bicycles allowed in NYC apts?

[psommers]

Apartment in Brooklyn, rent-stabilized. Landlord is preventing tenant from bringing her bicycle inside the building and into her apartment. There is no storage area inside or below the building to store bikes. May the landlord prevent a tenant from doing this? Is this issue controlled by the terms of the lease, or is it statutory (i.e. the building laws of NYC)? thanks!

[jot0n0]

There is no laws prohibiting bicycling inside the apartment as long as it is not left in the common area (hallways) which creates fire/trip hazard. I don't believe the standard rent stabilized lease has a clause specifically addressing bicycle in the apartment, but may be added as a separate rider to the lease. Did the LL give a reason why bicycles are not allowed in the apartment?

[TenantNet]

John is technically incorrect. A rider may not be 'added' to a RS lease without consent of both parties (i.e., must be on same terms and conditions). Presume in this case the tenant would not consent. However the initial lease might contain such a prohibition, as the LL can insert any number of clauses in the intitial lease. Speaking of a 'standard' RS lease essentially means the boilerplate from Real Estate of NY, but LLs are not required to use it. However they must use the standard DHCR renewal lease. There is no governmental statute prohibiting bicycles. If there's no prohibition in the initial lease, the tenant is free to bring the bicycle inside. LL's remedy would be to claim (and prove) it was a hazard. Unlikely, but some tenants create Colliers Brothers situations that are real hazards -- stacks of newspapers and boxes so dense you can barely walk around. That would be a fire hazard and a ground for legal action. However for that, it has to be really bad, not something a sloppy tenant might create.

[Cranky Tenant]

Years ago when I lived in an elevator building with a lobby , tenants with bikes were to use the garage entrance and service elevator, regardless of the weather. That pretty much took care of the lobby problem.

<small>[ February 13, 2003, 09:03 PM: Message edited by: Cranky Tenant ]</small>