Tenant Protection Bills Get Hearing in City Council Committee

On Nov. 23, the City Council’s Committee on Housing and Buildings listened to testimony on a group of tenant protection bills addressing issues such as expanding protections for tenants against illegal evictions and mandating that all tenant-occupied buildings have access to cooling during the summer.

One level deeper: Hearing attendees testified largely in support of legislation brought by Councilmember Sandy Nurse (D-Brooklyn). Here’s a list of Councilmember Nurse’s bills:

• Int 0621-2024: This bill would expand the definition of tenant harassment to include unlawful evictions.
• Int 0622-2024: This bill would clarify that in tenant harassment claims, lawful occupants may not be denied injunctive relief, including restoration of possession, because they are not tenants.
• Int 0623-2024: This bill would raise civil penalties for unlawful eviction and prohibit building owners who engage in unlawful evictions from taking part in any city subsidy, tax abatement, or tax exemption program for five years from the date of unlawful eviction.
• Int 0993-2024: This bill would require the Police Department (NYPD) to create a procedure under which NYPD officers can change the locks on the dwellings of people who have been illegally locked out of those dwellings to allow those who have been illegally locked out to return to their dwellings.
• Int 1037-2024: This bill would require the owner of a multiple dwelling containing rent-stabilized units to post a sign in the common area of the building’s entrance stating that the building contains rent-stabilized units and providing information about how tenants can submit inquiries to the DHCR to find out if their units are rent stabilized.

One takeaway: The air-cooling requirements bill considered by the committee is sponsored by Councilmember Lincoln Restler. Currently, owners are required to provide heat during “heat season” from Oct. 1 to May 31. His bill, Int. 0994-2024, would establish a “cooling season” from June 15 to Sept. 15. Owners would be required maintain a maximum indoor temperature of 78°F when the outdoor air temperature is 82°F or higher. And owners without central cooling would have to install cooling systems within units.

Testimony from HPD, which enforces the city’s heating requirements, said the agency would have to significantly increase its staff in order to accommodate a similar timeline for inspections if new cooling requirements were to be put into law. With the public testimony and comments that have been collected on the bills, the City Council will adapt the bills’ language before bringing them to a vote.