Tenants Fight Sale of City-Owned Building
By Karen Cacace

Tenants in a city-owned building at 230 East 95th St. in Manhattan are suing to prevent the city from selling the building to a private owner through the Asset Sales Program.

Under that program, the city sells residential property it owns to private parties at market rate. The tenants are requesting that the city instead allow them to apply for the Tenant Interim Lease program, in which city-owned buildings are rehabilitated and then sold to the tenants who reside there for a nominal cost.

The court has issued a temporary restraining order preventing the city from selling the building through Asset Sales or any program except TIL until the court decides the tenants’ motion for a preliminary injunction. In their lawsuit, the tenants allege that the city’s placing the building into the Asset Sales Program is void because the program is violating the City Administrative Procedure Act. CAPA provides that before a city agency sets standards for the disposition of public property, the city must give the public notice regarding the proposed rules, provide an opportunity for the public to comment on them, and publish the final version of the rules. The city has not complied with these CAPA requirements. In fact, the only written description of the Asset Sales Program is a brochure issued by the city. This brochure describes the program as designed for city-owned residential buildings “located within strong marketable areas.” (East 95th Street, just south of the Upper East Side/East Harlem border, is prime gentrification territory.) There are no other standards describing which buildings are to be placed into Asset Sales.

The tenants also allege that their due-process rights have been violated because the city has refused to allow them to opt out of Asset Sales and into TIL. New York courts have acknowledged that low-income tenants have a due process interest in decent, safe, and affordable housing. The 230 East 95th St. tenants allege that the city has violated this right by denying them the opportunity to apply for TIL. The city has refused to consider their application for TIL on the basis that the building is programmed for Asset Sales.

When city-owned buildings are placed into other disposition programs, such as the Neighborhood Entrepreneurs Program, the tenants are provided the opportunity to apply for TIL before the building is sold. The tenants are requesting that the city have a similar opt—out option for Asset Sales. C. Virginia Fields, the Manhattan Borough President, supports the policy of allowing tenants whose buildings have been placed into Asset Sales to apply for TIL. The tenants have also sought assistance from Councilmember Eva Moskowitz, who has met with a representative of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development in an effort to help the tenants obtain ownership of the building.

Anyone with questions about this case or Asset Sales should call The Legal Aid Society Housing Development Unit hotline at (212) 426-3008.