ways to get in or out. You come into the house and go "downstairs". That's it....
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Old 09-03-2021, 07:35 PM
 
855 posts, read 444,648 times
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I don't see what mandates they can enforce which are going to help someone inside a basement when a river is baring down on them as we saw with Ida. An egress won't help with 4-5 ft of water outside.

What did De Bummio do with the pilot money?
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Old 09-03-2021, 09:01 PM
 
31,735 posts, read 26,686,195 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by mysticpearl View Post
I don't see what mandates they can enforce which are going to help someone inside a basement when a river is baring down on them as we saw with Ida. An egress won't help with 4-5 ft of water outside.

What did De Bummio do with the pilot money?
There isn't, and that's the problem.

As has been already stated installing a primary and secondary means of egress to these illegal basement apartments will be costly. That and in many instances it just won't be possible. So all in all while looking good on paper, in practice it just won't happen.

City knows this is a problem, but as (again) noted by linked articles in this thread "illegal" apartments both basements and whatever else provide much needed housing in city where things are tight. Especially for the busted, poor, illegals, and others who cannot afford market rate or even land low income or whatever housing.
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Old 09-03-2021, 09:21 PM
 
Location: Manhattan
8,923 posts, read 4,726,225 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by BugsyPal View Post
Other thing is just how far does any legalization of basement apartments go? Is it just when they are being rented out or for other commercial purposes, or what?

All my family, friends and nearly everyone else I know or knew on Staten Island that owns has a finished basement. Grandparents, aunts/uncles, cousins, people on my block, etc.... We're taking fully finished off with kitchen, bathroom and bedrooms.

Many times this basement space is for family use.
Few if any of these properties have one much less two separate ways to get in or out. You come into the house and go "downstairs". That's it....
You're right about that. Just saw on the news right now about someone who's stuff was all ruined because she lived in the basement of her dad's home. She's lucky that's it's just her stuff and not her life.

I know plenty of people who camp out in the basement of a relative's home for a few days or months. What about the legal ramifications about those? I never much thought about that until now. I've stayed in friends/relatives' basements in the past when visiting & I had to stay overnight.

Lots to ponder and think about ...now. I guess the caveat is, if you know it's going to rain a lot get the heck out of the basement as if it's some kind of horror movie.
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Old 09-04-2021, 05:00 AM
 
Location: NYC
3,073 posts, read 5,481,341 times
Reputation: 2998
Quote:
Originally Posted by nightcrawler View Post
Basements were not made for human habitation.

No one should ever live in a basement for so many reasons.
They were not meant to be lived in.
Exactly. It’s so sad that so many people do. They’re damp unhealthy and flood prone.
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