Talking about the Loft Laws

Late on Tuesday evening, Assemblyman Vito Lopez rolls up his sleeves and leans against the kitchen counter on a sweeping loft space on the 7th floor of 475 Kent Avenue, in Southside Williamsburg. As the sun sets over the Williamsburg Bridge and streams through the enormous windows lining the loft, more than 60 tenants pack into the space, taking seats in folding chairs and on the floor, standing in corners and in the hallway, all eager to ask questions, tell stories and discuss the issue of the day: the Loft Law.

Sponsored in the New York State Assembly by North Brooklyn legislator Assemblyman Vito Lopez, the rather revolutionary and, in many ways innovative, Loft Law aims to provide tenants living in commercially or industrially zoned lofts with the same rights granted to tenants living in residential, rent-regulated apartment units. The Loft Law was signed by Governor David Patterson on June 22, and the amended Chapter 135 version of the law was approved last night, June 29, shortly before Lopez’s appearance in Williamsburg.

The 2010 Loft Law will function as a piece of companion legislation to a bill passed in 1982, which provided similar protections to loft tenants living in Manhattan. The Loft Law will hold landlords responsible for bringing loft units up to all necessary fire, health and safety codes, and vastly increase the fines for failing to do so. The law will also prevent tenants from sudden eviction and astronomical rent increases, all of which will be monitored by the New York City Loft Board. Tenants who wish to reap the benefits of the newly passed loft law must prove that they have, in fact, occupied their loft for a continuous 12-month period between January 1, 2008 and January 1, 2009.

“This is a tremendous victory for loft tenants all of the city, and this is only the beginning,” Lopez said, addressing his audience. “We are trying to give loft tenants protection. This is one of the most impressive pieces of legislation I’ve ever passed. It’s one of the more significant things that have happened in Greenpoint/Williamsburg, and it is potentially a very good thing.”

Any tenant living in a loft for the specified 12-month period is eligible for protection, as long as there are two other loft units that qualify in the building. Once the applicant applies for protection, the unit will automatically—and permanently—become subject to rent regulation. During the meeting, tenants jumped at the chance to praise Lopez for his efforts, and ask a variety of questions about the potential effects of the bill, which has been criticized for its opaqueness as much as it has been celebrated for its groundbreaking nature.

Critics have voiced concerns that the Loft Law will have an adverse effect on loft units established after the date of eligibility, whose tenants will unfairly bear the brunt of inflated building costs. Opponents are also disturbed by the potential of the law to set the stage for residential rezoning of Industrial Business Zones (IBZs) in North Brooklyn. While most of the 16 IBZs in Brooklyn are excluded, those in Greenpoint, Williamsburg, Bushwick, and a portion of Long Island City are included in the legislation.

At the meeting, Lopez openly addressed these concerns, explaining that “manufacturing isn’t coming back to New York City. People say I’m destroying jobs; those jobs haven’t been there for 20 years.”

Lopez did, however, go on to praise live/work loft tenants—artists, sculptors, musicians, etc.—for their contribution to the economy.

“These people are the lifeblood of the community,” Lopez said. “The New York City economy would be really [terrible] without the artists and sculptors. I’ve been called the biggest traitor in the world for this law, but I’m happy to do it. This is an opportunity for some stability, and I’m proud as hell.”

Gary Lesser, a longtime resident at 475 Kent Street, explained the importance of the Loft Law in protecting the artist communities and culture that have made New York a destination for so many years.

“Before the housing market stopped soaring, the fire department would come to Williamsburg and clear out buildings so developers could build luxury apartment buildings,” he said.

“The artist community has always been great colonizers of neighborhoods, and they have kept New York a magnet, a destination, for people all around the world. The tide has already turned in Greenpoint/Williamsburg, so the question is: How can we protect what we still have?”

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