Altman case (codified by June 2015 law) could mean apartments get re-regulated!!!!

Huge news in the world of affordable housing: thanks to a recent ruling, scores of New Yorkers may soon find that their market-rate apartments should legally be rent-stabilized, says Sam Himmelstein, a lawyer who represents residential and commercial tenants and tenant associations.

There was some controversy back in July surrounding Albany's new rent regulation deal, and its language specifying that an apartment had to actually be rented by the departing stabilized tenant before a vacancy at the de-regulation limit—which is currently $2,700—in order for a landlord to legally take it market-rate. A denial of a landlord’s leave to appeal in a recent court case—Altman v. 285 West Fourth, LLC—has solidified and expanded this policy, and sources in the landlord community have told Himmelstein's firm they're waiting for the "floodgates to open" of market-rate tenants seeking to get their apartments brought back under rent-stabilization.