Governor Kathy still thinks its the pandemic of the unvaccinated

 

NY Post

Gov. Kathy Hochul ordered offices, restaurants and shops statewide to require that staff and customers either show proof of vaccination or wear masks — or face a $1,000 fine per violation.

The new mandate on businesses — many of which are struggling to recover from pandemic lockdowns and battling workforce shortages — will take effect Monday and applies statewide.

Businesses that fail to enforce the rules could be subject to civil and criminal penalties, including a maximum fine of $1,000 for each violation.

It will remain in force until Jan. 15, when it could be extended, officials said. The governor’s office said local health departments will be in charge of enforcement.

“I speak all over the state and they’re asking for help. They’ve done everything they can, I applaud our local governments, our county executives, our county administrators and the local public health departments for doing what they can do,” Hochul told reporters after an unrelated event in Manhattan on Friday. “I said I’ll give them air cover, I will give them the protection.”

“This was completely avoidable — [a] completely avoidable circumstance,” the governor continued. “This is a crisis of the unvaccinated.”

Poor poor Kathy, poor stupid stupid Kathy. 

Restaurants week of reckoning

Adapt or die small businesses

  

Crains New York

 

Restaurants, bars and indoor venues may face up to $5,000 fines if they don't require patrons to show proof of vaccination, under an executive order by Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday.

All indoor venues will have to check that everyone age 12 and up who enters their premises shows proof of vaccination, under de Blasio’s edict. That proof must match the information on their official identification document, which they must also show.
 
Enforcement will begin Sept. 13. After that, violations will incur penalties of at least $1,000, which will rise to at least $2,000 for a second violation and at least $5,000 for a third. The city will send out inspectors from various agencies to check compliance. 

Between now and the enforcement date, the city has said it will send out 570 canvassers to all businesses in the city to help them understand the plan. Venues must all put up a sign communicating the vaccination requirement.
 
The executive order defines a wide range of indoor venues that must check for vaccine passes, including movie theaters, casinos, indoor portions of botanical gardens, adult entertainment spaces, commercial event and party venues, museums, aquariums and zoos, sports arenas and indoor stadiums, convention centers and exhibition halls, bowling alleys, arcades, indoor play areas and billiards halls, as well as any indoor part of a restaurant, and all indoor gym and fitness settings, including pools, dance studios and hotel gyms.

Some venues were surprised to see themselves included on this list, which the mayor had not previously detailed beyond mentioning "indoor entertainment venues."

"I am extraordinarily hesitant to instruct my staff to do this," said Eli Klein, owner of the Eli Klein Gallery in the far West Village, noting that he would not have known the mandate applied to his business if he had not tuned into the mayor's announcement this morning.

 

 

Queens tenants living in hell sue landlord

Have a tenant horror story for you. Tenants at 84-53 Dana Court in Queens have been living in disgusting squalor for months thanks to their negligent landlord who has let garbage pile up inside and outside the building and refuses to address the rats, cockroaches, mice infestations as well as water damage and mold. Mgmt company has also been harassing tenants, sending them fake bills for rent. One tenant’s daughter is actually afraid to go in the hallway because a rat once bit her. Tenants believe landlord just wants them out.

 

 

The landlord, Highpoint Associates run by Donald Ammons, who has been on the Worst Landlord List multiple times, fired the super back in September 2020 and now garbage continues to pile up inside and outside the apartment, causing a rat infestation among other issues. The landlord has racked up more than $800,000 in fines and fees, according to our calculations, and over 400 building violations. The tenants have sued the landlord for repairs and have a court date on Friday, May 20. 6sqft covered this landlord before here. Tenants are willing to talk to you and show you the building this week ahead of the court date. Thanks.

Best,
Seth Hoy, Director of Communications
Legal Services NYC
40 Worth Street, Suite 606
New York, NY 10013

It's a lot harder to get and start an airbnb in this city

 

Brick Underground 

 Renting out your New York City apartment to visitors via short-term rental sites like Airbnb has become more difficult in the last year. Not only did the pandemic end the city’s steady stream of visitors but a court ruling means owners of one- or two-family houses are restricted from doing short-term rentals if they are not in the building at the same time.

