Dinowitz Bill Would Protect Tenants in Bad Buildings

By JORDAN MOSS

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz has introduced a bill in the state legislature that would amend a portion of the state real estate law to make it easier for a judge to pressure a landlord to make necessary repairs. 

The legislation, which would effectively limit the number of chances a landlord has to make repairs before a judge places control of the building in the hands of an outside administrator, was inspired by the circumstances of 3569 DeKalb Ave., a Norwood building with hundreds of housing code violation where 8-year-old Jashawn Parker died in a fire last August. Tenants in the building spent two years in housing court hoping a judge would turn the building over to an outside administrator via the 7A program. A Bronx Housing Court judge eventually did take that action, but three months too late for Parker, a PS 94 student.

The fact that the legislature will be reviewing the renewal of rent regulations this spring may complicate consideration of the bill. 

"I think it is a bit of a long shot," Dinowitz said. "Anything that is pro-tenant is hard to get done in Albany. But just because it's a long shot, doesn't mean that we can't get it done." 

Dinowitz hopes that his bill can be included in the rent regulations legislation. "Because this is part of the whole housing issue, I hope I can convince the powers that be to 
incorporate this into the rent protection bill," he said. "It doesn't have to be done as a stand-alone bill."

The legislation has been referred to the Assembly Judiciary Committee, chaired by Brooklyn Assemblywoman Helen Weinstein, a Democrat. To have any chance of passage, the bill will need a champion in the Republican-controlled Senate.

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