I've stood on smaller hills fighting more my rights before.

Even if it’s cheaper not to hire a NY attorney (you should calculate this by adding up the additional holding costs it will cost you to fight this, which will be significant), the time value of money will likely make it well worth your while to follow their instructions.

Plus you're not fighting foreign capital to buy property.

So keep up the good fight   Send me a PM and if you like I will send you an email on how to find the list for code violations put out by the city. 

One option I was told was to "fight" the appraisal.

If your tenant truly is a “professional tenant”, you’re in for a fight and you need to make sure you do everything by the book because one mistake can cost you thousands of dollars and months of wasted time. 

Just be glad you got possession back without a fight. 

I fight him back on this one and instead paid him an initial 10 % of the total project costs, and didn't pay him again until he was done with framing, plumbing and some drywall. 

I work hard and fight diligently for my clients. 

You can try and fight it but it will happen.