Landlord's Twice-Daily Cleanings Not Sufficient to Clear Curbline Trash

The DOS issued a violation notice to landlord for failing to clean within the 18-inch curbline in front of its apartment building. The DOS inspector described bottles, cups, napkins, pieces of paper, tissues, and wrappers accumulated within the 18-inch curbline. Landlord argued that a maintenance worker came to the building each day to clean the sidewalk and curbline and take care of garbage between 7 a.m. and 8 a.m. Then, each day between 5 p.m. and 6 p.m., landlord's representative came to inspect and maintain the property. Landlord claimed its rep came at 5:30 p.m. on the day in question and didn't observe any debris. Landlord suggested that the inspector mistook the neighbor's property for its property. The ALJ ruled against landlord and fined it $100.

Landlord appealed and lost. ECB generally defers to the ALJ's findings concerning credibility and, here, the ALJ believed the DOS inspector. Even if landlord did perform twice-daily cleanings and/or inspections, such frequency wasn't necessarily sufficient to establish reasonable cleaning efforts for a multiple dwelling.

DSNY v. 58 West 91 Street Holding LLC: ECB App. No. 2101612 (12/16/21)[2-pg. document]