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Title: Homeowners forced to pay over $1K a year just to sit on steps
Source:
NY Post
URL Source: http://nypost.com/2017/01/23/homeow ... k-a-year-just-to-sit-on-steps/
Published: Jan 23, 2017
Author: Julia Marsh
Post Date: 2017-01-23 19:28:21 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 1510
Comments: 8
Luke Gunnell stands on his $1,200-a-year steps he rents from the city. It’s every Brooklynite’s inalienable right to sit on their own stoops — but that didn’t stop a developer and the city from devising a scheme to tax them over it, a group of homeowners claims. Nearly three dozen property owners in Boerum Hill say they are being charged more than $1,000 a year just to use the steps leading to their homes. “It’s one of those weird, bureaucratic things that doesn’t make sense,’’ said resident Luke Gunnell, 50, who is forced to shell out $1,154 every year to use his stoop. He and 33 other residents bought their stunning town houses, on the leafy north side of State Street between Hoyt and Smith streets, for as much as $2.4 million starting in 2008. And they say their contracts included an “illegal” side deal between the developer and city. The agreement allowed the builder to extend the homes’ stairways 6 feet 3 inches beyond the property line and onto the city-owned sidewalk, jacking up the sale price. In exchange, the city would receive a special annual tax — paid by the residents. The tax, which rises bit by bit every year, means the homeowners are essentially “renting” the space where their stoops are. A judge ruled that a group of 34 Brooklyn residents will have to pay a city tax of thousands of dollars a year for the right to sit on their own stoops. The deal is part of a “revokable consent agreement,’’ which also means the city can demolish the steps at any time, leaving the residents without a way to get into their homes. “It is inconceivable,’’ said the homeowners’ lawyer, Jack Lester. Lester sued the city on behalf of the residents in 2015, arguing that the city should be allowed to enter into such arrangements only for temporary structures, such as scaffolding or those involving businesses, including marquees, flagpoles and awnings. While about half the homeowners acknowledge that they were aware of the set-up, they still say it is illegal. The others said they didn’t learn about it until 2015, when they were slapped with an “administrative fee’’ of more than $1,000 for the measure to be renewed. The city’s lawyer, William Vidal, argued in court papers that all of the residents should have known about the deal because it was part of their buyer’s contract. They receive separate bills from the city Department of Transportation for the special tax, since it involves sidewalks. Vidal said builder HS Development Partners made the deal only to “maximize petitioners’ living space.” “The relief requested in this proceeding amounts to a land grab,” Vidal said. “Petitioners were on notice when they purchased their town homes that they may have to one day remove their private structures on the sidewalk of State Street and are simply trying to privatize public space,” he added. Manhattan Supreme Court Judge Joan Lobis finally ruled on the issue last week — and sided with the city. She said the city “acted within its discretion.” A city Law Department rep added to The Post, “The city enters into hundreds of these ‘revocable consent’ agreements to facilitate the construction of housing. Over the last several decades, the city has revoked less than a handful.’’ Lester said he plans to meet with the homeowners to see if they want to appeal or sue the developer. Abby Hamlin of HS Development declined to comment on a possible suit. Additional reporting by Shari Logan 
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#6. To: cranky (#0)
The city should shovel your sidewalk By Ben Adler on Feb 21, 2014 It’s an odd fact of life in New York City that after a snowstorm the streets are nicely plowed but the sidewalks may remain a mess. The city dispatches trucks to clean the streets shortly after the snow stops falling. But the sidewalks? That’s up to the owners of the buildings alongside them. And if a homeowner doesn’t get around to shoveling? Well, then you’ll just find yourself delicately dancing along a bumpy, icy, and/or slushy stretch of pavement. This is hardly unique to the Big Apple. Cities, and especially suburbs, throughout the country take the bizarre position that roads are a public good but sidewalks, where they even exist, are a luxury that homeowners must maintain for themselves. It is especially perverse in a city where more people walk than drive as they go about their daily lives. Theoretically, New York City can fine owners $100 or more for not shoveling their patch of sidewalk. In practice, enforcement is somewhere between spotty and nonexistent. And so, in this particularly snowy winter — which may become the new norm thanks to climate change — a New York City council member has proposed that the city up the fine to $250 and use the proceeds to pay for the shoveling itself. The New York Daily News reports: Councilman David Greenfield (D-Brooklyn) is introducing legislation that would require the city to shovel sidewalks ignored by property owners and charge them for it. … Under Greenfield’s bill, the city would hire more seasonal snow laborers, paying them $12 to $18 an hour to shovel sidewalks. He said the charges to property owners would more than cover the cost. Greenfield said he decided to act after dozens of complaints from constituents about treacherous sidewalks. This would be an improvement. But it would be even better if the city just took on the responsibility of shoveling all sidewalks. Why should cars get a publicly cleared path while pedestrians do not? Sidewalks are as much of a public good as roads, and pedestrians should be as entitled to safe, ice-free surfaces as cars. Greenfield’s scheme is just a way of getting the cost of shoveling off the city’s balance sheet. But plenty of New Yorkers might support a small tax increase to pay for safe sidewalks. If the city is intent on making property owners foot the bill, it could be done through a property tax surcharge. Building owners aren’t the only ones using sidewalks, however, and there is really no reason they alone should have to pay for keeping them clear. If Greenfield’s bill passes, the city will inevitably still fail to catch many negligent homeowners, leaving their sidewalks unsafe. It will arbitrarily impose those steep fines based on whose block a cop happens to check or which neighbors — generally the wealthier ones — complain the loudest. Some homeowners getting fined will deserve it, but some will have genuinely good excuses for having failed to shovel. For cities to be livable, walkable, and sustainable, they should have high- quality city services delivered by the city government, including usable sidewalks.
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