David Brand
Tenants and elected officials rally outside tenants at 70 Prospect Park West, where residents say the new owner is refusing to renew their leases.
Supporters of the legislation say property owners, particularly large corporate landlords, should not have the power to abruptly deny leases to existing renters and kick them out of their homes. Property owners say it’ll saddle them with problem tenants.
According to the United Auto Merchants Association (UAMA), a nonprofit trade group, between 35 and 40 auto and auto-related businesses on Jerome Avenue have been displaced since the city’s 2018 rezoning of the corridor, and around 150 still operate.
As part of the 2018 Jerome Avenue rezoning deal, city officials committed $1.5 million in financial assistance for area merchants, intended to help relocate existing businesses that would be displaced. But officials have yet to issue any such grants, a City Limits investigation found.
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