HMGJ PARTNER SERGE JOSEPH WINS SECOND VICTORY FOR DOWNTOWN 421-g TENANTS
Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed ruled today in West v. BCRE 90 West LLC that tenants in buildings participating in the RPTL Section 421-g tax benefit program are subject to rent stabilization. The decision follows a decision only two weeks ago issued by Supreme Court Justice Carol R. Edmead in Kuzmich, et. al. v. 50 Murray Street reaching the same conclusion. These two decisions confirm that thousands of downtown tenants who were improperly treated as “market tenants” by their landlords should have the benefits of rent-stabilization.
The latest decision from the Hon. Supreme Court Justice Reed reaffirms that the 421-g statute is clear and unambiguous in requiring rent stabilization protection for all tenants in buildings receiving generous benefits under the program. Furthermore, the decision debunks the argument that the Giuliani/Bruno private correspondence constitutes official legislative history. It also rejects their brazen attempt to manipulate the meaning of the law to further enrich real estate developers from the public coffers.
