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Nikgjonaj Realty Corp. V. Garber

All Decisions

The Appellate Term affirmed the Civil Court's dismissal of the landlord's holdover petition. The court found that the landlord's notice to cure and notice of termination were defective because they failed to cite any specific lease provision violated by the alleged conditions in the tenant's apartment. This procedural defect in the predicate notices rendered the petition legally insufficient, leading to the tenant's successful cross-motion to dismiss. The decision emphasizes the strict requirement for landlords to provide specific lease violations in their notices for holdover proceedings.

Zheng V. Avelar

All Decisions

In this GCEL holdover, petitioners sought to re-argue or renew the court's prior decision dismissing the proceeding for failure to include statutorily required information in the predicate notice and petition to claim the GCEL small landlord exemption. The court denies the motion, distinguishing Shoreview Holdings, LLC v Fernandez (2025 NY Slip Op 25277) because in that case the affirmation in support of the amendment was submitted by someone with personal knowledge—unlike here.

114th Affordable Housing Llc V. Joseph

All Decisions

In a nonpayment proceeding, the tenant moved to amend their answer to include an overcharge counterclaim and for limited discovery. The court granted both motions, finding ample need for discovery. The DHCR rent history showed unexplained, significant rent increases, including a 241.45% jump with insufficient supporting documentation. Citing *W Pierre Assoc LLC v Harvey*, the court held that the tenant raised a question of fact as to the rent history's reliability, which was sufficient to grant discovery related to the overcharge claim in post-HSTPA cases, thus not requiring a fraud claim to overcome the six-year lookback rule.

Raymond Zhuang V. Pena

All Decisions

The Civil Court dismissed this no-grounds holdover because the lease lacked a conditional limitation permitting the landlord to terminate the tenancy early. The court found the relevant lease provisions did not "provide that the term of the lease will automatically expire upon the lapse of time fixed in the notice," as required. Without a valid conditional limitation, the landlord lacked a cause of action, citing Fourth Hous. Co., Inc v Bowers and 1900 Albermarle, LLC v Solon.

Mejia V. Rosas

All Decisions

In this holdover, the court grants respondent's motion to dismiss where the petition pleaded alternate theories of occupancy: either the tenant had no rights, or was a licensee and therefore failed to comply with RPAPL 741(4). This case is useful to distinguish the holding in Kew Gardens v. Bucheli, 69 Misc 3d 129(A) (App Term, 2d Dept 2020), which allows pleading inconsistent theories under certain circumstances.

Acp 150 West End Avenue Associates L.P. V. Hird

All Decisions

In this licensee holdover proceeding, the landlord appealed a trial court judgment dismissing its petition and granting the tenant succession rights to a rent-stabilized apartment as a nontraditional family member. The Appellate Term affirmed, finding ample evidence that the tenant was the deceased tenant's long-term romantic partner and had co-resided since 1999, sharing expenses and a business. The court upheld the finding that the tenant of record's temporary relocation for cancer treatment did not interrupt the co-residency requirement, as there was an expectation he would return. The appellate court also deferred to the trial court's credibility findings, which favored the …

Durand V. Nelson

All Decisions

In this no-grounds holdover, the tenant moved to dismiss, arguing the apartment was subject to VAWA, requiring specific notices. The court denied this, finding an issue of fact regarding whether the premises was a covered housing accommodation. The tenant also claimed non-receipt of a GCEL notice with the petition, but the court found it was attached electronically and the petition restated the small landlord exemption. Finally, the tenant sought dismissal for insufficient small landlord information, but the landlord's cross-motion to amend the petition to include co-owner details was granted, as no prejudice was shown. All tenant's motions to dismiss were …

Mec Property Holdings, Llc V. Gelfand

All Decisions

In a plenary action for overdue rent, the Appellate Division dismissed the landlord's complaint. The lease required a 14-day rent demand as a condition precedent to any action seeking overdue rent. The landlord failed to serve this notice. The court held that the plain meaning of the lease controlled, even for a plenary action, and that failure to satisfy this contractual condition precedent warranted dismissal. The tenants' motion for summary judgment on their counterclaims was denied due to insufficient evidence.

