Buck v. Moran

126 Misc. 2d 836, 485 N.Y.S.2d 421, 1984 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3711
CourtCivil Court of the City of New York
DecidedNovember 30, 1984
StatusPublished

This text of 126 Misc. 2d 836 (Buck v. Moran) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering Civil Court of the City of New York primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Buck v. Moran, 126 Misc. 2d 836, 485 N.Y.S.2d 421, 1984 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3711 (N.Y. Super. Ct. 1984).

Opinion

OPINION OF THE COURT

William D. Friedmann, J.

1. INTRODUCTION

The case before this court concerns a conflict between the City of New York (City) and the owners and tenants of a half dozen [837]*837rooming houses in Flushing, Queens. It is a conflict between well-intentioned but imperfect law, and the economic and social realities of modern urban living. If the laws under which we live are to take account of those economic and social realities, they must be examined to determine if they yield results in keeping not only with their intentions, but with the harsh tests of everyday living. If the laws are administered in a vacuum, as if the cold truth of real life did not exist, then we will find ourselves applying a set of laws to abstract situations where the reality of results and consequences has no role. If laws are to be just, there must be a relationship between their intentions and the realities of the situations they are trying to resolve.

II. FACTS OF THE CASE

The actions in this case began in 1979 when the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (hereinafter DHPD) brought an enforcement- action against Ruth and Donald Buck (hereinafter defendants), owners of six multiple dwelling unit buildings occupied as rooming houses. DHPD alleged that the defendants were operating these buildings in violation of New York City Housing Maintenance Code § D26-33.07 ([Code], Administrative Code of City of New York § D26-33.07). Section D26-33.07 (a) says, “No rooming unit which was not classified and recorded as such in the department prior to May 15, 1954 or converted to such use prior to April 30, 1956, shall be created in a tenement, converted dwelling or private dwelling, whether such conversion is effected with or without physical alterations”. The section provides for certain exceptions, such as hospitals, college dormitories, etc.

Parties in this case have occasionally referred to the buildings in this case as single room occupancy buildings (SROs). This court notes that this is not really an SRO situation. According to Code § D26-107 (a) (17), an SRO is “a single room, or of two or more rooms which are joined together, separated from all other rooms within an apartment in a multiple dwelling, so that the occupant or occupants thereof reside separately and independently of the other occupant or occupants of the same apartment.” Clearly, SRO, under the New York City law, refers to rooms within a single apartment rented out to roomers. That is not the situation here, and the court makes it clear that in this case, the buildings involved are multiple dwellings used as rooming units, or as something else, but not SROs. These issues will be more fully discussed in the body of the opinion. The DHPD sought to have these buildings closed on the grounds that they violated section D26-33.07, and that the buildings in their [838]*838present use could never conform to section D26-33.07. The Bucks responded by bringing what could be considered a “friendly” holdover action against one of their tenants, Edward Moran, and sought his eviction in order to “comply” with the requirements of the statute. They then joined the DHPD as codefendants to that action in order that they could raise certain constitutional objections to the law. The two actions were later consolidated.

The early stages of this case are complex and torturous in the extreme, and because they do not bear direhtly on the issues before this court now, they will not be recounted here. For a synopsis of these legal maneuverings, see this court’s decision upholding the constitutionality of section D26-33.07 (Buck v Moran, NYLJ, June 29, 1983, p 13, col 1).

The defendants raised five arguments that sections D26-33.07 and D26-33.09 were unconstitutional. Section D26-33.09 (a) deals with the rental of rooms to boarders and provides that, “A family may rent one or more living rooms in an apartment to not more than two boarders, roomers or lodgers, if every living room in such apartment has free and unobstructed access to each required exit from such apartment” as provided for in other sections of the Code (§ D26-33.07 is quoted above). The defendants argued that the statutes were unconstitutional because: (1) the New York City Council lacked authority to enact the challenged sections; (2) the terms of the statute were so overly broad and vague that they failed to comport with the requirements of due process; (3) the provisions of the statutes deprived the defendants of liberty and property without due process in violation of the US Constitution, 14th Amendment; (4) the sections deny them and their tenants the equal protection of the law; and (5) the selective enforcement of the laws by the City amounted to a denial of due process and equal protection in this case, even if the statutes were not unconstitutional on their face.

