New York’s bid to bring thousands of illegal basement apartments up to code is landing with a thud as housing advocates warn that proposed rules could scare off the very homeowners the program is designed to help. The Department of Buildings’ draft regulations — including a requirement for giant, five-inch red lettering marking basement entrances — have become a symbol of what critics describe as a burdensome approach to the pilot program, according to The City. The signage rule specifically was mocked by the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, which unveiled an eight-foot banner to show just how impractical it […]

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