One Man's Trash: Spent Fuel Recycling As A Path Forward For The U.S. Nuclear Energy Industry, Wilson Barlow

Fordham Environmental Law Review

The U.S. nuclear energy industry currently operates using an open fuel cycle in which uranium is mined for fuel, used in reactors once, and then disposed of. The alternative is a closed fuel cycle where spent nuclear fuel from reactors is reprocessed and reused. As the modern-day nuclear industry seeks to expand, the shortcomings of the closed fuel cycle are becoming apparent and may stifle further growth. This Note explores a series of historical events and policy choices dating back to the early days of the country’s nuclear industry to explain why the United States currently has an open fuel …

Paying For Climate Resilience: A Tax Incentive For Climate Adaptation In New Jersey, Kaeli Brennan

Fordham Environmental Law Review

Climate change poses a significant threat to the health and safety of New Jersey’s coastal communities. Scientists predict rising sea levels and intensifying storms will bring increased flooding, erosion, and other climate-driven coastal hazards. In January 2026, the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection (“NJDEP”) adopted the Resilient Environments and Landscapes (“REAL”) rule amendments. While the REAL rules made New Jersey the first state to adopt forward-looking climate-adaptation land-use regulations, New Jersey’s economic and environmental interests conflict. The REAL rules lack sufficient funding to support compliance without deterring development. Further, the high costs associated with sustainable development risk that developers …

Paint The Line Green: Evaluating Consumer Protection And The Reasonable Person Standard In Environmental Greenwashing Claims, Carmen L. Florez

Fordham Environmental Law Review

As more consumers become informed about climate change and their own environmental impact, more businesses begin to market their products as “green,” “eco-friendly,” or “sustainable.” However, not all products marketed as environmentally friendly1 actually are; greenwashing, the deceptive marketing practices that misrepresent or exaggerate a product’s or service’s environmental benefits, is on the rise. Imagine a consumer chooses to buy a new outfit from their favorite brand’s “sustainable” line. They forego other options because they believe their choice will support the brand’s apparent efforts to conserve water and reduce their carbon footprint. Then, the consumer later finds out that the …

Maroonage: A Framework For Environmental Justice And Racial Freedom, Ryan Whyte

Fordham Environmental Law Review

Environmental hazards cause significant harm across society, with certain communities bearing the brunt of these burdens. In response, environmental advocates formed the environmental justice movement to promote equal environmental treatment for all. Closely related to this concept of environmental justice is environmental racism, which focuses on how people of color are disproportionately affected by environmental risks. While efforts to address environmental justice and racism have led to some successes, they have not fully addressed the persistent challenges affecting communities of color.

This Note seeks to apply a maroonage framework to address environmental racism and achieve environmental and racial justice for …

Isso V. Soulemane

All Decisions

The court dismissed the landlord's holdover petition based on res judicata, finding that a prior trial determined the tenants were lawful occupants directly with the landlord, not the landlord's roommates, licensees, or month-to-month tenants. The original occupancy agreement for the low-income unit listed all parties as occupants, indicating the landlord misrepresented the relationship during the apartment application. The court concluded the landlord had no superior possessory rights to evict the tenants and ordered a hearing for the tenants' legal fees due to the landlord's frivolous conduct in commencing the proceeding.

Choi V. Linc Lic L.L.C.

All Decisions

In this rent overcharge action, the Appellate Division modified the lower court's order, granting summary judgment to the tenant on liability. The court held that the landlord's rent concessions, exceeding three months, functioned as a preferential rent under post-HSTPA law, rejecting pre-HSTPA DHCR guidance. It also found lease provisions allowing the landlord to assess attorneys' fees without a court order unconscionable and unenforceable under Real Property Law § 234-a and Rent Stabilization Law § 26-512(g). The landlord failed to rebut the presumption of willfulness, as post-commencement refunds do not defeat it, thus warranting treble damages. The case was remanded for …

