New Laws & Regs

How to Comply with LL 110 for Posting, Distributing Notices of Violations

January 21, 2020    

Local Law 110 of 2019 went into effect on Dec. 5, 2019. This law requires residential property owners to post or sometimes distribute copies of DOB/OATH (Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings) violations along with an informational flyer for tenants.

The requirements of this law...

Governor Signs Sweeping Rent Reforms into Law

June 20, 2019    

On June 14, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed into law the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019. The governor has called the legislation “the most sweeping, aggressive protections in state history,” and it’s been described as the “strongest tenant protections in...

City Council Passes Legislation on Lead Testing and Reporting Requirements

April 18, 2019    

The New York City Council recently passed a package of lead safety bills that’s intended to update and strengthen the city’s lead laws, setting some of the highest standards in the country. The bills include new guidelines for testing for lead in day care centers, testing for lead in...

Stovetop Knob Cover Law Goes into Effect on Dec. 6

November 26, 2018    

Effective Dec. 6, 2018, per Local Law 117, the owner of a multiple dwelling must provide stove knob covers for gas-powered stoves where the owner knows or reasonably should know that a child under 6 years of age resides. Owners must also provide stove knob covers in a unit without a child under...

Asthma-Free Housing Act Goes into Effect Jan. 19

November 26, 2018    

This past January, the New York City Council passed Local Law 55, the Asthma-Free Housing Act. The law intends to combat rising asthma rates and improve the quality of life for more than one million New Yorkers who have been diagnosed with asthma. Effective Jan. 19, 2019, under Local Law 55 of...

DOB Proposes Rules Expanding Energy Benchmarking Regulations

March 27, 2018    

DOB is proposing to amend rules relating to the annual reporting of energy and water use by individual “covered” buildings. Local Law 84, the benchmarking law, was enacted in 2009 and currently affects all buildings larger than 50,000 square feet. The law requires owners to enter...

City Council Passes Real Estate-Related Laws for 2018

January 26, 2018    

In December, in the last legislative session of 2017, the City Council passed a number of bills affecting owners. They are intended to go into effect in 2018. After a bill is passed by the City Council, it is presented to the mayor, who has 30 days to either sign the bill into law, veto the bill...

New Law Requires Owners to Clear Snow and Ice from Fire Hydrants

January 24, 2017    

In early December, Mayor De Blasio signed Local Law 149 clarifying that owners have to clear snow from the area around fire hydrants at the same time they have to clear sidewalks. Specifically, the law allows the Department of Sanitation to issue violations to owners for failing to remove the...

New Green Buildings Legislation Expands Local Laws to Include Mid-Sized Buildings

November 21, 2016    

Mayor Bill de Blasio recently signed a package of three green buildings bills into law. “Buildings account for more than two-thirds of the city’s greenhouse gas emissions, which we have pledged to reduce 80 percent by 2050,” said Daniel Zarrilli, Senior Director of Climate...

Legionnaires' Outbreak Spurs New Legislation for Cooling Tower Maintenance

August 26, 2015    

The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOH) recently announced that a cooling tower in a South Bronx hotel was the source of a deadly Legionnaires’ disease outbreak that began on July 10. Laboratory tests determined that the Legionella strain found in the hotel’s...

Legislators Reach Deal to Extend Rent Laws, Overhaul 421-a Program

June 30, 2015    

On June 25, Governor Cuomo and leaders of the New York State Legislature agreed to strengthen the state’s rent regulations and to overhaul the 421-a tax abatement program. The legislative session had been originally scheduled to end on June 17, but negotiations continued into the following...

New Law Banning E-Waste with Regular Trash Goes into Effect

January 28, 2015    

The NYS Electronic Equipment Recycling and Reuse Act, which was signed into law by the governor on May 28, 2010, took effect in full on Jan. 1, 2015. Overseeing the law’s enforcement is the NYS Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC). Businesses and households are no longer allowed...