When walking down City Terrace, it seems like another well-kept average street. But one building sticks out. That one building is 230 City Terrace. When comparing it to other parts of the street, it is run down and in bad condition. In fact, it was recently condemned. 230 City Terrace is one of many buildings at the center of a battle between New York State and anonymous real estate LLCs.

On Monday, 230 City Terrace was the site of a press conference featuring New York State Sen. James Skoufis, Assemblyman Ken Zebrowski, and Assemblyman Jonathan Jacobson. The press conference addressed the multiple anonymous real estate LLCs that own properties across the state. Skoufis and Zebrowski, with the support of Jacobson, announced Governor Andrew Cuomo’s signing of their bill into law. The new law took effect immediately.
The law stipulates that any LLCs that are looking to sell or buy real estate, residential real estate, one to four family units must disclose all people associated with the LLC in order to receive building deeds.

“Neighbors have a fundamental right to know who owns the home next-door to them.” Skoufis said, “Likewise, municipalities are desperate for this disclosure when they seek to hold property owners accountable for illegal building, code violations, and fines.”

The building is currently owned by T&J estate properties LLC. T&J owns three buildings in Newburgh. All three have had code violations, but T&J has consistently not appeared during court dates with the city. With this new law, the city is hopeful that the names behind T&J will be identified.

The dwelling is a two-family home; thus, it qualifies for this new law. Previously, there was a family living there. During their stay, multiple code violations including significant gas leaks in the boiler room occurred. Following an inspection, there was a condemnation issued by the city. The building has been up for sale since March under John J. Lease Realtors.

Leslie Gonzalez lives next door to 230 City Terrace with her mother, father, and three siblings. In their time next door, they’ve experienced cockroaches, stray animals, smells, and more from the building. In an attempt to solve these issues, they’ve tried to contact the owner of 230 City Terrace to no avail. Instead, Gonzalez and her family have found themselves paying out of their own pockets. They are hopeful that the new law will resolve the conditions of 230 City Terrace.

“This law will remove the shroud of anonymity that [some] LLCs have operated under for too long.” Zebrowski said, “We will finally have the ability to identify anonymous building owners and hold them responsible for any issues with their properties.”