* § 261. Recovery of possession of certain non-complying premises
restricted during emergency period. 1. Legislative finding. The public
emergency which existed at the time of the enactment of and which was
declared in chapter six hundred seventy-five of the laws of nineteen
hundred thirty-eight, and in acts amendatory thereof, having continued
and still existing, there having been and there being an acute shortage
of such dwellings, and the intents and purposes of such provisions
having, in a great many instances, been circumvented by landlords giving
their tenants thirty days' notice terminating their tenancy and
instituting proceedings for their removal, the necessity for legislative
intervention, by the enactment of the provisions of this section, and
their application, until July first, nineteen hundred forty-nine, is
hereby declared as a matter of legislative determination, and the
provisions of this section shall remain in force and effect only until
such date.

2. For the period during which any old-law tenement or any converted
dwelling shall fail to comply with the applicable provisions of article
six or seven, no action or proceeding by an owner to recover possession
of such dwelling or any part thereof from a tenant and to remove such
tenant therefrom for the reason that the tenant holds over and continues
in possession of the demised dwelling or any part thereof after the
expiration of his term without the permission of the owner, shall be
maintainable except:

a. A proceeding to recover such possession upon the ground that the
person is holding over and is objectionable, in which case the owner
shall establish to the satisfaction of the court that the person holding
over is objectionable; or

b. A proceeding when the owner of record of the dwelling, being a
natural person, seeks in good faith to recover possession of a room or
rooms therein for the immediate and personal occupancy by himself and
his family as a dwelling; or

c. A proceeding where the petitioner shows to the satisfaction of the
court that he desires in good faith to recover the dwelling for the
purpose of altering or demolishing the same with the intention of
providing or constructing more dwelling units, plans for which shall
have been duly approved by the department in accordance with the
provisions of any applicable local law.

d. In pending proceedings for the recovery of such dwelling on the
grounds that the occupant holds over after the expiration of his term, a
warrant shall not be issued unless the petitioner establishes to the
satisfaction of the court that the proceeding is one mentioned in the
exceptions enumerated in this subdivision.

3. The provisions of this section shall not be construed to apply to
an action or proceeding by an owner to recover possession of such
dwelling or any part thereof from a tenant and to remove such tenant
therefrom for the reason that the tenant holds over and continues in
possession of the demised dwelling or any part thereof without the
permission of the owner after a default in the payment of the rent.

* NB Expired July 1, 1949