I Am a Rent-Stabilized Tenant

East Village resident Susan Schiffman has been photographing the apartments of rent-stabilized tenants living in the East Village for her Instagram account, I Am a Rent Stabilized Tenant. She will share some of the photos here for this ongoing EVG feature.



Photos and text by Susan Schiffman

Tenant: Birdie, since 2013

Why did you come to the East Village?

The boy. He had been living here for years before me. When I met him I had been in a rocky relationship and we just clicked right away. He had a place. I had nowhere to go. We loved each other right off the bat, so I moved in.





How did you discover that your apartment is rent stabilized?

After being in the East Village for awhile my husband knows a lot of people who have been here their entire lives. He asked them if they had any experience with rent stabilization. They said he needed to contact GOLES and look into our rent history. You can get it for free. As soon as we did this, it was a window that opened to the world. We didn’t know we could get our rent history from the city. You can go back four years.

My husband lived upstairs for five years. I moved in with him ... the week we met. I lived with him for a couple of years upstairs, and now downstairs in this apartment for three. We stopped paying rent when we found out all of this information in November. They’ve let us ride out not paying rent because it’s moving that four-year period forward. His time upstairs isn’t going to count since each apartment is separate. We are paying twice as much as we should in this downstairs apartment and upstairs is a little bit less than double.

[The landlord is] trying to run us out. We sit in bed and talk about this all the time and try and figure out what their plan is. We have lawyer-ed up and nobody else did. [Other residents] have all taken the buyout. The first tier was $6,000. A lot of tenants left for $6,000. That was before we discovered that we were rent-stabilized. The second tier of the buyout was $10,000.

For months up until April it was just us in the back building, and then just the tenant across the hall from us. They offered him $15,000 because he stopped paying rent for a couple of months but he didn’t have a lawyer. He didn’t know that he was rent-stabilized. He took the buyout and is staying up the street, crashing with a friend.

You really have to do your research. We paid $2,500 in a retainer to a lawyer, which was really painful, but what we’re going to get in back rent — not a buyout — will be worth it. People need to know that if you don’t check your rent history you will never know if you are actually owed something.

There were only six tenants before us in our apartment since the 1980s and they were all paying $500. Then tenants were listed as living here but their rent was not listed and then it jumped to $1,550. The lawyer did the math. The landlord can only justify massive rent hikes if they put in $20,000 or more in renovations. And they must be able to provide receipts for all of the improvements that were made.

They have not done any of that.

We were never registered as rent-stabilized. None of the apartments in the front building or the back building were registered as rent-stabilized. There are eight apartments in this back building. We are the last ones here. Seven of the other apartments are empty and will be renovated.

The apartment across the hall from us is a mirror image of our apartment. When the tenant was living there he was paying $1,750. We were paying $1,550.

Renovations have begun in the empty apartments in the front building. One tenant was sitting in her living room and a drill came through the wall.

We won’t pay rent till we get the back rent check.



What do you love about your apartment?

I love that there is just enough room for me to paint and we can breathe and it’s still cozy. It’s a little difficult because it’s so tight but it’s made us really close in our marriage. We lost 45 square feet from our apartment upstairs to down here. Which doesn’t seem like a lot but when you’re in it it changes everything. We’re so right on top of each other. I love that we’re a lot closer than we would have been in a larger space and there is nowhere to run and hide. We have to communicate with one another and figure it out.







If you're interested in inviting Susan in to photograph your apartment for an upcoming post, then you may contact her via this email.

Council Member Carlina Rivera introducing bill that would fine Airbnb for undisclosed listings

District 2 City Council Member Carlina Rivera will introduce legislation today that seeks to fine Airbnb for every listing it fails to disclose to the city.

Here's more about the bill via Politico:

The legislation would require online home-sharing companies to submit identifying data about their individual listings to the Mayor's Office of Special Enforcement, which is tasked with going after illegal hotel operators. They would have to report the addresses of all booked listings, the hosts' names and their home addresses, as well as the online posting numbers.

The city would be able to fine Airbnb and similar companies between $5,000 and $25,000 for each listing left off the report.

Rivera, sponsor of the bill, told Politico: "[T]o be clear, this bill is not going to punish the operators — it's going to mandate consequences, financial consequences, that apply only to Airbnb, not the operators, if they do not hand over the info that we're requiring. We are trying to get as much info as possible to make links to identify the bad operators."

For their part, Airbnb seeks passage of a state bill that would legitimize its business practice. And Airbnb representatives have suggested that this new city legislation would violate internet privacy laws.

"Let's be clear about who will feel the pain from this bill: seniors who share their space to avoid economic hardship while living on a fixed income; millennials who have opened their doors to pay off student debt; families of color who share their home to stay in their home amidst rising rents," Josh Meltzer, Airbnb's head of policy in the Northeast, said in a prepared statement.

