Quote:
Originally Posted by Shawn
So instead you take the side of unemployed-by-choice people in non-rent controlled apartments angling for 8 figure buyouts and their lawyers like David Rozenholc, who specializes in tenant holdout cases and who collect one-third of the settlements? A third of 8 figures is guaranteed to be north of $3 million. Plus all those delay tactics to buy more residential time for his client? What a racket.
Ozsu can only do this because of the pandemic renter-relief program, which was not intended for instances such as what we have here.
Maybe developers more often than not screw over the little guy as you claim. But that doesn't appear to be what's happening in this case.
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Yes and no.
True, Mr. Ozsu would normally not be entitled to such tenant protections as a renter of a non-stabilized apartment. And he is taking advantage of the rent relief program's protection to its maximum.
And it's true that the world has plenty of unemployed (or not -
https://www.complex.com/pop-culture/...rent-28-months) who take advantage of NY's liberal tenant protection laws and courts to their maximum.
But it doesn't appear to be the case here, at least not to an extreme extent:
1. Mr. Ozsu was let go from his job due to the pandemic, and is now working. He is a long-time rent-paying resident of the building since 2006, and would have continued to pay the rent were it not for the pandemic shutdown in 2020.
2. Crawford mentions the fact that the city is losing property tax revenue from the potential condo development, all over one tenant holding out. But is that really an uneven tradeoff?
Think about it.
On the one hand, there is less revenue generated from the jobs created to design & construct this building, along with the tax revenue to be collected yearly from each condo.
On the other hand, there would only be 11 condo units in this building, many of which would likely be investment properties or pied-a-terres for the wealthy. And what is it replacing? A rental building with 128 units, occupied by working class people who now need to search for new apartments in a city with short housing supply.
So really, is the health of the city improved by the design/construction jobs, doorman/maintenance/building super jobs, and property tax revenue created by the new 11 story condo? Or would it be better with 128 apartment units being maintained within a city that has a housing shortage? You decide.