Reduction in Community Room Size and Elimination of Kitchen Were Minor Conditions

Tenants complained of a reduction in building-wide services. Tenants complained of dirty hallway carpeting, frequent elevator breakdowns, reduction in 24-hour security service, reduction in the size of the community room, and elimination of the basement kitchen. With their complaint, tenants submitted a list of DOB violations concerning the elevators. The DRA ruled against tenants, finding that janitorial service in the hallway was maintained as was the elevator service, and that security service was being provided. The DRA also found that reduction in the size of the community room and elimination of the basement kitchen were de minimis--that is, minor--because four years had passed before tenants complained about these services.

Tenants appealed and lost. Landlord showed that the work to reduce the size of the community room and eliminate the kitchen was completed in 2008. There also was no proof that the community room was a service otherwise required by law to be provided. The fact that the building was once a Mitchell-Lama building and that community rooms were common in Mitchell-Lama buildings is irrelevant since the building is no longer subject to Mitchell-Lama. The DRA found that landlord provided security service from Monday to Friday, from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and from 4 p.m. to midnight. On weekends, service was provided from 4 p.m. to midnight. There was no proof that landlord had ever provided 24/7 security service. The DHCR’s inspection found no defects in the carpeting and saw that it wasn’t dirty. Any elevator violations for periods prior to the DHCR’s inspection were irrelevant as the DHCR found that elevator service was restored as of the date of inspection. 

50 West 93rd Street Tenants Assoc.: DHCR Adm. Rev. Docket No. DV430019RT (4/22/16) [9-pg. doc.]