Swimming Pool Used by Fee-Paying Members Wasn't a Required Service

Landlord of a rent-stabilized four-building apartment complex in Mount Vernon applied to the DHCR for permission to replace a swimming pool with other recreational facilities. The DRA ruled for landlord. Tenants appealed and lost. Tenants claimed that the swimming pool was a required service and therefore shouldn't have been eliminated without a corresponding permanent rent reduction. Tenants relied on a prior DHCR rent reduction order. But that order had reduced rents based on a finding that tenants didn't have access to a "playground area/pool area/tennis courts/backyard." There was no actual finding that the swimming pool was a required service. And landlord showed that the pool had been available only for people who paid a club membership fee. Since the pool wasn't a required service, there was no basis to granting a permanent rent reduction. 

Various Tenants of the Westchester Plaza Apartment Complex: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket Nos. IM910008RT-IM910011RT (4/23/21) [2-pg. doc.]