This court, in its decision, found the statutes were constitutional and that the defendants’ claims by way of defense were groundless. The basis for reaching that decision was that the authority to make such laws was well within the police power of the City and that there was no substantial evidence yielding the conclusion there was a denial of due process or equal protection to the defendants. The court’s decision is more fully explained in Buck v Moran (supra). The court dismissed the action brought by the Bucks against Edward Moran, and set down the action brought by the DHPD for disposition.

[839]*839On November 8, 1983, the DHPD and the defendants entered into a consent degree, requiring the defendants to conform their buildings to the requirements of the Code, in effect compelling the defendants to evict their tenants. The defendants adhered to the conspnt degree by giving notice to their tenants to vacate their apartments.

The defendants and an organization formed to represent the tenants’ interests, Tenant Roomers United for Legal Protection (hereinafter TRULP or the tenants), filed several motions seeking to have the consent decree stayed or “clarified” in some way to allow the tenants to remain in their buildings. The issues raised by the defendants and the tenants are: (1) can the New York City Department of Aging and the Queens Legal Services for the Elderly be compelled to find housing for the tenants housed in the houses owned by the Bucks; (2) are sections D2633.07 and D26-33.09 unconstitutional; (3) is the definition of “family” in the Code unconstitutional, and if it is, whether the court can provide an alternative definition of “family”; and (4) can the court classify these buildings as something other than two-family dwellings converted to rooming houses, and can the boarders be considered, for the purposes of the case, as families occupying separate dwelling units.

The resolution of these issues raised since the consent decree is the subject of this opinion.

III. MOTION TO COMPEL THE DEPARTMENT OF AGING

The tenants ask that the court compel the Department of Aging (hereinafter DA) and a private organization called Queens Legal Services for the Elderly (hereinafter QLSE) to find housing for tenants evicted by the Bucks’ holdover proceedings brought in compliance with the consent decrees. This court declines to do so for two reasons:

First, the DA is designed to be an information and referral agency, not to find apartments for elderly tenants. This court can compel the DA to do no more than it has done, which is to provide housing information.

Free access — add to your briefcase to read the full text and ask questions with AI

Related

Lindsey v. Normet
405 U.S. 56 (Supreme Court, 1972)
Village of Belle Terre v. Boraas
416 U.S. 1 (Supreme Court, 1974)
People v. Friedman
96 N.E.2d 184 (New York Court of Appeals, 1950)
Wynehamer v. . the People
13 N.Y. 378 (New York Court of Appeals, 1856)
Saltser & Weinsier, Inc. v. McGoldrick
68 N.E.2d 508 (New York Court of Appeals, 1946)
Federal Land Bank v. Pickard
169 Misc. 753 (New York Supreme Court, 1938)
Abbott House v. Village of Tarrytown
34 A.D.2d 821 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1970)
Town of Ithaca v. Lucente
36 A.D.2d 560 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1971)
Kountz v. State University of New York
61 A.D.2d 835 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1978)
Jones v. State
79 A.D.2d 273 (Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of New York, 1981)
Blaine Personnel, Inc. v. Raymond Lee Organization, Inc.
76 Misc. 2d 110 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1973)
Freeman v. Kiamesha Concord, Inc.
76 Misc. 2d 915 (Civil Court of the City of New York, 1974)
Kountz v. State University
89 Misc. 2d 483 (New York Supreme Court, 1977)
Currier v. Fogel
459 U.S. 828 (Supreme Court, 1982)
Clancy v. Jartech, Inc.
459 U.S. 1059 (Supreme Court, 1982)

Cite This Page — Counsel Stack

Bluebook (online)
126 Misc. 2d 836, 485 N.Y.S.2d 421, 1984 N.Y. Misc. LEXIS 3711, Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/buck-v-moran-nycivct-1984.