If the court cases over rent deregulation and subsidies at Tribeca's Independence Plaza North have seemed endless, well, that's probably because they are. Last summer, a state Supreme Court judge ruled that landlord Laurence Gluck had, as tenants alleged in a lawsuit filed six years ago, illegally deregulated rents in the apartment complex after getting J-51 tax breaks. But now a federal judge has made the opposite call, Crain's reports. According to this most recent ruling, Gluck didn't deregulate illegally, and he doesn't need to pay back any of the federal subsidies he received for the building. Huh?
The federal decision doesn't overturn last summer's state court ruling, which Gluck's lawyer is still appealing. Instead, this decision is part of a separate federal case over the complex's removal from the Mitchell-Lama program. Gluck's lawyer hopes the new decision will help his appeal with the state, while the federal government hopes to appeal the latest ruling. Someone wake us when it's over?
· Big Tribeca landlord a winner in federal court [Crain's]
· Independence Plaza North coverage [Curbed]
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