Lawyers representing Occupy Wall Street have dropped their appeal of a judge's ruling on November 15th barring camping at Zuccotti Park. The Post reports that the attorneys were due to file the appeal on Friday, but instead notified the court that they wouldn't pursue it. Randy Mastro, the attorney representing downtown businesses and residents hailed the decision. "There will no longer be the ability to set up an encampment for 24 hours a day in what's supposed to be a park, with neighbors' lives torn asunder and unable to enjoy their downtown surroundings." A city attorney concurred: "We think the plaintiff made the right move in withdrawing her case, as it has no merit." more ›

As you may know, we sort of adore Courtney Love, so we're happy to hear that she will not be evicted from her Manhattan townhouse. Late last year the owner of Love's West Village townhouse, Donna Lyon, claimed the rocker fell behind on rent, damaged property, and altered the appearance of the home. Now TMZ has learned that a judge just tossed the case out, "because it turns out Courtney did exactly what a good tenant is supposed to do—pay her rent." more ›

Waaaay back in 2005 East Villagers and New Yorkers alike were horrified to learn that not only were Catherine and Alistair Economakis planning to evict all the tenants in their apartment building at 47 East Third Street in order to create an 11,575 square foot mansion, but that they got away with it, too for a mere $75,000. Fast-forward six years and it is happening again. But this time it is in the district of City Council Speaker and Mayoral hopeful Christine Quinn, so naturally SOMETHING MUST BE DONE. more ›

The New York State Office of Court Administration [OCA] sells the names of every tenant sued in housing court for eviction, handing over the names to private companies that create lists of potentially bad tenants. Landlords then buy the lists to screen out applicants, many of whom wind up on this list even if they win their housing court lawsuits. Or even if an error resulted in them getting sued by mistake. But now a legal team is going to court to fight the blacklisting. more ›

It's been a rough year for the carbo-kings at H&H Bagels, and it looks like things could be getting worse—the Wall Street Journal is reporting that the company may be evicted from their 639 West 46th Street mass-manufacturing plant. Is no bagel safe? more ›

Yesterday morning, city marshals were at 344 East 62nd Street to deliver eviction papers. Instead, they found a dead body and a bloodstained dog. The Daily News reports, "Cops collared dead man's roommate hours after he told authorities he was 'having a bad day,' a cop source said." Shaun Dyer, 40, was charged with second-degree murder; NY1 says that while the dog was in the apartment and covered in blood, "Police say... the animal didn't appear to have anything to do with the man's death." more ›

When Jimmy McMillan, the founding (and thus far only) member of the Rent Is Too Damn High Party, first Smurfed his way into our lives, there was only one thing to talk about, and it came in mantra-form: the rent is too damn high. And though that message has somewhat expanded since then, that has always been McMillan's central theme. But now, McMillan claims that his East Village landlords are trying to evict him: "The landlord is trying to get me out for more money. I'm a disabled vet, and he's messing with the wrong guy," McMillan told us this morning. more ›

Last month the twenty citizens of the Bushwick Trailer Park were evicted from the space they'd been inhabiting without warning. At the time we talked to one of the residents, who told us, "It's been a stressful week. Imagine having an apartment for a whole year and then one day the police knock on your door and issue you summons for trespassing! It wasn't the eviction process that all New Yorkers are entitled to, it was two cops and a bulldozer. We were paying rent just like anyone else. We're now e-mailing and calling anybody and everybody who might have a lot or some land we can park these things on temporarily. If we had been given 30 days, we and all the grumpy internet commenters out there could all be having a laugh about a Greenpoint Trailer Park or maybe a Red Hook Trailer Park." more ›

How quickly we forget about the things that once entertained us, for example, do you recall the Bushwick trailer park artist commune? They were fun. In 2009 they set up shop and for two whole months were l-i-v-i-n' the dream... until the FDNY came knocking. At that point we talked to someone on the inside, who told us they were laying low for a while. Now, HEEB tells their story upon their departure... that's right, they were kicked to the curb. They report: more ›

In a surprise move, a judge has ordered Grimaldi's landlord to accept late rent payments and refused to enforce an eviction notice foisted upon the world famous coal-oven pizzeria. "There is a God!" declared owner Frank Ciolli as he left the courtroom today. "We’re staying in Brooklyn. Let’s go have some pizza." But there was quite a different scene outside the courtroom before the judge's ruling—the Brooklyn Paper reports that an ugly shouting match between Ciolli and the landlord got physical. more ›

[UPDATE BELOW] As part of what seems like a city crackdown on artist's loft spaces this week, Clinton Hill's Rubulad has been shut down, and artists began moving out their possessions on Tuesday when they were presented with a padlock and an eviction notice. more ›

On March 1st, Brooklyn property owner Henry Weinstein lost control of his six-story office building on Pacific Street when the state finally used eminent domain to seize it for the controversial Atlantic Yards project. Like others who've opposed the project, Weinstein is outraged about losing the battle, but adding insult to injury, he says one of his tenants illegally sold his lease to developer Bruce Ratner. So yesterday Weinstein savored a little payback, and with the help of sheriff's deputies, forcibly evicted the tenant, Shaya Boymelgreen, who was also behind on his rent, according to Weinstein. more ›

