Day Care in a Residential Building?I live in the Manhattan borough of New York City, in a residential apartment building built around the tu...

Question

Day Care in a Residential Building?

I live in the Manhattan borough of New York City, in a residential apartment building built around the turn of the century (one of the tenants has lived in his unit since 1961 and benefits from rent control) comprised of 8 units. I have lived there since September of this year with no complaints so far, except for the new tenant in the apartment directly above mine. There is a day care center running out of the apartment and from 8am to 6pm Monday through Friday I am extremely disrupted by the constant thumping and banging on the ceiling from the children running around upstairs. Also, the tenants routinely tinker with the front doors to the building so that they do not lock, and many tenants including myself have complained of day care customers ringing buzzers indiscriminately to get in. I have spoken to the directors of the day care twice but the problem has since gotten worse. I have not spoken with my landlord about it.

I have read that New York City zoning laws include exemptions for day care centers run out of residential buildings, but am confused as to whether these exemptions apply to these tenants as they do not live in the apartment; they are only there during business hours.

Are these tenants breaking the law? Is the landlord breaking the law? What is the most effective course of action for me to resolve this problem?

Thanks so much for your help!

Doug

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Answer

Stop paying rent. When you get to court, demand an abatement due to noise and loss of security. Make sure you are rent-stabilized so the LL can't just non-renew your lease.