This may sound similar to previous restrictions, but until recently there was ambiguity about whether the rules applied to New Yorkers who live in or own smaller buildings. Prior to the ruling, it was understood it was illegal for anyone in a building with more than three units to rent out their place for less than 30 days, unless the owner or leaseholder was present during the stay.  

Fines for violating these rules can be massive and now the rule extends to owners of one- and two-family homes. 

Responding to a question on the Brick Underground podcast about whether the owner of a single-family home in Queens might be able to start using the property for Airbnb rentals without living in the property, Steven Kirkpatrick, a real estate attorney with Romer Debbas, says the simple answer is no. 

“Recently there was an ambiguity regarding whether owners of one- or two-family houses could do short-term rentals while not residing in the apartment or house being rented. That ambiguity has now been resolved by an appellate court in New York and the appellate court held that the rules are applicable to one- and two-family houses,” he says. 

A short-term rental is defined as under 30 days. So if you're renting for 30 days or more, then you are within the law and would be able to rent out the place while not being present. “If you're renting for 29 days or less, and the owner is not present, then it's against the law,” Kirkpatrick says. 

He points out the penalties for breaking the law are are "brutal." Fines, even for a first time violation, can be anywhere from $10,000 up to potentially $100,000, he says.

Arbitrary fines from pandemic guidelines are crippling small businesses

 

CBS New York

  Business owners already struggling because of the coronavirus pandemic are getting hit again, this time with summonses and fines for not following COVID guidelines.

Lorraine Gericke, manager of Best Tress Hair Salon, was told by a city inspector she was doing it all wrong, using a notebook to write down customers’ temperatures and information for contact tracing.

“They’re slapping us with a $1,000 fine, which is so unfair,” she told CBS2’s Dave Carlin.

The penalty of one grand is because they did not use city forms instead.

“We were not aware that we needed these,” Gericke said.

 Yi Qiang Chen learned he needed a paper displayed on his Jade Bamboo restaurant storefront indicating maximum capacity.

“I’m angry but I cannot do nothing you know,” he said.

He says the inspector told him, and just one day later, another inspector returned and fined him $1,000.

“They don’t give me the time to do that, you know,” Chen said.

On one block of Dry Harbor Road in Middle Village, Queens, at least four business were hit with fines and, in some cases, multiple fines.

Louise Fawcett, of Matson’s Delicatessen, has five documents displayed on her deli’s door, but she says she was fined $1,000 for not having a thermometer.

“You have to have one that’s non-contact,” Fawcett said. “I ordered it online the day before they gave me a summons.”

“Give them a warning,” New York City Councilmember Robert Holden said. “No, they won’t do that.”

CORONAVIRUS: NY Health Dept. | NY Call 1-(888)-364-3065 | NYC Health Dept. | NYC Call 311, Text COVID to 692692 | NJ COVID-19 Info Hub | NJ Call 1-(800)-222-1222 or 211, Text NJCOVID to 898211 | CT Health Dept. | CT Call 211 | Centers for Disease Control and Prevention

City council passes law to curb placard abuse

NY Post

City Council members overwhelmingly backed Council Speaker Corey Johnson’s plan to rein in widespread abuse of city-issued parking permits, approving all nine of his bills he put forward to crack down on placard abuse.

“Placard abuse is corruption,” Johnson told reporters ahead of the Council’s Tuesday vote. “We’ve tolerated it for years as one of those unchangeable facts in New York City, but those days are hopefully over.”

The package of bills would up the fine for illegal placard use — a rampant practice among city employees — from $250 to $500. It would require city employees to apply for placards and explain why they should be granted the permit.

The NYPD would also be required to conduct 50 targeted placard enforcement sweeps each week under the supervision of the city’s Department of Investigation.

Furthermore, city police would be tasked with maintaining an electronic database of all placards in circulation and tracking progress towards eliminating improper use of city parking permits.

