Closing Bell: Moving Out at 475 Kent Avenue
When we stopped by 475 Kent Avenue, the site of this week’s matzoh-driven mass evacuation, these two fellows were in the process of moving their couch out the front door. According to one of them, the official word is that (former) residents will have daytime access through Sunday and then only on an ad hoc…
When we stopped by 475 Kent Avenue, the site of this week’s matzoh-driven mass evacuation, these two fellows were in the process of moving their couch out the front door. According to one of them, the official word is that (former) residents will have daytime access through Sunday and then only on an ad hoc basis. He also noted that the circus of Fire, Buildings and Red Cross personnel has calmed down and there are just a couple of officials now on-site. Meanwhile, political pressure builds for a tenant-friendly resolution and conspiracy theories (is a rival developer pulling strings so he can take over the entire block?) swirl. Hopefully there will be more information on Monday.
‘Commune of Creative Types’ in the Burg is Emptied Out [Brownstoner]
475 Kent Message Board [475kent.com] GMAP
I find it interesting that people think painter the moment they hear artist.
but I guess people are dumb.
Landlord allows an unsanitary and dangerous illegal bakery in his basement, where the rodent infested grain threatens the safety of all building occupants. Somehow, for some people this is about the tenants’ violation of a certificate of occupancy. Baffling.
I hope none of you ever jaywalk, or you deserve to get hit by a car and die–and your family shouldn’t collect any life insurance, as you were breaking the law. And I hope you pay all your taxes to the great state of NY on all your online purchases, or else you should face financial penalties up to and including seizure of all your assets–it is the fair punishment for breaking the law.
By the way, breaking one law doesn’t mean that the rest of them don’t apply any longer, in your case. The landlord allowed a disgusting and illegal bakery to operate in his basement, presumably for rent money. NYC’s bravest, finest and the DOB had to respond and deal with it, with all of us picking up the tab.
Why the anger directed at the building’s non-lethal tenants? I think I know, more about that below. Whether you like hippies or artists, or not, these people are in a fine mess. They didn’t put themselves or the city in any danger in their lawlessness, something worth considering when thinking about different kinds of laws and what it means to break or to follow them.
Unsurprisingly, everyone has missed what is really going on here, which is an ancient story. Anyone who knows anything about matzoh and and how it’s made knows what was really happening down in that bakery.
(totally kidding about that matzoh bit, just too good an opportunity to pass on reviving a centuries old libel–i mean, it was a matzoh factory that got this whole thing started).
11:05 here – I agree in principle, but with all the rezoning that has happened in Williamsburg, commercial space is increasingly expensive – $20 a foot and up. That puts a real squeeze on business, but also artists (who are business people too). Most artists can use the upper floors of old buildings – floors that regular industry does not really want. Allowing live/work in these locations helps landlords (they can rent unrentable space, sometimes for more than their rentable space would command).
I think that the fact that many get away with it is relevant – the city has long tolerated this type of occupancy. If the city is going to no longer tolerate it, it needs to do so consistently. Sure, its illegal to live in commercial buildings – but then we have to shut down ALL illegal live/work situations, not do it on a case by case basis.
To my list of all the people who are complicit in all of this, you have to add the city. NYC has winked at this set up for decades. If we’re going to change policy now, lets be clear about the intentions and even-handed in the application. (Somehow I doubt DOB is going to start verifying artists’ certifications in Soho!)
11:05 excellent post. bear in mind that working people whether artists or whatever who need this type space can rent commercial space for this, and many do. many do not illegally live in these spaces as these tenants did. they stretch themselves financially to pay for their residences and their commercial space.
no one is entitled to break the law and the fact they many do and get away with it is irrelevant.
also, there are legitimate live/work spaces available, and it is not necessarily up to the city to provide more.
Friday must be hyperbole day around here.
While I agree generally with 4:40, 475 Kent did not pioneer Williamsburg, not even this small corner of it. 475 Kent was largely converted in 1998 by a number of artists holding master leases, who then subdivided the space and rented it out. There are other buildings a block away that have been live/work for much longer than that; and by 1998 Williamsburg was well down the slippery slope to gentrification.
Yes, residential use is not legal here, but everyone in the building – landlord, master tenants and subtenants knew that (or should have). So yes, living there is “illegal”. Anyone who is surprised (or offended) by the idea of people living illegally in a live/work situation is either naive or very new to NYC. This is exactly how most of Soho, Tribeca, DUMBO and many other areas have been occupied for DECADES. The City has always tolerated this, so long as the buildings are safe.
Of course there are laws against mass eviction. But this ISN’T a mass eviction – the Fire Department has VACATED the building for legitimate safety concerns. Once those concerns are addressed, the City (DOB) should (and hopefully will) allow all of the tenants back in and everything will return to the status quo ante.
The building IS zoned residential, but that does not mean that residential is allowed. It is a manufacturing building, with a CO that does not include residential use. It can be converted to residential use as of right (i.e. without variances, special permits or rezoning), but that is a process that would take a lot of time and a fair amount of money.
While the tenants did not have control over the bakery or the condition of the sprinkler system/standpipe, they DO have control over whether or not there is a CO for residential use. The tenants signed leases, and I would bet that all those leases were COMMERCIAL leases (if not, that could be grounds for a suit). They probably even included language noting the use restrictions on the building. The only people who can plausibly claim ignorance would be subletters who did not sign leases. (And if the “landlord” did rent spaces “under the auspices of legal residential use”, that a) be surprising, and b) could be grounds for a suit to recover rent paid. But I think that would require an actual lease for residential use, not a commercial lease and a wink.)
And as far as I know, everyone was paying market rent. The master leases were negotiated in 1998, based on then market rates (and like all commercial leases, I assume they had annual increases and options along the way). The subleases were always based on market conditions (obviously higher today than they were 10 years ago).
Finally, its been said over and over again that many of the tenants here are older, established and working artists. I’d bet that a lot of them could afford luxury “lofts”, but what they need is real artist’s space, and space away from other residential use. (Loft living is chic and all, until your neighbor starts welding sculpture on a Sunday morning.) The whole hipster hatred is pretty stupid to begin with, but it doesn’t even apply here.
What the city really needs is a viable live/work category of occupancy (not the sham artist certification of Soho). That would make these buildings more valuable to landlords, and provide much needed space for commercial uses and related living.
4:34PM I hope your stupid ass freezes to death you dirty law breaking hipster..booo hooo
and 4:26 the only one that needs to stop complaining are the stupid tenants who got caught breaking the law and feel entitled to cheap / rs housing. Get a clue idiot most people suffer to make ends meet but do it legally OK?
Hey if anyone has a couch for sale lemme know!!
Let us know if you have any trouble finding an apartment.
Mr. Hancock or Mr. Burns?
MrHancock,
The landlord broke the law by operating an illegal business and renting space under the auspices of legal residential use. The tenants (most of them unwittingly) broke the law by living in space zoned as a commercial warehouse.
What in hell are you talking about?
Hippies? Many of the tenants were professionals and business owners.