Attorney General to Sue Vantage Properties
NEW YORK—State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo sent a letter to Vantage Properties telling them to stop harassing tenants in various apartments throughout the city.
According to the attorney general’s letter, which was issued on Thursday, Vantage pressures people who live in rent-regulated apartments to move out so they can raise the rent on new tenants.
“Their underhanded tactics displace long-time residents from their homes and exacerbate the acute affordable housing shortage,” said Cuomo, who then added that Vantage issues “baseless legal notices” and has “frivolous Housing Court eviction proceedings.”
The majority of Vantage’s properties, which includes 9,500 apartments in 125 buildings, are located in Harlem, Upper Manhattan, and some parts of Queens.
Cuomo said that when Vantage purchases some buildings, they attempt to take some of the pre-existing tenants to court and then evict them.
Officials Push for Indian Cigarette Tax Collection
NEW YORK—State officials put pressure on Governor David Paterson to begin collecting a tax on cigarettes sold by Native Americans to people outside of reservations on Thursday.
“As the budget becomes more dire, we recognize the fact that we’ve lost billions of dollars,” said State Sen. Carl Kruger (D-NYC, Brooklyn), one of the main proponents of collecting the tax.
Previously, Kruger and others pushed the governor to rescind the so-called “letter of forbearance” that’s allowed Native American cigarette retailers to sell untaxed tobacco products. They say the policy has cost New York close to $1.6 billion a year.
Cabbies Banned From Hands-Free Electronic Devices
NEW YORK—Bluetooths and other hands free electronic devices are now illegal for drivers of taxis, black cars, luxury limousines, commuter vans, and paratransits to use while driving.
The New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission said the law will go into effect on Friday, according to a press statement from their office.
The rule would apply to any drivers who are in transit and not legally parked.
“The time has come to put and end to the abuse of distracted driving by taxicab and for-hire vehicle drivers,” said TLC Chairman Matthew Daus.
For any driver who breaks the new law, they will be issued a $200 fine and three points will be added to their record. If someone breaks the law three times, their license will be revoked as well as accompanying fines.
NYC Residents Face Longest Commute Time
The U.S. Census Bureau said Thursday that New Yorkers spend the longest time commuting to work. The average person in New York City spends 38.4 minutes per day going to work—a full week per year.
Among large cities, Chicago residents came in second at 32.7 minutes per day while four California cities were in the top 10. Wichita, Kansas had the lowest commute time of all large cities, at 16.5 minutes a day on average.