Critics frequently complain the NYPD fails to crack down on placard abuse since cops are frequently spotted misusing them, but Johnson told reporters DOI’s involvement ensures NYPD will take the issue seriously.

“We wanted an outside check,” Johnson said. “Traffic enforcement agents who are supposed to be writing the summonses and tickets … don’t always do it because they are afraid of policing the police.”

Looks like someone missed a sweep on Queens Blvd on the night of the new legislation. Speaking of outside checks, how about compensating George the Atheist for his recent expose'.

 

Heavy fines levied against illegal hotels

From Commercial Observer:

City Hall has continued its crusade against illegal short-term rentals by slapping landlords who illegally convert residential buildings and rent them out on a nightly basis with nearly $300,000 in penalties during the month of July alone.

The New York City Department of Buildings issued 43 violations and $285,375 in penalties against landlords for illegal transient use of 11 different buildings, the agency announced last week. The biggest offender was Hank Freid‘s Branic International Realty Co., which racked up $55,000 in violations for illegally converting a residential building at 2690 Broadway on the Upper West Side into the Marrakech Hotel. The city is already suing Freid, the owner of the Marrakech and two other walkups in the neighborhood, for illegally operating his single-room-occupancy buildings as hotels, as Commercial Observer previously reported. Freid’s lawyer didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.

Although the city has long prohibited renting out apartments and homes as hotels, the rise of vacation rental sites like Airbnb and Homeaway.com have driven a corresponding increase in enforcement against illegal short-term sublets from city agencies.

Is this the way to stop rampant K2 use?

From CBS 2:

Neighborhoods demanding a crackdown on the dangerous synthetic drug K2 rallied today describing the way the narcotic poisons their communities.

The neighborhoods might be different but the effects are the same, reports CBS2’s Marc Liverman.

CBS2 exclusive video taken back in 2016 show people on K2 passed out on chairs in the middle of the sidewalk, seen again in 2018 all around New York City.

Others are seen leaning against buildings and nodding out as mothers pushed their strollers close by. That was in the Mott Haven section of the Bronx, and now it’s happening in Williamsbridge.

Just ask pastor Janet Hodge.

“Every morning that we arrive, we find that people have used the bathroom on our property,” she said. “Every day I come outside and I find that there are men and women loitering on our stoops and they are in a stupor.”

“We have people walking around zombie-like, in catatonic states, up and down White Plains Road,” said State Senator Jamaal Bailey.

At a rally Monday, local politicians and residents said enough is enough. King introducing new legislation that would hold landlords and area businesses accountable.

“The store will be shut down and you will not be able to reopen the same business or rent it out to the same business,” he said.

The new legislation would also slap on a $100,000 fine on any business caught selling the synthetic cannabinoid.

Posting a property on AirBnB will have consequences

From Crains:

Airbnb seemed to be sucking wind after its political foes delivered it a gut punch Wednesday.

The City Council voted 45-0 in favor of a bill backed by the hotel industry and its union allies, a measure that will require the company to disclose to law enforcement the names and addresses attached to every one of its listings in the five boroughs. The legislation, expected to by signed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, will help the city to crack down on anyone violating state law by using the site to rent an apartment for fewer than 30 days.

The sole consolation for Airbnb was that the final draft of the bill lowered the fines the city can levy against the firm for every case of noncompliance to just $1,500, down from the original bill's range of $5,000 to $25,000.

The vote followed months of bitter public recriminations between the tech giant on one side and the city's traditional lodging interests and Hotel Trades Council on the other. On the morning of the vote, Airbnb labeled its loss "bellhop politics," and announced it would fund a lawsuit against the city brought by a host who claimed authorities targeted him after he testified at a council hearing.

City Council planning major crackdown on AirBnB

From The Real Deal:

The City Council is slated to consider a controversial bill seeking to fine Airbnb up to $25,000 for every listing it fails to disclose to the city.

