NYC commercial tenant locked out while property and equipment are still inside — landlord doing construction and moving belongings
I’m looking for advice regarding a commercial tenancy in New York. I operated my café/deli from the same location for approximately 11 years.
In April 2026, the premises suffered a flood and the business had to temporarily close. We did not voluntarily close the business or abandon the premises. We were waiting for repairs and dealing with our insurance claim, with the intention of reopening.
The original landlord subsequently passed away and the property passed to his family. We were then informed that they did not intend to continue our tenancy and apparently intend to sell the building. We had been operating month-to-month after our original lease expired.
However, the tenancy has never, to my knowledge, been formally terminated through an eviction proceeding, and a substantial amount of our business property remains inside the premises.
This includes commercial kitchen equipment, refrigerators/freezers, coffee equipment, furniture, inventory, business records, register items, and other property. There were also personal belongings belonging to staff inside.
The situation has now escalated significantly.
Contractors began entering the premises and performing construction/demolition work while our property was still inside. Initially, one of the entrance locks was changed and I was not provided with a key. My attorney contacted the landlord’s attorney in writing and specifically stated that we still had possession of the premises, that changing the lock and withholding a key interfered with our possession, and demanded that our access be restored.
Despite that warning, all of the locks have now been changed and I currently cannot access the premises or my property.
There has been no court eviction proceeding that I am aware of, no warrant of eviction, and no marshal or sheriff has removed us.
At the same time, contractors have continued working inside.
When I previously gained access, I discovered that our belongings had been moved around extensively. Items that had been stored upstairs were removed and brought downstairs. Cupboards and storage areas had been opened and emptied. Items from the kitchen had been moved. Staff belongings were moved. Register floats/cash-related items, food, supplies and equipment were among the property that had been moved.
Construction has also been taking place directly around our commercial equipment.
There is significant construction/sheetrock dust throughout the premises and on/in our equipment. Our HVAC equipment was apparently not properly protected during the work. I have photographs showing dust and debris inside equipment, including inside a commercial toaster, and covering kitchen equipment and other items.
I am extremely concerned about contamination and damage to food-service equipment, particularly equipment that may now need professional cleaning, inspection, repair or replacement before it can safely be used again.
We have extensive photographs and videos showing:
- The condition of the premises and equipment
- Contractors working around our property
- Construction dust/debris
- Equipment that was not covered/protected
- Property that was moved
- The condition of the premises before and after the work
- The changed locks/lack of access
We also have communications between our attorney and the landlord’s attorney documenting that we requested continued access and objected to the lock change before all of the locks were subsequently changed.
We are currently moving the business to another location, but that does not mean that we abandoned the old premises or our property. We still need access to inventory our belongings and remove our equipment.
This situation is also causing significant financial losses. The business has already been closed since the flood, we have an ongoing insurance/business-interruption claim, employees have lost wages, and we are now facing potential cleaning, repair/replacement and moving costs associated with equipment and inventory.
I have now learned about NYC Administrative Code §§ 22-902 and 22-903 regarding commercial tenant harassment, including provisions concerning changing locks without providing a key, preventing a commercial tenant from entering, removing/moving a tenant’s personal property, and certain interference caused by construction.
I am trying to retain a NYC attorney who specifically handles commercial landlord-tenant litigation / commercial tenant harassment and damages, because the attorney who had been assisting us does not handle litigation.
My main questions are:
- Does changing all of the locks and denying us access while our business property remains inside potentially constitute an illegal commercial lockout or commercial tenant harassment?
- Does it matter that we were month-to-month rather than under a current long-term written lease?
- Can the landlord legally have contractors performing substantial work inside the premises while we still have possession/property there, particularly after being notified by our attorney that we objected to the interference?
- Could the landlord potentially be responsible for damage or contamination to our commercial equipment caused by construction dust, debris, moving equipment/property, etc.?
- What is normally the fastest court procedure for a commercial tenant in NYC to obtain emergency access to retrieve/protect property after being locked out?
- Should we be seeking a temporary restraining order/injunction preventing further construction or movement of our property until we can document and remove everything?
- What damages could potentially be recoverable — damaged equipment, professional cleaning, lost inventory, moving/storage expenses, lost business income, employee-related losses, etc.?
- I’ve also seen references to RPAPL § 853 and treble damages for forcible or unlawful removal from real property. Is that something that can apply to a NYC commercial tenant in circumstances like these?
I am not looking to break the locks or take matters into my own hands. I want to handle this through the proper legal process, but I am concerned that every day contractors continue working inside increases the possibility that our property will be damaged, contaminated, discarded or disappear.
Any guidance from NYC commercial landlord-tenant attorneys or people familiar with commercial lockout/tenant-harassment litigation would be greatly appreciated.