BILL NUMBER: S3758
SPONSOR: CLEARE
 
TITLE OF BILL:
An act to amend the general business law, in relation to senior citizens
and disabled persons
 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:
This bill would provide additional protection to disabled and senior
citizen non-purchasing residents of buildings that undergo cooperative
or condominium conversions under an eviction plan even where such resi-
dents are not tenants of record in the building.
 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:
This bill would-amend GBL 352-e, 352-eee, and 352-eeee to extend to
senior citizens and disabled persons who are lawful residents of the
apartment where the tenant resides the same protections against eviction
that are currently accorded in some areas of the state to those senior
citizens and disabled persons who are non-purchasing tenants in eviction
conversion plans, and amends the definition of "disabled" to be consist-
ent with other statutes.
 
JUSTIFICATION:
In order to protect vulnerable senior citizens and disabled persons who
do not purchase shares in an eviction-plan cooperative conversion, the
Legislature enacted General Business Law 352-e(2-a), 352-eee and
352-eeee, which grant such tenants permanent protection from eviction.
These provisions apply only in New York City, in some towns and cities
in Westchester, Rockland and Nassau Counties, and those upstate communi-
ties where the governing body votes to adopt such coverage.
Unfortunately, disabled persons or senior citizens who lawfully live
with the tenant, and who may care or be cared for by the tenant, are not
covered by the exemption, although they are unlikely to be able to
purchase shares and also face special burdens in finding alternative
housing.
In BELMONT EAST CO. V. ABRAMS, 473 NYS2:i 676 (Sup. Ct. N:Y. Co. 1984),
the court held that a tenant who lived with her blind 76-year old mother
was not entitled to protection from eviction because the named tenant
was not disabled. In accordance with that decision, the Attorney General
was recently required to deny a tenant's election not to purchase where
the tenant's severely disabled daughter resided with her, because the
daughter was not the tenant of record.
By expanding the definitions of "elderly" and "disabled" persons to
include residents of the apartment who lawfully reside with the named
tenant, this bill simply extends existing law to those most deserving of
protection from eviction.
This bill also changes the definition of disabled. Rather than requiring
that the disabled person be unable to work, under this bill the term
"disabled" would include anyone whose disability substantially limits
one or more of his or her major life activities.This change reflects
other statutory provisions in both New York and Federal Law that recog-
nize that while some disabled persons can work, they still may be so
impaired that they are disabled and entitled to additional protections.
See, e.g., the New York Human Rights Law, (Exec. Law 292), the Rehabili-
tation Act of 1974, 29 U.S.C. section 706, and the Fair Housing Amend-
ments Act of 1988, (P.L. 100-430).
 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:
A similar bill was first introduced in the Assembly in 1987. This bill
was new in 1989. Passed the Assembly in 1990 (A6985-A). In 1995-1996,
the bill was introduced as A.6056. It has been passed each year by the
Assembly
2021-22: A07017; referred to housing
2019-20: A3411; referred to housing
2017-18: A8162; referred to housing
 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
None.
 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
Immediately.