Landlord Blocked from Removing Parking Lot

LVT Number: #24824

Rent-stabilized tenants of Park West Village sued to stop landlord from terminating their parking lease riders or taking any steps to eliminate, cancel, or relocate tenants' parking spaces unless and until the DHCR authorized landlord to do so. Tenants' leases contained riders giving them assigned parking spots in nearby outdoor parking lots. Landlord had notified tenants in July 2011 that the building complex parking lots were being eliminated and that they would have to keep their cars at an underground garage nearby.

Rent-stabilized tenants of Park West Village sued to stop landlord from terminating their parking lease riders or taking any steps to eliminate, cancel, or relocate tenants' parking spaces unless and until the DHCR authorized landlord to do so. Tenants' leases contained riders giving them assigned parking spots in nearby outdoor parking lots. Landlord had notified tenants in July 2011 that the building complex parking lots were being eliminated and that they would have to keep their cars at an underground garage nearby. Landlord claimed that it had the legal right to change assigned parking spaces under tenants' lease riders. Tenants disagreed and refused to surrender their parking spaces. Landlord wanted the parking lot because under a real estate deal, it had promised to convey the parking lot to Jewish Home Lifecare for construction of a nursing home and elder care center. But landlord didn't first seek permission from the DHCR to modify required ancillary services provided to tenants. 

The court granted a preliminary injunction in April 2012 barring landlord from taking any action. Later, landlord asked the court to revoke the initial injunction and permit relocation of the parking spaces while the case was pending in light of three orders issued by the DHCR in January 2013.

The court ruled against landlord. There had been no final ruling as yet by the DHCR, and 64 tenants submitted sworn statements saying they would be irreparably harmed by the relocation of their garage spaces to an underground parking garage that would be inconvenient, less safe, and harder to get in and out of, particularly for older or disabled tenants. If allowed to change the status quo now, tenants would have no parking lot to return to if they won the case before the DHCR.

Peyton v. PWV Acquisition LLC: 39 Misc.3d 1228(A), 2013 NY Slip Op 50793(U) (Sup. Ct. NY; 5/20/13; Singh, J)