FBI agents recently arrested five more people in a widening probe of corruption allegations involving New York City government housing preservation officials. One city official and a former city employee were among those arrested on a variety of corruption charges.
In last month's Insider, we discussed the Department of Environmental Protection's accelerating phaseout of the dirtiest heating oils. The city's new regulations, issued in 2011, ban the heaviest heating oils—No. 4 and No. 6—that are still used in approximately 10,...
The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), a nine-member panel that sets annual rent increases for rent-stabilized apartments, met on May 1 to vote on preliminary numbers for increasing rent-stabilized rents. The board voted for rent hikes of between 1.75 and 4 percent on new one-year leases and increases...
Owners of large apartment buildings in the city are bearing more of the property tax burden than owners of one- to three-family homes, according to a recent report released by NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy. The report is titled “State of New York City's...
On May 4, the New York City Water Board approved a 7 percent rate increase in water rates that it had earlier proposed, in addition to raising fees for certain services. The increase, while the smallest in seven years, is the city's 16th annual hike for metered and unmetered water rates. The...
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...
The City Council is considering two new elevator safety bills. One would require certification for mechanics, and the other would require elevators to be equipped with extra safety mechanisms.
The proposed legislation is prompted by the tragic death of the advertising executive who was...
MetLife Inc. recently agreed to settle a 2007 lawsuit by tenants of Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village who claimed they were charged too much rent to live in Manhattan's largest apartment complex.
Cops raided a Bronx apartment building on Jan. 31 and found it had been turned into a pot farm. Acting on a tip, police broke down the door and discovered 600 marijuana-growing pots. They filled the top four floors of the five-story building.
Maintenance work performed by Transel Elevator was the likely culprit in the Dec. 14 elevator accident that killed an advertising executive in Midtown, according to Buildings Commissioner Robert LiMandri. An advertising executive was killed when the elevator she was stepping into lurched upward...
Recently, the Supreme Court asked New York City and State to file answers to an owner's petition to be heard. The owner contends that New York City's rent laws constitute a “taking” of his property without just compensation, a violation of his constitutional rights. If the...
The City Council is hoping to apply more pressure on building owners who convert residential apartments into illegal hotel rooms, proposing new fines for repeat violations that could soar as high as $25,000.