302 Mott Street Llc V. Bresler

All Decisions

In this holdover-licensee proceeding, the landlord sought possession of a rent-stabilized apartment. The tenant asserted succession rights as a non-traditional family member of the deceased prior tenant. Despite the absence of documentary evidence like joint bank accounts or wills, the court found the tenant proved the requisite family member relationship and co-residency through compelling testimony from four disinterested witnesses. The court determined that two years of signing lease renewals in the prior tenant's name after his death did not prejudice the landlord, especially given a 2023 amendment to the Public Housing Law. The court dismissed the proceeding with prejudice, finding …

Bradhurst Associates V. Swinton

All Decisions

The Civil Court dismissed landlord's nonpayment petition on two grounds. First, petitioner, as a landlord of a tenant with a Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher, failed to serve the required VAWA notice and certification form with the predicate rent demand as required by 24 CFR § 5.2005(a). Second, the subject premises being a covered property under the CARES Act required petitioner to serve a 30-day notice before commencing the proceeding; petitioner served only a 14-day rent demand.

Urban Horizons Housing Development Fund Corporation V. Graciano

All Decisions

In this nonpayment summary proceeding, the tenant moved to amend her pro se answer, which the court granted. The landlord cross-moved to amend the petition to date and to include the premises' regulatory status. While the petition initially stated the premises was rent-stabilized, it omitted a crucial Amended and Restated Affordable Housing Regulatory Agreement with DHPD, impacting rent levels and tenant rights. The court denied the landlord's request to amend the petition to include this regulatory agreement, finding it a material omission involving a substantial tenant right that could implicate overcharge claims. The landlord's request to amend for post-petition rent …

Chopra V. Chopra

All Decisions

In this holdover brought by a successor tenant (recognized by the landlord and given a lease in her name only) against her sister (whose name was not on the lease), the court dismisses the petition after trial. The court finds that respondent had the same succession rights as petitioner and, while it lacked jurisdiction to amend the lease, petitioner was not in a position to terminate the purported tenancy. The court distinguishes Matter of 901 Bklyn Realty, LLC v Manigat (239 AD3d 640 [2d Dept 2025]) on the basis of timing.

Dept Of Hous. Preserv. & Dev. Of The City Of N.Y. V. Parnes

All Decisions

In this HP action, the court grants HPD's motion for civil contempt and civil penalties after the landlord failed to comply with a so-ordered stipulation requiring roof repair on a 60-unit building. The landlord's arguments of economic infeasibility and inability to access units were rejected. The court imposed a contempt fine, attorneys' fees, a $60,000 AEP penalty, and an additional $257,770 in civil penalties.

Mutual Redevelopment Houses, Inc. V. Manyevitch

All Decisions

In a licensee holdover proceeding in a cooperative PHFL Article V (Mitchell-Lama), the landlord and tenant both moved for summary judgment regarding succession rights. Tenant, the spouse of a prior successor, was granted summary judgment, with the court finding she met spousal succession requirements under Section 210(d)(i) of the City Agreement, notwithstanding the prior successor's lack of formal shares or an occupancy agreement. The landlord's motion for summary judgment was granted against co-occupant, who failed to provide admissible evidence for Braschi-type succession, resulting in a possessory judgment against him. The petition was dismissed against John and Jane Doe. The court …

Mugen Group Llc V. Tufino

All Decisions

RPL §231-c requires that a landlord append the statutory Good Cause Eviction Law notice to any predicate notice served pursuant to RPL §226-c. Here, landlord failed to append the required GCEL notice to the 90-day termination notice. Landlord's inclusion of GCEL-related language within the petition did not cure this defect, as the statute requires the notice to accompany the predicate notice itself. Predicate notices are conditions precedent to the maintenance of a summary proceeding and are not amendable. Proceeding dismissed without prejudice.

Jara V. Melmel Llc

All Decisions

The Supreme Court granted summary judgment to a 67-year-old rent-stabilized tenant in Jackson Heights whose landlord refused to process her Section 8 Emergency Housing Choice Voucher. After three years, the tenant filed an affirmative action under NYCHRL and NYSHRL. The landlord failed to comply with discovery and provided only a rent demand. The court found the landlord violated both human rights laws, ordered immediate processing of the voucher, and directed the tenant owe only her Section 8 share of the rent retroactive to 2024.

