The family above Neir’s Tavern has six months to move out
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Teresa Cruz Arcos (left) and her daughter Rene Arcos reached an agreement to remain in their home above Neir’s Tavern for six months. Eagle photo by David Brand
By David Brand
The family of four living in an apartment above the historic Neir’s Tavern have six months to find a new place to live after reaching a settlement with their landlord to postpone eviction.
The deal still forces the family to leave their home of seven years, even after the city intervened to help the 190-year-old Woodhaven bar below reach a long-term lease agreement.
Teresa Cruz Arcos and her family have lived in the building at 87-48 78th St. since 2013, but the property owner began eviction proceedings against them in April 2019, five months after purchasing the building in December 2018. The family pays $1,375 per month for rent.
The landlord, 353 Rockaway Realty LLC, continued to pursue the eviction even after negotiating a new lease agreement with the owner of Neir’s Tavern. That agreement was facilitated by the mayor’s office, the Queens Chamber of Commerce and a few local elected officials. The feel-good-story generated a weekend-long celebration and played a prominent role in de Blasio’s State of the City address.
Cruz Arcos wondered whether her family would get the same support. “We feel good that they’re helping the bar, but we want the same opportunity and the same help,” she told the Eagle in January.
In the end, they got a bit of breathing room.
Just before the family headed to trial in Queens Housing Court on Friday, the landlords’ attorneys agreed to try to reach a settlement.
After hours of negotiating, the landlords’ lawyers offered two possible deals: the family could stay and continue to pay rent for a year or they could stay for six months rent-free.
They chose the six-month option, said attorney Aura Zuniga, who represented the Cruz Arcos family.
“It didn’t end in a place where they’re going to stay in the building,” said Zuniga, an attorney with Make the Road New York. “But it’s not a terrible outcome.”
“The family felt comfortable with the decision that was made. We’ve been fighting the case for a year,” she continued. “They have the security of a set date, they can save money and they have a set place to live.”
City Hall played a part in the negotiations, with officials from the Mayor's Office to Protect Tenants speaking to the landlords by phone during the settlement talks. The case first got on the city’s radar when Zuniga and Make the Road supervising attorney Jennie Stephens-Romero approached Mayor Bill de Blasio to explain the situation at the Neir’s celebration on Jan. 10. They managed to share the information with a staffer who passed it along to the Mayor’s Office to Protect Tenants.
“No New Yorker should be pushed out of their home, and this settlement will allow these tenants to save money while looking for a new apartment,” said City Hall spokesperson Jane Meyer in a statement Monday.
The Eagle continued to report on the Cruz Arcos family’s predicament, prompting NY1 anchor Errol Louis to ask de Blasio about the family’s pending eviction during an interview last month.
“Look, we’re trying to help that family because we don’t want to see anyone evicted from affordable housing,” de Blasio said. “I think landlords need to meet the people halfway and they historically have not done that.”