Under state law, residents of most apartment buildings are barred from renting their units for fewer than 30 days unless they are present. Airbnb is reportedly looking to do away with this stipulation, as the Daily News reported in March.

The Real Deal had more about the bill last month. (Find that article here.)

Image via Shutterstock

Suki set for 7th Street

[Photo last Thursday by Derek Berg]

Work continues at 86 E. Seventh St., the sliver of a retail space just east of First Avenue.

Last week, workers removed the sign of the previous tenant, Cafe Che (and later Benny's Burritos & Empanadas), which sold a variety of empanadas.

Word here is that a Japanese restaurant called Suki will be opening in a few weeks...



We don't have any other details about Suki at the moment.


[Photos by Steven]

Mark Merker, who launched Harry's and Benny's Burritos in 1987, opened Cafe Che in April 2017 ... after a brief closure, it returned as Benny's Burritos & Empanadas this past January. Unfortunately, he wasn't able to make the space work, closing for good in March.

The space was home until the fall of 2016 to Abraço, the popular coffee shop/cafe that moved across Seventh Street.

Updated July 2

Suki is now open.

H/T Derek Berg and Steven!

Emmy Squared makes it very official on 1st Avenue

The owners of Emmy Square hoisted the coming soon signage at 83 First Ave. at Fifth Street (the former Three of Cups space) ... this after the recent arrival of the Emmy Square awnings.

The pizzeria is expected to open here later this summer. You can find the menu to their Williamsburg location here.

And Emmy Squared will be using the lower-level space that housed the Three of Cups Lounge... their questionnaire with the CB3 application (PDF here) last month included renderings of the basement space, which will feature an 11-seat bar...



And here's the main-level rendering while we're at it...



Our previous post has more background here.

It's 2 a.m., do you know where your potato pancakes are?

The jazz band Onyx Collective have released "2AM at Veselka," a track from their upcoming album Lower East Suite Part Three. (Parts One and Two came out last year.)

Other tracks from the record, out on June 15, include blog-worthy headlines such as "There Goes the Neighborhood," "Battle of the Bowery" and "Delancey Dilemma."

Band leader Isaiah Barr said that the record is — per Fader — inspired by a tumultuous period in the group's life after being forced out of their original practice space due to rising rent.

H/T Ben!

Wednesday's parting shot

Photo on St. Mark's Place by Derek Berg...

Impromptu

Today was Day 1 for the piano in use in Tompkins Square Park as part of the annual Sing For Hope campaign. Steven shared this photo of Helen the Accordion Lady making music on a different instrument.

Lady JDay designed this piano. Read more about it on this previous post.

The piano will be here through June 24.

9th Precinct beat: dining with a stolen credit card at Veselka; stealing then sprinting with a cane

The NYPD is asking for assistance in tracking down suspects in two recent thefts on Second Avenue...

The man pictured here was captured on 🎥 helping himself to a nice dinner Friday May 25 around 7PM at Veselka Restaurant in the #EastVillage. Only problem is he was using a stolen credit card. If you have any info on him we ask you to call #800577TIPS pic.twitter.com/v8aKcjKqog

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 6, 2018

And!

On Thursday May 31 at 2:30PM the man pictured here entered a coffee shop on 2 Ave in the #EastVillage and took a customer's wallet. He uses a cane to help him steal property but sprints away after exiting store. If you have any info on him call #800577TIPS #NYC pic.twitter.com/y8ZfaTbAdp

— NYPD 9th Precinct (@NYPD9Pct) June 5, 2018

Anyone with information that could help in the investigation is asked to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477). You may also submit tips online.

Noted

[EVG file photo]

Major changes appear in store for IHOP Way, aka 14th Street between Second Avenue and Third Avenue.

Per the Post today:

IHOP says it’s changing its name to IHOb, and it will explain why on Monday.

The 60-year-old franchise’s coy announcement was made on Twitter on Tuesday.

“For 60 pancakin’ years, we’ve been IHOP. Now, we’re flippin’ our name to IHOb. Find out what it could b on 6.11.18. #IHOb”

Grub Street weighs in on the marketing gimmick here.

This IHOP location opened in September 2011.

Tokuyama Salon Cafe now serving coffee and croissants on 6th Street

The owner of Tokuyama Salon at 627 E. Sixth St. between Avenue B and Avenue C recently took over ownership of the cafe next door ... the Tokuyama Salon Cafe sells a variety of coffee drinks (they serve Counter Coulter Coffee) and croissants, muffins, scones etc. ...





The cafe is open Monday to Friday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.; 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday.

The space was previously Bakeri NYC, which decided to move on at the end of April.

Bottom two images via Facebook

New retail space hits the market at 116 St. Mark's Place

The ground-floor space at No. 116 between Avenue A and First Avenue Avenue recently arrived on the market.