Just a reminder that real estate horror stories happen to rich and poor alike in this city: tenants of 54 high-rise apartments in the landmark building at 1182 Broadway were abruptly evicted from their homes yesterday. WCBS reports that the city ordered the evacuation after finding that the building was converted from warehouse space without any permits, and not up to any residential safety codes. The 16-story building is equipped with one stairwell, no alarms and no sprinkler system. more ›

The saga continues! The Villager confirms that the landlord recently sent Ray an eviction notice, but that if he pays his rent by next Tuesday, they'll drop the case. However, what the landlord really wants is to replace Ray's with a noodle shop—just what the EV desperately needs! Ray says, “They told me they have a Chinese guy who can pay more money, and he will hire me as the night manager and keep me working here.” At least he'd still have a job, but we'd be out of a good egg cream! more ›

Happy Valentine's Day animal rights activists! The city has evicted the historic Shamrock Stables on West 46th Street. According to the NY Post, owner Ian McKeever was handed the eviction notice last week and ordered to appear in court this coming Wednesday. The city hopes to take possession of the building, which houses 26 carriage horses; they are planning a residential and commercial building, as well as a school expansion on that block. McKeever's lease wasn't renewed last November, and he was supposed to vacate in December; he says, "The city is leaving us out in the cold this Valentine's Day, and we hope they have a change of heart. Where is the love?" Currently he has nowhere else to set up shop. more ›

Looks like Ray's birthday wish of staying open might have been granted! Bob Arihood reports that Ray was able to pay his January residential and commercial rent yesterday. Hopefully, Saturday's "Day of Ray" and a little extra support will put him on his way to covering February, too. Since Ray began having trouble with his $3,000-a-month rent, the neighborhood has rallied with support, holding fundraisers and creating a Facebook page to help the local institution. Isn't it time you had an egg cream? Who knows, you might get a striptease, too. more ›

While most subway stations rely on sidewalk grates for fresh air, the new stops on the long-awaited Second Avenue line will be cooled with a modern ventilation system. But residents and politicians say the ventilation system, which will be housed in permanent above-ground structures, "many as large as midsize apartment buildings, rising up to nine stories tall," will turn vibrant Upper East Side blocks into "dead corners," blighting the neighborhood and lowering property values, according to the Real Deal. more ›

East Village actor and director Sturgis Warner isn't just facing eviction from his apartment of more than 30 years — in a theatrical twist that adds insult to injury, he might get kicked out of his home by the producers of the Blue Man Group. In 2001, the moneymen behind the indigo-hued performance troupe purchased the building that houses their theater on Lafayette Street's Colonnade Row, where the 59-year-old thespian has lived in a fifth floor walk-up since 1978. Since then, the producers have been buying out tenants to convert the residences into their own apartments, a move that housing laws allow. more ›

A Queens judge ruled that a 45-year-old man can be evicted from the Woodside, Queens co-op his dad has let him live in for 18 years. According to the Daily News, even though Richard Carnivale was allowed to live in the apartment and paid $250,000 in maintenance fees over the two decades—his dad welcomed him to the new pad with a kiss and said, "Here are the keys to your new home"—he never had actual ownership. The judge wrote, "The son's claim of ownership is essentially predicated on the handing over of keys to the co-op apartment. No writing exists to evidence an intention by the father of making the son the owner of the property." Plus, the father and son had a falling out, and Carnivale stopped paying maintenance in 2007. A lawyer for Carnivale's father said his client has health problems, "The father didn't want to do this, but he needs the money. It's a shame that it had to come to this. We're not looking to take the apartment and throw him out in the street." Carnivale may appeal the ruling. more ›

The NY Times reports that the Department of Homeless Services is enacting a new policy giving shelters more power to evict homeless families: "Homeless families can be kicked out of city shelters for repeatedly breaking rules like staying out past curfew or for refusing apartments offered to them." While DHS Commissioner Robert Hess claims it'll be used only in "egregious situations," pointing out some families use the shelters as permanent housing, Legal Aid's attorney in chief Steven Banks said, "With all of the problems that the state has and all of the problems that the city has right now, in the midst of this economic downturn, it’s shocking that the state and the city are prepared to invest the resources to put innocent children and their families out of safety-net shelters onto the streets." But one shelter operator said, "There’s not a caseworker alive that wants to realize that threat, and as an agency, we don’t want to move people to the streets. That’s not what we’re in business to do. But if you enter the shelter, if you know there’s a threat of being put out of the shelter, you’ll be more likely to follow the rules." more ›

After a woman set a pit bull on cops, prompting them to fatally shoot the dog in an Upper East Side public housing building on Tuesday night, there are some inevitable arrests: NY1 reports that the dog's owner, Milagros Martinez, and five others were arrested on "charges of possession of a controlled substance after police said they found crack residue in a crack pipe." Martinez was also previously evicted; according to the Daily News, she was "booted from her First Ave. apartment in April for not paying rent - but a judge let her back in." Apparently she was evicted because her husband was arrested "in a kiddie-toy drug bust," but was allowed back after paying back rent; Mayor Bloomberg said, "We had disagreed violently with the judge that let these people go back into their apartment." The News also spoke to the neighbor who claims she called 911 on Tuesday because she was "sick of the drugs" in the apartment; the woman felt bad about the dog's death, "I cried. But I feel the dog's probably in a better place than being with them." more ›

