Park Towers Tenants To Get $1.1M In Deregulation Lawsuit: Report

FOREST HILLS, QUEENS – A multinational property management firm that inherited illegally de-regulated apartments in Forest Hills' Park Towers complex will pay tenants nearly $1.1 million as settlement of a lawsuit, the New York Daily News reported.

The Manhattan-based Jack Parker Corporation, which is is the former owner of the apartment complex, was accused of deregulating apartments despite gaining tax breaks under the J-51 program, which requires landlords to keep their apartments rent stabilized.

Blackstone Equity than purchased the 1,327-unit apartment complex for $500 million in November of 2018, and became the primary defendant in the suit, the News reported.

“We acquired Parker Towers in November and have been working diligently to resolve the litigation that ties to actions taken by the prior owner," a spokeswoman for the Blackstone Group said in a statement.

"We are pleased that we were able to voluntarily address this issue quickly and fairly for our residents. We will continue to review the prior owners’ lease files with the expectation of resolving any remaining issues expeditiously. We remain committed to providing high quality, professional service to the residents of Parker Towers, and to being good stewards to the surrounding community.”

Through Blackstone's use of an independent auditing firm, the equity group determined that approximately 110 units should receive rent reductions, and 82 units should be re-regulated, according to The Real Deal.

The average rent reduction per tenant is expected around $230, which adds up to a total of $1.1 million.

The initial payout is regarded as a positive sign for all involved, but it does not signify the end of the lawsuit.

Aaron Carr, executive director of the non-profit Housing Rights Initiative, who was the group to spearhead the lawsuit in March of 2018, spoke candidly on the continued expectations for the tenants.

"The goal here is not to get back some of what was stolen, but to get back all of what was stolen. Stay tuned."

Carr and the HRI have publicly called out Governor Cuomo as a "wholly owned subsidiary of the real estate sector."

"If we responded to every trashy nonsensical attack from a self-appointed advocate, there would literally be no time left in the day," Cuomo's spokesman Rich Azzopardi told the New York Daily News.

Lucas Ferrara, the founder of the law firm Newman Ferrara, who is representing the tenants of the Queens apartment complex in the lawsuit, has emphasized that Blackstone's numbers have not yet been independently verified and that the tenants could easily be owed more money.