The legislation, which will be introduced in the City Council on Thursday, requires online home-sharing companies to submit data on individual listings — including the host’s name, home address and phone number — to the Mayor’s Office of Special Enforcement, which goes after illegal hotel operators, Politico reported. Under the bill, Airbnb and similar companies can be fined between $5,000 and $25,000 for each listing that isn’t shared with the city.

Sidewalk repair reprieve

From Crains:

The City Council approved a measure Wednesday that will give landlords an extra 30 days to repair damaged sidewalks abutting their properties, stretching the deadline to 75 days from 45 days. Minority Leader Steven Matteo, R-Staten Island, who sponsored the bill, said the idea grew out of constituent complaints from his district—where single-family homes predominate.

He noted that the city hands out many repair orders during winter, when cold and damp conditions can make work impossible.

Brooklyn neighborhoods try to hold ECB accountable

From Brooklyn Daily:

The city’s failure to collect fines on thousands of properties with unpaid building violations in Marine Park, Madison, Sheepshead Bay, and surrounding neighborhoods makes a mockery of zoning laws, leading some locals to call for some Wild West justice at a civic meeting on May 17.

“Why can’t they get a posse together and collect?” said Fran Minichiello of Sheepshead Bay.

The lax enforcement of so-called environmental control board violations — which the Department of Buildings slaps on developers when they fail to comply with construction or zoning rules — was the subject of a special meeting of the Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association in Marine Park last week, where residents grilled officials from the buildings department and the Department of Finance, which is responsible for collecting the fines.

There are 2,366 properties with open violations in the territory of Community Board 18, which includes parts of Marine Park, Mill Basin, Canarsie, and other neighborhoods. There are 5,518 total open violations in that area, meaning some properties have more than one, according to the Department of Buildings.

Within Community Board 15, which encompasses Madison, Sheepshead Bay, Manhattan Beach, and other areas, there are 1,941 properties with open violations, and 4,505 total such violations among 31,884 properties, according to the department. The Madison-Marine-Homecrest Civic Association includes parts of both CB15 and CB18.

The Department of Finance did not respond to a request for information on how much money’s worth of violations currently remains unpaid in Brooklyn, but a response to a freedom of information law request from the association said there were more than $247 million in outstanding violations in the borough in August 2017.

City (still) trying to crack down on parking placard abuse

From the Daily News:

The city has handed out a whopping 160,000 parking placards, to teachers, cops, Department of Transportation workers and others.

Many drivers still use dubious or outright fake placards — and manage to avoid tickets.

Meanwhile, drivers with legit placards park where they're not supposed to — on the sidewalk or blocking crosswalks. City placard holders are also only supposed to use the placards while on official business.

Under the proposed legislation, which will be introduced next week, the minimum fine for using a bogus or unauthorized placard would double from $250 to $500.

Another bill would require the city to yank a real placard if it is used inappropriately three times in a year.

The legislation would also create an electronic tracking system for city-issued placards, so officials will know who has one and whether they've been caught misusing it, and cops can confirm in real time whether a permit displayed on a car is valid.

And the NYPD would have to issue reports on how many complaints they get about placards abuse, and how many tickets they give out.

Stop work order violations will carry heavier penalties

From The Real Deal:

The city will soon bump up fines for violating stop-work orders on construction sites, adding another $1,000 to penalties imposed for first-time offenses.

Starting June 18, the Department of Buildings will impose penalties of $6,000 for initial offenses and then $12,000 for every subsequent violation. Currently, the agency charges $5,000 for the former and $10,000 for the latter.

The City Council approved the change in August, along with a slew of other building-related bills. At the time, the council also voted to double penalties for work done without a permit, which varies based on the kind of work.

Brooklyn building illegally converted into shelter

From Kings County Politics:

The city announced today it removed all its resident clients from a four-story Bedford-Stuyvesant walk up illegally converted from a 14-unit apartment building to a 42-unit single room occupancy (SRO) shelter.

But the entire incident, in which the owner of the building at 529 Monroe Street appeared in some form of collusion with both the city and the non-profit organization that has a contract with the city to house homeless in an illegally converted building has local officials deeply concerned.

