In the News

Water Board Approves 5.6% Water & Sewage Rate Increase

May 20, 2013    

On May 10, the New York City Water Board approved a 5.6 percent increase in water rates for the new fiscal year, which begins on July 1. This is the same rate that it had proposed earlier, in addition to raising fees for certain services.

RGB Releases 2013 Operating Cost and Affordability Reports

April 24, 2013    

The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) is mandated by law to establish yearly rent adjustments for rent-stabilized apartments in New York City. The board holds an annual series of public meetings and hearings to consider research from staff, and testimony from owners, tenants, advocacy groups, and...

Settlement Approved, Stuy Town Seeks Income Boost

April 23, 2013    

CWCapital Management, the company that controls the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village, is reportedly planning to boost operating income at the complex before putting it up for sale. CWCapital has been in control of the complex on Manhattan’s East Side since early 2010, when prior...

Heating Oil Companies Face Purity-of-Fuel Investigation

March 22, 2013    

State and federal authorities are investigating whether several New York heating oil businesses cheated tens of thousands of customers for years, selling fuel diluted with recycled or waste oil, according to law enforcement and city officials. As part of the criminal investigation, the...

HPD Building Registration Changes for 2013

March 22, 2013    

Unlike previous years, starting in 2013, the annual property registration cycle will be the same for all properties that are required to register. All properties will be required to be registered annually by Sept 1.

DOB, ECB Adopt New Penalties for Illegal Residential Unit Conversions

March 22, 2013    

On Feb. 27, 2013, Final Rules were published for Local Law 45 of 2012, which Mayor Bloomberg signed into law on Oct. 2, 2012. Local Law 45 emerged from the findings of a growing trend among New Yorkers to market rooms within residential apartment buildings for short-term use.

City Releases FY2014 Property Tax Assessments

February 22, 2013    

On Jan. 15, the city’s Department of Finance (DOF) released the tentative property assessment roll for fiscal year 2014, the tax year beginning July 1, 2013. According to the publication, the total market value of Class 2 properties, which consist primarily of cooperatives, condominiums,...

Speaker Quinn Announces Plans to Preserve Affordable Housing

February 22, 2013    

On Feb. 11, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn gave her final state of the city speech and, in doing so, laid out a proposal she says will make housing more affordable for New Yorkers. During her speech, she also unveiled a new study about the city’s shrinking middle class, showing that...

City Council Passes Bill to Reject Quick Fixes by Owners

January 24, 2013    

A bill that gets tougher on owners who make cosmetic repairs to buildings but fail to address underlying structural problems was recently passed by the city council. The bill passed unanimously and now goes to the mayor’s desk for his signature. If it becomes law, there will be a...

Water Bill Issues Related to Hurricane Sandy

January 24, 2013    

On Nov. 30, Mayor Bloomberg and Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) Commissioner Carter H. Strickland Jr. announced that the city would temporarily suspend water bills for properties that were severely damaged by Hurricane Sandy.

$40M Storm Recovery Loan Fund Launched

January 24, 2013    

Mayor Bloomberg, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), Community Preservation Corporation (CPC), and Housing Development Corporation (HDC), together with Citi Community Capital, recently launched the Storm Recovery Loan Fund, a pilot program to provide up to...

Tenants Sue Owner for Smelly Aftermath

December 19, 2012    

A group of tenants in Manhattan Beach recently went to court to make their building’s owner get rid of a foul smell that Superstorm Sandy left behind. According to tenants, a smell has permeated the 49-unit property ever since sea water flooded the basement and sprang leaks in stored fuel...