193 Misc. 31 | N.Y. Sup. Ct. | 1948
Petitioner seeks to review the refusal of the respondents, constituting the temporary city housing rent coin-mission of , the city of New York, to issue a certificaté of eviction and to direct the issuance of such a certificate. The petitioner, the owner of a two-family house, desiring to discontinue the janitorial and other services rendered to the tenant and the annoyance and expense of compulsory renting, applied to the rent commission for a certificate to withdraw the apartment from the rental market. The refusal of the respondents to issue the certificate is predicated on the theory that they cannot,, under Local Laws No. 66 of 1947 and No. 12 of 1948 of the City of New York, as amended, grant an application where it is based on the desire of the petitioner to withdraw the property from the rental market. The petitioner, on the other hand, contends (1) that the respondents in failing to issue the certificate because of their interpretation of Local Laws Nos. 66 and 12, as amended, have failed to give force and effect to paragraph (5) of subdivision (a) of section 209 of the Federal Housing and Rent Act of 1947, as amended in 1948 (U. S. Code, tit. 50, Appendix, § 1881 et seq.), where the right is given to a landlord with certain restrictions to withdraw housing accommodations from the rental market and have thus created a conflict with the Federal and the supreme law to which they must defer; (2) that such refusal to issue a certificate would impose an involuntary servitude upon the petitioner and deprive him of his liberty and property without due process of law.
I find no merit in either of these contentions. It is my view that there is no conflict between Local Laws Nos. 66 and 12, as amended, and the Federal Housing Act of 1947, as amended.
Though the court is sympathetic with the plight the petitioner finds himself in, it cannot overlook the purpose for which the legislation involved was enacted. The serious emergency existing in the city of New York by reason of the shortage of housing forced the local governing body to pass legislation controlling housing accommodations so as to prevent chaos and confusion resulting from unnecessary evictions. The personal desires, conveniences and burdens of the petitioner are incidental to and must yield to the general welfare and demand of the community. Under the circumstances, the respondents’ determination was not unreasonable, capricious or arbitrary, and the petition is dismissed.