The New York State Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) wants to amend provisions of the Rent Stabilization Code (RSC) and the Emergency Tenant Protection Regulations (ETPR) which relate to the demolition of structures in which regulated tenants reside.
The agency is seeking to clarify the meaning of the word "demolition" and to implement a new way of calculating the stipend paid to tenants who are evicted because of a "demolition" plan.
demolition defined
It just so happens there is no definition of the word "demolition" in either the RSC or ETPR, and that omission came to the forefront in the case of Peckham v. Calogero, where the court urged the agency to come up with a "bright line" standard.
In keeping with long standing policy and existing precedent, the DHCR is rejecting the premise that a structure's complete razing is required and posits that an interior gutting should be sufficient.
calculating compensation
While the regulations provide a methodology for compensating those who are forced to relocate, the current payment is calculated by subtracting the tenant's monthly rent from a city-wide "mean rent" for similarly-sized apartments and multiplying the difference by 72. However, that formula took into account data from all five boroughs and ignored the fact that Manhattan rents are on average considerably higher than those of other boroughs.
According to the agency, the "mean asking rents," based on a 2005 survey, was $1914 in Manhattan, $1059 in Queens, $998 in Brooklyn, and $949 in the Bronx. The DHCR 's proposed rule seeks to base the stipend on a building's "zip code" in order to provide tenants who are subject to eviction with more equitable relief.
Public hearings on these proposed changes have been scheduled as follows:
- 10:00 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2008 at 22 Reade Street, 1st Fl., New York, New York;
- 10:00 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2008 at 1550 Franklin Avenue, Mineola, New York; and
- 10:00 a.m. on Aug. 12, 2008 at 75 S. Broadway, White Plains, New York.
To download a copy of the proposed regulations, please use this link: Demolition