1988 Anthony Ave Llc V Alvarez

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the court grants the tenant's motion to vacate the default judgment and dismisses the case. The tenant showed a reasonable excuse — she alleges she did not receive service and that neither she nor any household member matched the process server's description of the person served. The court then dismisses the proceeding outright because the landlord failed to serve a 30-day rent demand as required by the CARES Act, which applies because the unit is subject to a HUD Regulatory Agreement under the National Housing Act.

80 Varick St. Group, L.P. V Lutz

All Decisions

In this failure-to-renew holdover, the Appellate Term reverses the Civil Court and restores a 45-year rent-stabilized tenant to possession on conditions. The tenant was evicted on a default judgment entered within months of the proceeding commencing. The court finds the default was not willful — the tenant had temporarily relocated due to facade work and health issues — and that equity warrants restoration conditioned on signing the renewal lease and paying all arrears, noting the landlord had declined to accept a $150,000 certified check tendered by the tenant.

Hernandez V 975 S Llc

All Decisions

In this rent overcharge case, the court grants the plaintiffs' motion for summary judgment, finding the landlord was not entitled to charge a first rent under DHCR Operational Bulletin 95-2. Although the landlord combined parts of two adjacent rent-stabilized apartments through gut renovation, the court holds the prior apartment's essential character and function remained intact — the perimeter walls were not substantially changed and the modifications did not meet the reconfiguration-plus-obliteration standard. The court denies treble damages and appoints a Special Referee to calculate the legal regulated rent and overcharge amount.

Lopez V. Evergreen Terrace Llc

All Decisions

In an HP proceeding following a fire and vacate order, the court denied the landlord's motion to vacate a default order directing repairs and to dismiss the petition. While the court accepted law office failure as a reasonable excuse for the default, it found the landlord lacked a meritorious defense. The landlord's intent to demolish the rent-stabilized building for financial reasons, without demonstrating economic infeasibility or that the building was effectively demolished, does not relieve the landlord of the obligation to repair or serve as a defense to an Order to Correct. The Order to Correct, requiring repairs within 90 …

Bns Bldgs., Llc V. Thomas

All Decisions

In this nonpayment proceeding, the court grants respondent's motion for discovery with respect to the apartment's rent regulatory status. The court finds that respondent demonstrated ample need based on the DHCR rent history, which showed indicia of fraudulent deregulation.

From Claiborne To Climate: Anti-Esg Boycott Legislation And Corporate First Amendment Rights, Ingrid Tjendro

Fordham Law Review Online

Since 2021, at least twenty-one states have enacted laws targeting financial institutions and companies that incorporate environmental, social, and governance (ESG) considerations into their business practices. This Comment examines the First Amendment implications of one specific category of such legislation—state anti-ESG boycott statutes—and argues that they constitute an unconstitutional suppression of protected corporate speech and association.

Drawing on traditional anti-boycott jurisprudence, including NAACP v. Claiborne Hardware Co. and Rumsfeld v. Forum for Academic and Institutional Rights, Inc., and the circuit split over anti-Israel boycott legislation, this Comment centers on the recent decision in American Sustainable Business Council v. Hegar …

What Is A House?: Searching For The Meaning And Scope Of Curtilage At Common Law, Mitchell A. Del Bianco

Fordham Law Review Online

No abstract provided.

The Quiet Revival Of The Effective Vindication Of Rights Doctrine, Myriam Gilles

Fordham Law Review

The U.S. Supreme Court’s 2013 decision in American Express v. Italian Colors Restaurantwas widely seen as the death knell for the “effective vindication of rights” doctrine—a judicially created rule that arbitration agreements are enforceable only “so long as the prospective litigant effectively may vindicate its statutory cause of action in the arbitral forum.” By upholding a class action–banning arbitration provision that rendered arbitration economically irrational, Italian Colors appeared to extinguish any meaningful limits on the enforcement of arbitration agreements.

But reports of the doctrine’s demise were premature. This Article uncovers how, in the decade since Italian Colors, lower …