The owner or managing agent of a building, erection or place shall be given written notice of arrests occurring thereat for offenses which constitute a public nuisance as defined in § 10-155, Administrative Code of the City of New York. The notice shall set forth the section of law violated, the date of violation, the address and location therein at which the violation occurred, and the court, county and docket number pertaining thereto. The notice shall further state that in the event that such arrests and/or future arrests result in two or more convictions for such public nuisance violations within a twelve month period, proceedings to close the building, erection or place may be commenced.
All Public Nuisance hearings shall be commenced by service of a Notice of Hearing on the owner, lessor, lessee and mortgagee (hereinafter called "respondent(s)") of a building, erection or place wherein the public nuisance is being conducted, maintained or permitted.
(a) Service.
(1) Service of a Notice of Hearing may be made to owners and lessors by delivering such notice to the owner or lessor or to an agent of the owner or lessor or to a person of suitable age and discretion at the residence or place of business of the owner or lessor or, if upon reasonable application such delivery cannot be completed, by affixing such notice in a conspicuous place at the owner's or lessor's place of business or residence or by placing it under the entrance door at either of such locations or by delivering such notice to a person employed by the owner or lessor on the premises at which the nuisance is located and, in all instances except personal delivery upon such owner or lessor by mailing the Notice of Hearing as follows:
(i) to the person registered with the Department of Housing Preservation and Development as the owner or agent of the premises, at the address filed with such department in compliance with Article 2 of Subchapter 4 of Chapter 2 of Title 27 of the Administrative Code; or
(ii) to the person designated as owner of the building or designated to receive real property tax or water bills for the building at the address for such person contained in one of the files compiled by the Department of Finance for the purpose of the assessment or collection of real property taxes and water charges or in the file compiled by the Department of Finance from real property transfer forms filed with the city register upon the sale or transfer of real property; or
(iii) to the person in whose name the real estate affected by the order of the Police Commissioner or such Commissioner's designee is recorded in the office of the City Register or the County Clerk, as the case may be.
(2) service of a Notice of Hearing may be made to an owner or lessor which is a corporation pursuant to section three hundred six of the Business Corporation Law.
(3) service of a Notice of Hearing may be made to lessees (i) by delivering such notice to the lessee or to a person employed by the lessee on the premises at which the nuisance is located; or (ii) by affixing such notice in a conspicuous place to the premises at which the nuisance is located or placing a copy under the entrance door of such premises and mailing a copy of such notice to the lessee at such premises.
(4) service of a Notice of Hearing may be made to mortgagees by mailing such notice to the mortgagee at the last known residence or place of business or employment of the mortgagee.
(5) proof of service pursuant to subparagraphs (a), (b), (c) and (d) of this paragraph shall be filed with the Commissioner or the Commissioner's designee.
(b) Notice of Hearing. A Notice of Hearing shall contain the name and address of the owner, lessor, lessee and mortgagee, the address of the building, erection or place where the public nuisance is being conducted, and a scheduled time and place for the hearing. The Notice shall cite the subsection of § 10-155 being violated and contain a short and plain statement of the violation. It shall also list the dates of arrest and dates of the prior criminal convictions and cite the specific section of the law upon which they were predicated. The Notice shall also indicate the possible penalties and sanctions for violation and a warning that failure to appear may result in an order closing the building, erection or place. The Notice shall also include a statement that the respondent has a right to be represented by counsel.
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