Requires the New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing permits for the demolition or the substantial alteration or renovation of such properties.
NEW YORK STATE ASSEMBLY MEMORANDUM IN SUPPORT OF LEGISLATION submitted in accordance with Assembly Rule III, Sec 1(f)
BILL NUMBER: A3208
SPONSOR: O'Donnell TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring the
New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no
tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing
permits for the demolition or the substantial alteration or renovation
of such properties
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL::
For far too long, property owners have submitted falsified applications
for permits for construction that state there are no tenants living in
their building, when in fact there are, with lax oversight from the New
York Department of Buildings (DOB). This allows abusive and unethical
property owners to disrupt the affordable housing market and put tenants
safety and lives at risk, all for the sake of profit. This bill provides
that the NYC DOB must independently verify there are no tenants living
in a particular building upon receipt of an application for a permit for
demolition or substantial alteration that states as much.
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS::
Section 1 amends the New York City charter by adding a new section 645-a
to provide the Department of Building s with the power to independently
confirm there are no tenants living at property when a property owner
submits a permit for demolition or substantial alteration and makes a
statement to that effect.Section 2 specifies when the act shall take
place.
JUSTIFICATION::
Abusive and unethical property owners frequently submit false applica-
tions for demolition or substantial operation to the NYC Department of
Buildings (DOB). These property owners indicate there are no tenants and
the DOB does not check. Subsequently there are a myriad of direct and
collateral consequences. The landlord does not have to institute a
Tenant Protection Plan and guarantee any safety or health requirements,
leading to unlivable and dangerous situations. Tenants often do not know
they have any recourse because there are no posted permits alerting them
to the right to tenant protection.Earlier this year it was revealed that
Jared Kushner's real estate company filed more than 80 construction
permit applications for 34 buildings across the city between 2013 and
2016 stating that it had no rent-regulated tenants, when in fact there
were over 300 rent-regulated units. He then used aggressive means of
renovation to vacate the most vulnerable rent-regulated tenants and
return those apartments to market value in order to turn a
profit.Unfortunately this is actually a widespread practice. Landlords
regularly engage in this behavior, systematically reducing the avail-
ability of affordable housing. This bill aims to put a stop to this by
providing that DOB must independently verify there are no tenants in the
building, thus protecting tenants and protecting affordable housing.
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY::.
2021-22: A.4405/S.801
2019-20: A.7778/S.1479
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS::
None
EFFECTIVE DATE::
This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeeding the
date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediately, the
addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation necessary
for the implementation of this act on its effective date are authorized
to be made on or before such date.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
3208
2023-2024 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
February 2, 2023
___________
Introduced by M. of A. O'DONNELL -- read once and referred to the
Committee on Cities
AN ACT to amend the New York city charter, in relation to requiring the
New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no
tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing
permits for the demolition or the substantial alteration or renovation
of such properties
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. The New York city charter is amended by adding a new
2 section 645-a to read as follows:
3 § 645-a. Additional powers and duties of the department. In the event
4 that a property owner submits an application for a permit for the demo-
5 lition or the substantial alteration or renovation of any building or
6 structure and represents to the department that no tenants are living at
7 the property, the department shall independently confirm that there are
8 no tenants living at the property prior to approving or issuing such
9 permit.
10 § 2. This act shall take effect on the first of January next succeed-
11 ing the date upon which it shall have become a law. Effective immediate-
12 ly, the addition, amendment and/or repeal of any rule or regulation
13 necessary for the implementation of this act on its effective date are
14 authorized to be made on or before such date.
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07332-01-3
