Tenants at a historic Chelsea apartment complex whose units were deregulated have filed a class action suit in Manhattan Supreme Court against the buildings’ owners. The class action—filed Friday by 10 tenants at London Terrace Gardens, a group of 10 buildings on 23rd and 24th Streets between 9th and 10th Avenues—follows a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeals in Roberts v. Tishman Speyer. In Roberts, a 4-2 majority last month held that landlords receiving public tax incentives cannot deregulate under the luxury control provisions of the Rent Stabilization Law, and concluded that thousands of units in the Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town complex had been illegally deregulated (NYLJ, Oct. 23, 2009).
According to the plaintiffs in Dugan v. London Terrace Gardens, L.P., 603468/09, the owners of London Terrace continued to deregulate units and failed to restore units to regulation even after they started receiving J-51 tax breaks in 2002. The tenants, who pay monthly market-rate rents ranging from $3,100 to $7,500, allege that as many as 300 apartments have already been improperly deregulated. They are asking for return to rent stabilization and damages. - Noeleen G. Walder
New Magistrate Judge Tapped for Foley Square
