Duane St. Tenants Lose Eviction Appeal

By Carl Glassman
POSTED NOV.1, 2006

A state housing agency last month rejected an appeal by the long-time tenants living above City Hall Restaurant at 131-135 Duane Street, bringing them a step closer to eviction.

The decision by the Department of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) upheld the agency’s ruling in April, 2005, which gave the building’s owners, Duane Street Realty, the right to evict the rent stabilized tenants so that the structure can be gutted and converted to luxury apartments. The owners first filed their application six years ago.

The principles in Duane Street Realty are Martin Gruss, a prominent financier and philanthropist, his son, Joshua, and Henry Meer, the owner of City Hall Restaurant.

Eviction action can begin 120 days following last month’s decision. As of late last month the tenants had yet to meet with their lawyer, Robert Petrucci, who was out of the country. But they say they expect to appeal the agency’s ruling in court.

State law allows for the eviction of rent-protected tenants—even those otherwise protected by age—if the owner intends a “demolition” of his property in order to rebuild it. Plans for 131-135 Duane Street call for leaving the facade, structural floor beams, and the restaurant intact. The tenants had argued that the owners’ plans do not constitute true demolition.

Tenant advocates who are watching the case say that a loss by tenants in court could encourage owners of other rent stabilized buildings to follow suit.
“If one phony demo approach is allowed to stand then who knows where it’s going to end up,” said Bill Hall, co-chair of the advocacy group Lower Manhattan Loft Tenants.

The tenants had won the backing of elected officials, and even Deputy Mayor Daniel Doctoroff sent a letter of support to the agency.

Assemblywoman Deborah Glick said she plans to reintroduce legislation that would define demolition as razing a building to the ground.

In its ruling, the DHCR cited the precedent of previous court rulings, noting that demolition has been defined as “substantial demolition” as opposed to a total leveling or razing of the structure to the ground.

In a written statement, a spokeswoman for Duane Street Realty said the owners are “pleased that this most recent decision…upholds the granting of the owner’s application that is fully supported by the letter of the law.” She said the owners would not comment further because of a likely court appeal by the tenants.

Tenants expressed sadness and concern, but they said the decision was expected. “We’re continually surprised, though, that as legal tenants of very long standing in a perfectly good building that anybody would consider demolition to be gutting our homes and leaving the building and all its structural parts in place,” said artist Jed Devine. “So that remains beyond surprise, that remains shocking to us.”

In a portion of the ruling favoring the tenants, the DHCR said that the minimum compensation from the owner should be based on the 10 rooms that each loft will be converted to (one will be 13 rooms), rather than as a conventional city apartment. The agency mandated stipends to the tenants of $232,000 to $303,000.

Tenants who were interviewed called the sum insufficient to replace what they would lose.

“I love where I am,” said Bruce Porter, a painter who has lived in the building since 1975, “and the thought of having to go someplace else—the money to me isn’t going to be the issue.”