S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
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                                   7494
 
                        2021-2022 Regular Sessions
 
                           I N  A S S E M B L Y
 
                               May 11, 2021
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by M. of A. BICHOTTE HERMELYN, SEAWRIGHT, EPSTEIN, J. RIVERA
   -- read once and referred to the Committee on Judiciary
 
 AN ACT to amend the  real  property  actions  and  proceedings  law,  in
   relation  to  extending to commercial tenants the right to seek a stay
   of the issuance of a warrant and a stay of any  execution  to  collect
   the  costs of the proceeding in a proceeding to recover the possession
   of premises in the city of New York
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section 1. The section heading and subdivision 1 of section 753 of the
 real  property  actions and proceedings law, as amended by section 21 of
 part M of chapter 36 of the  laws  of  2019,  are  amended  to  read  as
 follows:
   Stay  in premises occupied for dwelling OR COMMERCIAL purposes. 1.  In
 a proceeding to recover the possession of premises occupied for dwelling
 OR COMMERCIAL purposes, other than a room or  rooms  in  [an]  A  hotel,
 lodging  house, or rooming house, the court, on application of the occu-
 pant, may stay the issuance of a warrant and also stay any execution  to
 collect  the  costs  of the proceeding for a period of not more than one
 year, if it appears that the premises are used for dwelling  OR  COMMER-
 CIAL  purposes;  that  the  application  is made in good faith; that the
 applicant cannot within the neighborhood secure suitable premises  simi-
 lar  to  those occupied by the applicant and that the applicant made due
 and reasonable efforts to secure such other premises, or that by  reason
 of  other  facts  it would occasion extreme hardship to the applicant or
 the applicant's family if the stay  were  not  granted.  In  determining
 whether  refusal  to  grant  a stay would occasion extreme hardship, the
 court shall consider serious ill health, significant exacerbation of  an
 ongoing condition, a child's enrollment in a local school, and any other
 extenuating life circumstances affecting the ability of the applicant or
 the  applicant's  family  to relocate and maintain quality of life.  The
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
              

                                                            LBD11310-01-1

 A. 7494                             2
 
 court shall consider any substantial hardship the stay may impose on the
 landlord in determining whether to grant the  stay  or  in  setting  the
 length  or other terms of the stay.  In an application brought outside a
 city  of one million or more, the term "neighborhood" shall be construed
 to mean (i) the same town, village  or  city  where  the  applicant  now
 resides, or (ii) if the applicant has school aged children residing with
 him  or  her,  "neighborhood"  shall mean the school district where such
 children attend or are eligible to attend.
   § 2. This act shall take effect on the sixtieth  day  after  it  shall
 have become a law.