Op-Ed Letters to the Editor
Protecting tenants against
landlord harassment
BY LETITIA JAMES
In my years representing New Yorkers as an
attorney and elected offi cial, I have worked
with rent-regulated tenants subjected to
some appalling tactics by their landlords to
force them out of their homes.
Despite the severity of these acts and so
many others, not a single landlord has ever
been convicted of tenant harassment under a
20-year old state law intended to prevent such
behavior. That’s because the standard to prove
criminal culpability for tenant harassment was
impossibly high. That changes starting this
week.
My offi ce spearheaded the passage of a new
law that will fi nally make it possible to hold
landlords accountable when they engage in
abusive behavior towards tenants.
Tenant harassment has become a big business;
in fact, an entire real estate investment
model was created on the basis of purchasing
buildings with signifi cant numbers of rentregulated
units and then using heavy-handed
tactics to force out those tenants to maximize
a building’s value.
This is not a new problem. Culprits have
included small landlords and some of the biggest
and most notable real estate tycoons in
the city, including Donald Trump.
Before he was president, Trump purchased a
building with rent-regulated tenants. He then
hired, in his own words, a company that “specialized
PHOTO BY TODD MAISEL
in relocating tenants,” and embarked
on a fi ve-year campaign of tenant harassment.
Before passage of our law, prosecutors had
to meet a remarkably high standard to prove
harassment: that the landlord wanted to force
out the tenant and, in so doing, intentionally
or recklessly caused physical injury to a tenant.
This defi nition fails to capture all sorts
of the most common – and dangerous – tactics
including those referenced here, many of
which are objectively harassment but might
not ever cause an actual physical injury.
This new law will make landlords think
twice before they use abusive tactics against
their tenants, and will give tenants the proper
protections to defend against this type of
abuse — abuse that we all know should be
prohibited.
To be clear, landlords will still be allowed to
pursue lawful evictions of rent-regulated tenants.
But the law will recognize the insidious
tactics that bad actors have previously been
free to employ to intimidate and abuse tenants.
It’s unconscionable for a landlord to unlawfully
force a family from its home simply to improve
his own bottom-line. Now prosecutors
in New York will fi nally have the tools they
need to prevent abuse and tenants throughout
New York will be safer.
James is the attorney general of New York
State.
APPEAL FOR A
CURE
Governor Cuomo, please
sign the bill and save our independent
pharmacies.
I attended the rally at Southrifty
Drug. We gathered outside
the store in Southampton, N.Y.
and we are trying to show our
support for our independent
pharmacies. Mr. Bob Grisnik
and his staff are so good to
their customers and we are so
appreciative of them.
We need small community
businesses and personal care.
Donna Larcy
BLAMING
GROUP FOR BIZ
BILL FAILURE
Gabe Herman’s Dec. 5 article
about the City Council
assessing small business legislation
discusses the Small
Business Jobs Survival Act
(SBJSA) whose prime sponsor
is Ydanis Rodriguez but
focuses on a new bill recently
introduced by Stephen Levin.
Passage of the SBJSA has
been stymied by the Real Estate
Board of New York for 33
years because REBNY does
not want small businesses to
have any rights during lease
renewal that would empower
them to prevent rent gouging.
Rent hikes are the reason
why thousands of small businesses
are shutting down —
with the consequent loss of
tens of thousands of jobs —
every year.
The SBJSA languishes in the
Committee on Small Business
(SBC) even though it presently
has 29 sponsors. Why?
Because REBNY supports key
legislators including Council
Speaker Corey Johnson and
SBC Chair Mark Gjonaj.
Small business advocates
call Levin’s new bill the “Landlord’s
Bill.” I call it REBNY’s
Bill.
REBNY’s bill is no real solution
to the small business crisis
and ending the blight of empty
storefronts and empty offi ce
spaces because it does not provide
any rights to small business
owners, most of whom
are immigrants.
Ray Rogers
MORE
MEMORIES OF
EVELIO
Regarding your recent obituary
of Evelio Alvarez: We too
remember Evelio as a friend
going back to 1967 when we
lived in “ his” building until
1975. He was kind, quirky and
had a very good sense of humor.
He loved and took care of
the women in his life, especially
his mother and aunt. He was
a part of the Village before the
major economic and real state
changes occurred in the 70s.
We will never forget him,
the wonderful building with
so many memories. I guess we
miss him and our youth.
Susan and Richard Kaplan
SOUND OFF
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