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Senate bill · S3877 (2025-26)

Requires the New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing permits for…

Official titleShow

Requires the New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing permits for demolition or substantial alteration

The heading above is this same sentence with its legal opening removed. No words were added, changed or reordered.

Latest action Jun 13, 2025

Summary

Requires the New York city department of buildings to confirm that there are no tenants living at certain properties prior to approving or issuing permits for the demolition or the substantial alteration or renovation of such properties.

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Where it stands

Out of committee and scheduled for a vote by the full chamber.

  1. Introduced
  2. In committee
  3. Up for a vote
  4. Passed one chamber
  5. Passed
  6. Enacted

New York State Senate

Committee

Cities 1 · New York State Senate

Purpose, from the sponsor's memo

Section 1 amends the New York City charter by adding a new section 645-a to provide the Department of Buildings with the power to independ- ently confirm there are no tenants living at property when a property owner submits a permit for demolition or substantial alteration and makes a statement to that effect. Section 2 specifies when the act shall take place.

Filed with the bill. Read it on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

Recorded votes

  • Vote: Committee vote · Housing, Construction And Community Development

    Senate Housing, Construction And Community DevelopmentApr 28, 2025Result: passed

    (8) (3) (0) (0)

  • Vote: Committee vote · Cities 1

    Senate Cities 1Apr 8, 2025Result: passed

    (7) (0) (0) (0)

Cosponsors

Brian Kavanagh, Jamaal Bailey and 3 more on Agora

  • Democratic5
See the full list on nysenate.gov (opens in a new tab)

The sponsor's argument

Why the sponsor says this is needed

Abusive and unethical property owners frequently submit false applica- tions for demolition or substantial operation to the NYC Department of Buildings (DOB). These property owners indicate there are no tenants and the DOB does not check. Subsequently there are a myriad of direct and collateral consequences. The landlord does not have to institute a Tenant Protection Plan and guarantee any safety or health requirements, leading to unlivable and dangerous situations. Tenants often do not know they have any recourse because there are no posted permits alerting them to the right to tenant protection. Earlier this year it was revealed that Jared Kushner's real estate company filed more than 80 construction permit applications for 34 buildings across the city between 2013 and 2016 stating that it had no rent-regulated tenants, when in fact there were over 300 rent-regulated units. He then used aggressive means of renovation to vacate the most vulnerable rent-regulated tenants and return those apartments to market value in order to turn a profit. Unfortunately this is actually a widespread practice. Landlords regular- ly engage in this behavior, systematically reducing the availability of affordable housing. This bill aims to put a stop to this by providing that. DOB must independently verify there are no tenants in the build- ing, thus protecting tenants and protecting affordable housing.

This is the sponsor's own case for the bill, quoted from their memorandum. It is not Agora's description of what the bill does.

Full history

  1. Jun 13, 2025

    In committee

    COMMITTED TO RULES

    NY Senate

  2. Apr 30, 2025

    Advanced to Third Reading

    ADVANCED TO THIRD READING

    NY Senate

  3. Apr 29, 2025

    2ND Report CAL.

    2ND REPORT CAL.

    NY Senate

  4. Apr 28, 2025

    1ST Report CAL.695

    1ST REPORT CAL.695

    NY Senate

  5. Apr 8, 2025

    Reported out of committee

    REPORTED AND COMMITTED TO HOUSING, CONSTRUCTION AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT

    NY Senate

Show full history (1 earlier event)
  1. Jan 30, 2025

    Referred to committee

    REFERRED TO CITIES 1

    NY Senate

About this record

Summary

The summary comes from NY Open Legislation, the New York State Senate's public record. For more, see How we handle summaries.

Cosponsors

The list shows the cosponsors who are on Agora, A to Z. The official record may list more.

Party colors

Parties are shown in the same neutral colors.

Source

From NY Open Legislation, the NY Senate and Assembly, and official rosters. This record was last updated Nov 1, 2026. About our data

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