We've all heard nightmare tales reminding us of why you shouldn't date your boss, but a Long Island woman learned an even tougher lesson when things went sour with her boyfriend, who also happened to be her landlord. Kim Hookey wanted a full 30 days notice when things went sour with boyfriend Robert Drost—because what's better than living together with your ex for the first month after everything goes haywire? Drost insisted that he wasn't trying to play Hookey; he merely was following the letter of the law which said he only had to give her ten days to pack up her things and leave his Northport house. A judge agreed with Drost that she did not have rights as a "tenant-at-will." Drost's lawyer believed the case could be summed up succinctly by saying, "He owns the house. He asked her to leave. She said she wouldn't." The Suffolk judge said the it's the first time an appellate court "has directly addressed the paramour licensee issue." A Hofstra law professor told Newsday, "It doesn't mean that when all relationships go sour that a boyfriend can evict his partner lickety-split." more ›

The number of court cases filed by landlords over nonpayment of rent jumped about 19 percent in the first two months of 2009 from the same period last year, to 42,257 from 35,588. And lawyers, judges, and tenant advocates tell the Times that more and more middle-class renters are finding themselves in the unexpected position of facing eviction. The spectrum of "middle-class" includes a former Merrill Lynch employee thrown out of his $5,700/month Tribeca apartment (he owed $20,000 in back rent) as well as the single mom of three fighting to keep her $1,750/month apartment after losing her bookkeeping job (previously, she lost her house to foreclosure when she lost her job as a legal recruiter). Then there's Kevin Brewster-Streeks and his partner Greg Armstrong, both in their 20s and both buried in debt since Brewster-Streeks lost his $36,450 job as a records clerk at a law firm. After two bouts in housing court, they moved out of their $1,650/month Bronx apartment in February, owing nearly $7,000 in back rent. Brewster-Streeks says, "It’s kind of dehumanizing. They see you as a certain kind of person. We’ve never been that certain kind of person." more ›

Rent-controlled tenants living in the artist studios above Carnegie Hall received eviction letters last week from the state, but at least one of the six remaining holdouts remains defiant. 96-year-old Editta Sherman has been fighting to stay in her $530/month rent-controlled, 800 square foot studio apartment ever since the concert hall announced its expansion/renovation plans last year. The Carnegie Corporation has offered to relocate the remaining tenants "to equivalent or superior apartments in the neighborhood, paying any differential in rent for the remainder of their lives," but Sherman tells the Post, "They'll have to drag me out. They'll have to use their bare hands." Unless, of course, the corporation can come up with the $10 million figure she floated in October as the price of her evacuation. more ›

The Times takes a look at a tradition followed by the city's 45 marshals, who take a break from evicting tenants for two weeks every year around the holidays. The unofficial "eviction moratorium" isn't sanctioned by the city, and the marshals insist it has more to do with year-end paperwork than any Christmas spirit. But one marshal, 31-year veteran Danny Weinheim, admits to having a bit of a heart: "Could you go into an apartment with a Christmas tree and evict everybody and be Scrooge? I wouldn’t do that. It’s Christmas Eve. I’m Jewish, but it’s still Christmas Eve." The article also gives an insightful peek at the makeup of the city's marshals: two have Ph.D.’s, one was an exterminator, and another was a haberdasher before taking up one of the most hated occupations. And one unnamed marshal will be breaking ranks and carrying out evictions this week (it's said he has a heart two sizes too small). more ›

The DAily News reports that as foreclosures and evictions rise all over the city, many of the victims are renters--NYU's Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy counts 38,000 were affected. And in many cases, "renters have been given just weeks to find new digs, while unscrupulous landlords collect rents for homes they no longer own." In one case, some tenants told a judge they had no idea their landlord didn't own the building anymore--and after paying their September rent, the landlord "told them she would keep their security deposits as payment for October rent." Even the bank's lawyer believes they are innocent victims! more ›

Bianca Jagger's attempt to get her $4,600/month rent-stabilized Upper East Side apartment back failed at the Court of Appeals today. The court upheld her eviction from 530 Park Avenue, citing her status as a tourist with a B-2 visa and the fact that residents of rent-stabilized apartments must use them as their primary residences. more ›

The Hotel Chelsea bloggers are reporting from the front lines that yesterday "eviction notices signed by Chelsea Hotel general manager Andrew Tilley were posted on the doors of a large number of residents, ordering them to pay up in three days or else face eviction proceedings." The targets were long term residents of the hotel, some allegedly owing just a month's rent, and "some being elderly and physically disabled." Tilley had reassured the tenants this summer that something like this wasn't going to happen on his watch, so the news comes as a surprise to all, though the bloggers note that "the fact that these notices follow directly on the heels of an economic downturn is not likely a coincidence." Changes started going down at the Chelsea a little over a year ago. more ›