The rent-stabilized tenants of 149 First Avenue received the following note from their landlord, 149 Associates, LLC, this week (boldage ours):

I'm truly sorry to tell you that we will not be renewing your lease. We have been advised by our engineer that the building has serious deterioration issues and has to be rebuilt and most probably demolished. As a matter of safety, we have to vacate all the apartments in the building. The building will not be habitable during the construction phase. Please do not take longer than 90 days to leave. Thank you. Department of Buildings records show no new permits on file for a renovation or demolition. In fact, the building's only violation in the past nine years came when the landlord failed to file the annual boiler inspection report for 2012. So... nope, this doesn't seem at all fishy. The building's ground-floor commercial space has been vacant since March, when the restaurant that occupied it closed.



The tenants (some of them, at least) are not buying it either. They have gotten tenants rights group Good Old Lower East Side on their side and plan to hold a building-wide meeting on either Monday or Tuesday (somebody should probably figure that out).

UPDATE: The sign has been corrected — the meeting is Tuesday.

· Landlord tells residents of 149 First Ave. that they need to vacate ahead of demolition [EVG]

· Lifestyles of the Rent-Stabilized [Curbed]