The listing notes that the 900-square-feet of space (plus 500 square feet out back) is "Perfect for Cafe, Wine Bar, etc. All uses considered. Landlord will vent."

The retail listing coincides with the sale of the building, which was recorded on May 25. Public records show that the seller, 116 Saint Marks Place LLC, sold the five-story building to 116 St. Marks LLC for $5 million. (The buyer shares the address with Cecora Investment Advisers, a diversified commercial real estate investment brokerage and consulting company.)

The potential retail was (or is) home to a Ukrainian religious organization, which you can read about here (keep scrolling).

Third Street Music School's free noontime summer music series starts tomorrow

[Click on image for more details]

Third Street Music School's free, outdoor summer concert series starts tomorrow at 12:30 p.m. in front of St. Mark’s Church-in-the-Bowery on 10th Street and Second Avenue.

Via the EVG inbox...

These lunchtime concerts present professional bands representing musical traditions from around the world, including Klezmer, Flamenco, Jazz, Eastern European and Asian, and features Third Street students participating in the school's summer chamber music workshop.

June 7 – Art Baron & Friends
June 14 – David Moreno
June 21 – Arturo O'Farrill Sextet
June 28 – Eve Sicular and Isle of Klezbos
July 5 – Arthur Lipner and Brazilian Vibes
July 12 – Third Street Chamber Music Players
July 19 – Gypsy Jazz Caravan

Find more info on the musicians here.

1st glass: 80 E. 10th St. shows off its floor-to-ceiling windows

Here's a look at the 10-floor condoplex shaping up over on 10th Street and Fourth Avenue... as previously noted, there will be 12 units here in the development called Eighty East Tenth, ranging from one to five bedrooms...



Prices range from $1.95 million to "wow, seriously?" (Of the 10 units listed at the Eighty East Tenth website, eight are in contract, with a fall move-in date.)

Here's a look at the final product, via designer NAVA... the rendering is not too accurate, given that there isn't a line outside Tim Ho Wan across the street...

Not half bad

Thanks to @mightymelissaleon for sharing this photo from 11th Street near Avenue B ... (yes, it moved — a little).

Here's Lady Jday's Sing For Hope piano that will be in Tompkins Square Park the next few weeks

[Image via Sing For Hope]

Starting today, the NYC-based nonprofit Sing For Hope will once again place 50 colorfully decorated pianos in parks and other locations around the five boroughs through June 24. The program is now in its seventh year.

Lady JDay, who was born in Paris, created the piano (pictured above) that will be in Tompkins Square Park for the next few weeks.

Here's more about her work via the Sing For Hope website:

For Lady JDay, commitment is both a necessity and a way of working. This can be seen in her paintings where women's rights are advocated. Whether these women are strong or the victims of violence and oppression, Lady JDay stands up for them. Portraying women is for her an approach and a governing principle.

Lady Jday is a committed artist who contributes through her painting and performances in Street Art to the recognition of women and their multiple talents. Her colorful and lively work, with expressive features, testifies to her ability to feel and relay their emotions. Lady Jday is in line with the Guerilla Girls, which promotes the place of women and people of color in the arts, and she's inspired by artists of Street Art and its encounters and travels.

This piano is a tribute to Nigerian writer Chimamanda Adichie.

“we all should be feminist” tribute to @chimamanda_adichie amazing author & feminist - piano in progress - for @singforhope and @newyorkcity . . . . . #streetartnyc #singforhope #driveforhope #streetart #streetarteverywhere #painting #paint #art #artist #feminism #popart #power #womenempowerment #weallshouldbefeminist #nyc #newyork #newyorkcity #instaart #instagood #igersnyc #igers #music #graffiti #graffitiart #girlboss #urbanart #picoftheday #chimandangoziadichie #chimanda

A post shared by Lady jday (@ladyjday) on Apr 19, 2018 at 11:22am PDT

After June 25, Sing for Hope will donate the pianos to NYC public schools.

For more information, visit the Sing For Hope website here.

Updated 5 p.m.

The piano has arrived in the Park... though it remains under wraps...



Thanks to Steven for the photos...

New state legislation aims to combat predatory equity

Local elected officials introduced joint legislation on Sunday targeting the practice of predatory equity.

State Sen. Brad Hoylman, Assemblymember Harvey Epstein and various tenants and advocates were present at a press conference outside the office of Westminster Management, a Kushner Companies subsidiary, on 12th Street between Avenue A and Avenue B. There, they discussed the legislation, which directs the New York State Department of Finanical Services (DFS) to collect data on financial institutions that lend to property owners with the intent to displace current tenants.

Per the announcement:

Specifically, the bill requires DFS to investigate the role financial institutions play in encouraging anti-tenant practices by notorious landlords like Jared Kushner, Steve Croman and Raphael Toledano.

