10 Questions for Krueger and Gottfried on Illegal Hotel Bill
The campaign to crack down on illegal hotels is coming to a head. State Senator Liz Krueger and Assembly Member Richard Gottfried will join tenants, housing rights advocates and other state and city officials at a rally tomorrow to urge Governor David Paterson to sign into law the illegal hotel bill they sponsored. The bill aims to free New York City agencies to enforce the law against illegal hotels -- apartments designated as permanent residences that are improperly used as transient hotel rooms. The legislation already passed the Senate and the Assembly. Krueger and Gottfried talked to The Real Deal about how illegal hotels have threatened the city's tenants, affordable housing stock and tourists, where they've spread and how this bill is designed to cease their expansion.