Two Tenement Buildings Must Be Preserved as Landmarks

Landlord sued the City of New York after the city ruled that two early 20th century tenement buildings that landlord owned on York Avenue were landmarks. The court ruled against landlord, finding that recent, previously authorized construction work begun on the buildings hadn't changed their size, shape, or "footprint." Although landlord had installed new windows and made some other changes, the buildings were still six-story, light-court tenement buildings with many windows and without courtyard entrances. The buildings were recognizable as part of the First Avenue Estate complex, a block of historic, well-designed tenements built in the early 1900s. Landlord argued that the city previously had excluded the two buildings from a 1990 landmark designation of the rest of the block. But the city was free to reconsider its prior ruling, and its decision was reasonable.

Stahl York Ave. Co. LLC v. City of New York: NYLJ, 6/25/10, p. 38, col. 1 (App. Div. 1 Dept.; Tom, JP, Andrias, Friedman, Nardelli, Catterson, JJ)