Similar to the subprime mortgage crisis of 2008, lax underwriting standards and a general lack of transparency have allowed speculators and real estate agents to secure outsized mortgages with very little discretion and oversight. Owners use these loans to make purchases based on unrealistic projections of rising rents, and in turn have difficulty paying the mortgages.

Building owners — anxious to recoup on their hefty investments — often resort to abusive and exploitative tactics to drive rent-regulated tenants out. These abusive practices, known as predatory equity, are best-exemplified by figures like Steve Croman and Jared Kushner.

In the fall of 2015, after the Daily News reported that the state was investigating Toledano for tenant harassment at 444 E. 13th St., he received two loans totaling $124 million from private equity firm Madison Realty Capital to buy and renovate a 16-building East Village portfolio.

Per The Real Deal in an article last July:

The leverage on the deal — which clocked in at 128 percent compared to the typical 50 to 65 percent on a New York City multifamily deal — raises questions about how culpable lenders are in perpetuating harassment. In short, are they turning a blind eye when their borrowers too-aggressively push to turn rent-stabilized apartments into luxury units?

Pressured to generate income from the buildings to pay off his loans, Toledano reportedly attempted widespread buyouts. And many of the tenants at the buildings accused him of harassment.

"No longer can we allow landlords like Kushner, Croman and Toledano to force our neighbors out of their homes in order to make a quick buck," Hoylman said in a statement. "We demand that New York State investigate the practice of predatory equity so we can take the necessary steps to protect rent regulated tenants from harassment and eviction."



Said the recently elected Epstein: "This legislation will bring us closer to stopping the practice of predatory equity before it starts the cycle of tenant harassment and displacement that has become all too familiar in our city. Bad actor landlords and scheming financiers should take note: your days of destabilizing our neighborhoods with your shady business practices are numbered."

Croman was released from jail on Friday after serving eight months of a year-long sentence for fraud.

Previously on EV Grieve:
Report: Raphael Toledano files for Chapter 11; $145 million deal for EV portfolio is off the table

Raphael Toledano tenants take to Midtown streets to speak out against their landlord and his lenders

A record payday for an East Village walk-up co-op

[Image via Streeteasy]

A co-op on the fifth floor of 541 E. 12th St. went into contract for more than $1.9 million last month after a bidding war with seven offers topping the asking price less than three weeks after it was listed, The Wall Street Journal reported. (The article is behind the paper's paywall.)

According to data from Corcoran, this penthouse apartment at No. 541 between Avenue A and Avenue B is the third-highest priced sale for a walk-up on the fifth floor or above in the East Village. In addition, it is also the most expensive sale of a co-op unit, the Journal reported.

No. 541 was boarded up and abandoned in 1986 when the seller of the penthouse and a group of friends who lived in the neighborhood bought it from the city and turned it into a co-op. They paid $380,000 for the five-story building and spent about $600,000 renovating it and moved in.

The sellers will be moving to a second home they own on Long Island while the buyers already lived in the East Village, per the Journal. (Another co-op in the building is on the market for $1.15 million.)

Meanwhile, a duplex penthouse on the sixth floor of a walk-up at 211 E. Third St. between Avenue B and Avenue C "will test the limits of high-floor walk-ups" when the four-bedroom, four-bath residence hits the market for about $5.5 million.

The article notes that walk-ups are becoming more desirable:

Despite the stairs, higher floors often mean more light, less street noise, better views, a chance to keep fit, and a lower price per square foot, brokers say. And those apartments have become more palatable in the age of grocery delivery and e-commerce, as consumers shop more online and don’t have to lug items up the stairs.

Hot pot switcheroo on 2nd Avenue

An EVG reader shares these photos from over at 97 Second Ave., where coming soon (Aug. 31) signage for Spicy Noodle Hot Pot is up in the window at the current home of Hou Yi Hot Pot...



So apparently there will be a hot pot switcheroo taking place here. The phone number listed for Spicy Noodle Hot Pot is the same as for Hou Yi Hot Pot.

Hou Yi Hot Pot, which also has a spot on Hester Street in the northern fringes of Chinatown, opened here between Fifth Street and Sixth Street in December 2015.

No. 97 is also the address of an ongoing legal battle between now-former landlord Raphael "I will bury you" Toledano and Delshah Capital. (Background here.)

Monday's parting shot

Sunset photo tonight via Bobby Williams...

Wet plate photography in Tompkins Square Park

Documentary portrait photographer Robert Kalman was back in Tompkins Square Park yesterday... working on a series of portraits ... (find some of his previous work from the Park here) ... EVG regular Daniel shared these photos... showing his "collodion wet plate process" in action... a process that necessitates creating a portable darkroom in the field (or park)...