New York landlords and real estate behemoths liked the status quo. They borrowed money to buy buildings at exorbitant prices to convert affordable apartments to market rate luxury units. As if that wasn’t bad enough, they also wanted to do it while enjoying government tax breaks.
Until now.
The state’s highest court dealt a financial blow on Thursday morning to the already beleaguered owners of the sprawling Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village complexes in Manhattan when it ruled that they improperly began charging market rents on thousands of apartments.
In a majority ruling (two of the six judges dissented), the court said the owners improperly raised rents beyond certain set levels at the complexes while receiving tax breaks from the city for major renovations.
This decision could impact more than 80,000 other apartments across the city. This is great news for New Yorkers who think affordable housing needs to be preserved. Let’s hope it’s a harbinger of change for vacancy decontrol legislation next year.
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