FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE:
September 20, 2007
COURT SLAPS ILLEGAL
HOTEL OWNERS WITH INJUNCTION
Tenants and Elected Officials Launch “Illegal
Hotels Watch”
Elected officials, housing advocates, and tenants
from around Manhattan gathered to mark a precedent-setting
injunction issued by a Supreme Court judge ordering
the closure of three illegal hotels on the Upper West
Side, and to announce the launch of a tenant-based
Illegal Hotels Watch.
Starting September 20, Jay Podolsky, a notorious
landlord and operator of illegal tourist hotels, has
been ordered by Judge Michael Stallman to cease renting
apartments to transients at three Single Room Occupancy
(SRO) buildings he owns on the Upper West Side. Podolsky
had been brought to court by the City of New York
for illegally renting apartments as hotel rooms at
315 West 94th Street, 316 West 95th Street, and 330
West 95th Street.
“This is a turning point for tenants across
the city, who for years have endured an onslaught
of tourists invading their buildings. After my office
alerted the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement
that Mr. Podolsky, a convicted felon, was up to his
old tricks, renting to transients once again, OSE
inspectors issued a slew of safety and fire code violations,
ultimately bringing the case that has resulted in
this injunction,” said Assemblymember Linda
Rosenthal, who represents the district in which the
buildings are located. “After losing thousands
of affordable housing units, we are finally taking
some back.”
Some landlords have been illegally renting residential
apartments to tourists on a daily or weekly basis,
because it is more profitable than renting to long-term
tenants. Other landlords, who want to empty a building
to make it easier to convert it to a co-op or condo,
rely on the illegal hotel scam to make money before
the apartments are sold.
The conversion of residential units into illegal
hotels threatens affordable housing for low- and moderate-income
New Yorkers. Many of the apartments taken off the
housing market are rent-stabilized or rent-controlled,
and landlords often harass long-term tenants in order
to empty the apartments for the more profitable hotel
business.
The rise of illegal conversions of residential units
into transient hotel rooms sparked the formation of
the Illegal Hotels Working Group, composed of elected
officials and housing advocates, which has sought
to end this practice through better enforcement and
state and city legislation.
Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer, State
Senator Eric Schneiderman, Assemblymember Linda B.
Rosenthal, and Councilmember Gale Brewer, who represent
the affected buildings, were joined by State Senator
Liz Krueger and Assemblymember Micah Z. Kellner, and
a number of tenants, to applaud the Mayor’s
Office of Special Enforcement and to announce the
launch of the Illegal Hotels Watch, a tenant watchdog
group that pledges to enforce the judge’s injunction.
“The battle over this building has been won—but
the fight against illegal hotels goes on,” said
Congressman Jerrold Nadler. “Illegal hotels
are drain on affordable housing, a threat to public
safety, and an attack on the quality of life of tenants.
We must continue to address the problem through both
aggressive enforcement and new City and State legislation.”
“Illegal hotels are not welcome in our communities,
and we're going to shut them down,” said Manhattan
Borough President Scott Stringer. “The city's
precious affordable housing stock has one purpose
- to provide homes for residents of modest and middle
income. We're not going to stand by and allow it to
be lost to greed.”
“We are losing an increasing number of affordable
housing units to illegal hotel use, particularly in
Manhattan, and the problem is becoming even more widespread.
Many illegal hotel operators are using rent regulated
units and are in buildings that are receiving tremendous
government subsidies and tax breaks such as 421-a
and J-51 benefits,” said State Senator Liz Krueger.
“So we are very pleased that the Mayor and the
Office of Special Enforcement is making a more aggressive
effort to end illegal hotel activity. We look forward
to working with the City to recover the units that
have been lost, as well as to preserve the city's
affordable housing stock for New York City residents—not
tourists.”
“For far too long, permanent tenants living
in illegal hotels have been subjected to landlord
harassment and other quality of life abuses,”
said New York State Senator Eric Schneiderman. “I
am hopeful that the court’s injunction against
this infamous landlord will mark the beginning of
the end of the illegal hotel industry in New York
City.”
“Mayor Bloomberg is right to take strong action
against these illegal hotels,” said Assemblymember
Richard N. Gottfried. “Illegal hotels take available
apartments from an already tight housing market. We're
also working in the City Council and the State Legislature
for stronger laws to protect tenants from illegal
hotel operators.”
“My colleague in the Assembly, Linda Rosenthal,
and the West Side SRO Law Project have done an amazing
job organizing an Illegal Hotels Watch for these buildings,”
said Assemblymember Micah Kellner. “Organizing
an Illegal Hotels Watch is an important way for New
Yorkers to reclaim their buildings, wherever they
live. I hope that tenants everywhere will see these
Upper West Side SROs as a model for how to fight back.”
“I am adamant about ending illegal hotel use
for three reasons: 1.Units of affordable housing would
be available immediately, and the City of New York
desperately needs this housing; 2. Residential hotels
and SROs have always housed people on a permanent
basis and that's what the "Type A" building
code assigned to them means—permanent housing;
3. And permanent residents who have to get up in the
morning for work, and tourists who are on a tight
budget and partying while on vacation, are not compatible
"living" next door to each other, sharing
the bathroom, or meeting in the hallways,” said
Councilmember Gale Brewer. “If finances are
an issue for the owner, the owner should apply for
a hardship or other government assistance that would
stabilize the building. A steady stream of backpacks
and rolling suitcases in the lobby is not the answer
for residential buildings.”
“Illegal hotels prevent access to valuable
housing and displace residents from their homes,”
said Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn. "They
also present serious health and safety problems for
tourists and anyone else who uses these rooms for
short term stays. With rents spiking and affordable
housing becoming less and less accessible for hardworking
families, the temporary injunction to shut down these
three illegal hotels is a huge victory for New Yorkers
and anyone who comes to visit our city.”
The rally was co-hosted by Housing Conservation
Coordinators, Goddard Riverside’s West Side
SRO Law Project, and the West Side Neighborhood Alliance,
community organizations that are working to protect
affordable housing and residential buildings from
being converted illegally into hotels for tourists.
“SRO Tenants have been fighting an uphill
battle for years to not be forced out by their greedy
criminal landlords, seeking to make room for tourist,”
stated Tenant Advocate Yarrow Willman-Cole at Goddard
Riverside’s West Side SRO Law Project. “Now
with the City taking strong action tenants can finally
feel they are winning their struggle to preserve their
homes.
“This is the first step toward reclaiming
our neighborhoods from illegal hotels,” said
John Raskin, Director of Organizing at Housing Conservation
Coordinators. “Tenants have been desperate to
get these hotels out of their buildings, and now we're
finally starting to do it.”
“We have lived far too long with tourist in
our building causing all kinds of disruptions and
management treating us like 2nd class citizens,”
said Pennington (315 West 95th Street) tenant Harold
Dixon. “I hope that the City will put a stop
to this a return the building to permanent residential
use.”
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