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Kuzmich et al. v. 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC: A Deal Gone Bad for Developers Who Helped Revitalize Lower Manhattan

By Alexander Lycoyannis
November 01, 2019

In Kuzmich et al. v 50 Murray Street Acquisition LLC, 34 N.Y. 3d 84, the Court of Appeals held that apartments in buildings receiving tax benefits under Real Property Tax Law (RPTL §421-g) are not eligible for luxury deregulation under the Rent Stabilization Law (RSL), unlike most other rent-stabilized apartments. To appreciate the importance and consequences of this decision, one must understand the history of RPTL §421-g.

In 1993, lower Manhattan was in sharp decline. Following the World Trade Center bombing, vacancy rates in commercial buildings soared and their assessed values plummeted. Many commercial buildings in lower Manhattan were outdated and unfit to accommodate growing and changing industries. The nightly exodus of office workers leaving to return to their homes left lower Manhattan a virtual ghost town after business hours.

To turn the tide, then-Mayor Rudolph Giuliani proposed the Lower Manhattan Revitalization Plan (the LMRP). A key component of the LMRP was RPTL §421‑g, which provided tax benefits to commercial building owners that converted either all or part of their buildings into residential apartments. The purpose of the 421‑g program was to remove unused commercial space from the market and create a thriving, 24-hour community in lower Manhattan where people both live and work.

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