Grill and Riverso Secure Access Agreement for Major Developer

David M. Grill and Pia E. Riverso secured an order from New York County Supreme Court granting access to a major developer to enter upon an adjoining neighbor’s property to install rear yard, overhead and rooftop protections as required by the Building Code of the City of New York.  After nearly one year of negotiations directly between the parties failed to yield an access agreement , the Developer filed a petition pursuant to Real Property Actions and Proceeding Law Section 881 seeking a license agreement to enter upon the adjacent property to install and maintain protections required by the New York City Building Code.  In 504 East 14th Street LLC v. NAR Apartments, LLC, Index # 159827/2015 (Sup. Ct. N.Y. County) the Court (Mendez, J.) granted the Petition  finding that the Developer demonstrated the hardship it will face if the license is not granted, cited to the applicable sections of the Building Code requiring petitioner to erect scaffolding, sidewalk bridges and rooftop protections in order to protect the adjacent property and  its occupants; and submitted affidavits  from three licensed engineers detailing why  the   license is  required,  the specific work to be performed under the  license, and  why the  work may not be performed without the  license.  Accordingly, the Court held that the Developer established that it will suffer harm  by not being able  to timely complete the project without the  license, and “that justice requires the  granting of  a license to access respondent’s  property”.  The Court did not award the adjacent property owner recovery of the counsel fees it incurred as a result of the prior negotiations or in responding to the petition.

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