According to Community Board 3 District Manager Henry Butler residents have filed complaints about the building with CB3 as far back as the spring of 2017 when construction first began on the 4-story walk up.

Despite repeated complaints that the construction was illegal, the owners Monroe Lewis LLC, one of the shadowy landlords that operate out of 199 Lee Avenue in Williamsburg, was able to not only complete the illegal work, but secure a contract whereupon the city contracted with the non-profit Core Services to turn the site into a SRO homeless shelter.

The owners were able to do this even after the DOB slammed them with several fines including one for occupancy exceeding nearly three times the building’s Certificate of Occupancy and for altering plumbing without a permit.

Then, since September 2017 – around the same time the city passed legislation that would ramp up penalties as well as allow the Department of Buildings easier access to buildings suspected of illegal home conversions, the city began to illegally fill the building with tenants.

Despite the DOB leveling fines at the building’s owners for the illegal conversion, the HRA continued to house the homeless there, netting the landlord and Core over $40,000 a month in guaranteed city funding to split up as the city pays $1,047 per SRO unit.

Great report!

Brooklyn developer heavily fined for arboricide

From CBS 2:

The city is demanding more than $176,000 from a Brooklyn developer accused of committing arborcide – the act of killing a tree.

As WCBS 880’s Mike Smeltz reported, city estimates say the pin oak tree that stood in front of 299 South 4th St. in Williamsburg had been there for at least 75 years and possibly up to 100 years.

An inspector found it with more than a dozen two-inch deep holes drilled into hits base that left the crown of the tree 90 percent dead.

Now the city believes the developer, Noah Amos – or someone acting on behalf of Amos – was the one who caused damage to the tree.

More MTA tolling shenanigans reported

From Eyewitness News:

Cashless tolling seems like a win-win. Still in its infancy in our area, it has reduced traffic, commuting times, and vehicle emissions, making it good for the environment.

And it's already generating big bucks in profit for agencies that run it - like the MTA, which oversees E-Z Pass on bridges and tunnels in New York City.

But we're hearing from scores of consumers who are are saying it's a big loss for them after getting hit with fines in the thousands - facing collections - even after some say they've paid the tolls.

Spa Castle in trouble again

From the Times Ledger:

A controversial spa in College Point is in trouble once again.

State Sen. Tony Avella (D-Bayside) received a letter from the New York State Department of Labor informing him that Spa Castle, located at 31-10 11th Ave., had been fined $1,000 for violating the Child Labor Statute.

Labor Department Commissioner Roberta Reardon wrote to Avella Jan. 30 about an investigation that was completed in December 2017.

According to Reardon, investigators visited Spa Castle on various occasions and times looking for violations of state laws. “After meticulous review of Spa Castle’s wage and hour records, we substantiated a violation of Article 4, the Child Labor Statute,” she told the senator in the letter.

The statute bans minors from working late hours on school nights.

Reardon said the spa was served a notice of violation on Nov. 4 with a penalty of $1,000, which they paid in full. The investigators were not able to substantiate any allegations regarding overtime.

Swindled workers will be paid after settlement

From AM-NY:

Three Queens construction companies have pleaded guilty to withholding more than $370,000 from 150 workers, according to state Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.

The companies, Lotus-C Corporation of Jackson Heights, Johnco Contracting Inc. of Bayside, and RCM Painting Inc. of Maspeth, failed to provide workers with overtime wages between 2012 and 2017. Additionally, the employers had the workers, who were painters, sign a form stating that they were independent contractors instead of employees, the attorney general said.

The companies also underreported their staff numbers to the state, which resulted in major underpayment of unemployment contributions to the state, Schneiderman said.

As part of their plea deal the owners of the companies have dissolved their offices and are banned for five years from bidding on public works contracts in New York State. They will also pay a total of $371,447.01 for unpaid wages and $359,747.86 in unpaid unemployment contributions to the State Department of Labor, the attorney general said.