Policy

February 10, 2017

It may cost NYC taxpayers up to $28M to clean up yesterday’s snow storm

For fiscal year 2017, the city budgeted $88 million for snow removal and has already spent $26 million. But yesterday's dump of the white stuff could bring that number up to $54 million. DNAinfo reports that Comptroller Scott Stringer estimates it could cost NYC taxpayers between $19.9 and $27.9 million to dig out from Winter Storm Niko, which is based on the average of $1.99 million per inch of snow that the city has paid over the past 14 years.
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Policy

February 8, 2017

Billionaire’s plan for a West Village mega-mansion gets green light from Landmarks

By Diane Pham

It's champagne and caviar tonight for billionaire hedge funder Steven A. Cohen, who received the official go-ahead to build a massive, six-story, single-family mansion at 145 Perry Street today. The Landmarks Preservation Commission (LPC) voted almost unanimously in favor of the plan despite outcry from local residents and, most notably, Andrew Berman of the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP) who had denounced the design in a statement as “starkly modern," "fortress-like and massive," and more like a bank or a luxury retail store you'd find in Miami or Los Angeles, not the "simple but charming" Village.
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February 8, 2017

Pentagon may lease space in Trump Tower at taxpayers’ expense

By Diane Pham

The line separating Trump's personal business interests and his role as President of the United States continues to blur, as the Washington Post reports today that the Pentagon may lease "a limited amount of space" in Trump Tower. In doing so, the U.S. Defense Department says it will be able to better protect Trump's family, as Melania and Barron have decided to remain in the couple's gilded Trump Tower penthouse, and Donald himself when he is town. The move, however, has one major and obvious sticking point: rent on the space would need to be paid to the Trump Organization—and taxpayer dollars would be used to foot the bill.
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Policy

February 7, 2017

Excavating the city: A look at urban archaeology in New York

By Cait Etherington

When most people think about archaeologists, they imagine outdoorsy adventurers—perhaps, modeled on the fictional Indiana Jones—uncovering ancient artifacts in remote locations. They probably don’t imagine archaeologists riding the MTA to excavation sites. In reality, archaeologists frequently do work in New York City and the surrounding region and play an essential yet often under-recognized role in the city’s building industry. While many new developments go ahead without major archaeological studies, most developments only get the green light to move forward after archaeologists have completed at least a preliminary investigation.
how archaeologist work in urban environments like NYC

February 7, 2017

City continues push to raise fee for Theater District air rights transfers

By Dana Schulz

In November, the City Planning Commission voted to raise the cost of air rights transfers in the Theater District, allowing the city to take a 20 percent cut of any sales and establishing a minimum floor price of $346, a roughly 400 percent increase over the current $17.60 flat fee that they feel will be more in line with current property values. Despite vocal opposition from the Real Estate Board of New York, who back Theater District landlords and believe the increase is "is onerous, excessive and unfair," this month the Commission is hoping to have the proposal approved by the City Council, reports Crain's.
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Policy

January 31, 2017

De Blasio defends sanctuary city status, saying withheld funds would be millions, not billions

By Michelle Cohen

In the state's capital on Monday, Mayor de Blasio spoke in defense of various policies including NYC's "sanctuary city" designation, WNYC reports. The mayor was in Albany to ask state legislators for funding for items like education, public health and affordable housing. In the face of criticism from Staten Island assembly members Nicole Malliotakis and Ron Castorina (both Republicans), who questioned the mayor's pledge not to aid in the mass deportation of undocumented immigrants by the new administration, de Blasio said he had discussed the issue with then-President-elect Trump, and would continue to resist mass deportation for "moral, economic and security reasons." Though Castorina said de Blasio would be risking the loss of billions of dollars in federal aid, the mayor said the money withheld by the federal government would only be $100-150 million and that his legal advisers say the city could fight back in court.
Sanctuary cities are safer

January 30, 2017

De Blasio pushes again for ‘mansion tax’ on home sales over $2M

By Diane Pham

Mayor De Blasio will renew his call for a "mansion tax" before this state Legislature in Albany today, reports Politico. In support of rent subsidies for 25,000 low-income senior citizens, the mayor has detailed a proposal that will raise the property transfer tax to 2.5 percent for any sale above $2 million. “We are asking for some basic tax fairness from the wealthiest New Yorkers so low-income seniors can afford their rent and continue to call the greatest city in the world their home,” the mayor said in a statement.
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January 30, 2017

With Ben Carson as HUD Secretary, how will NYC housing and development be affected?

By Cait Etherington

Dr. Ben Carson, a retired neurosurgeon and failed Republican nominee, has now been cleared to serve as Secretary of Housing for the next four years. For many, his appointment remains perplexing. Carson has no political experience and no obvious knowledge of housing and development issues. At least some concerns about Carson’s fitness for the job […]

January 27, 2017

City says Cuomo’s ‘Affordable New York’ plan would cost an extra $820M

By Dana Schulz

Governor Cuomo recently announced that his revised version of the city's 421-a tax exemption program would officially be moving forward. He said the initiative, dubbed "Affordable New York," would create 2,500 new affordable housing units per year, but a new study from the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development says this will come at a cost. As Politico reports, Cuomo's changes to the program would cost NYC an additional $820 million over 10 years if approved by the state Legislature, $82 million a year more than Mayor de Blasio's proposed 421-a overhaul in 2015.
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De Blasio to spend $384M renovating old city-owned office buildings

Downtown Brooklyn’s 345 Adams Street

January 25, 2017

De Blasio to spend $384M renovating old city-owned office buildings

By Dana Schulz

Despite "a backdrop of uncertainty," as he put it, Mayor de Blasio yesterday unveiled an $89.4 billion, 10-year capital plan that includes school construction, public housing repairs, paving roads, and a new NYPD training center. It also sets aside $384.2 million to renovate and rehabilitate aging, city-owned buildings. Commercial Observer tells us that the bulk of this allotment, $94.5 million, would go towards 345 Adams Street in Downtown Brooklyn. The 1920s office building is home to the Department of Finance, Department of Probation, Board of Elections, and Administration for Children’s Services. Others on the list are the Brooklyn Municipal Building ($39.1 million), 253 Broadway in lower Manhattan ($18.5 million), and the Manhattan Municipal Building ($16.7 million).
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Policy

Trump’s infrastructure plan may include $26B+ for NYC’s Gateway Project and Second Avenue Subway

By Dana Schulz

Reporters at McClatchy obtained documents that the Trump transition team provided to the National Governor’s Association detailing 50 projects across the country that would take priority under the President's proposed $1 trillion infrastructure plan, and among them are two NYC-based projects. The Gateway Project, which would repair the aging and Sandy-damaged Hudson River rail tunnels and build a new one, would cost $12 billion and create 34,000 jobs. Phases two and three of the Second Avenue Subway would cost $14.2 billion and create 16,000 direct jobs.
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De Blasio to allocate $300 million and accelerate construction of third NYC water tunnel

City Water Tunnel No. 3, one of the largest capital projects in the city’s history; Images: NYC DEP

January 23, 2017

De Blasio to allocate $300 million and accelerate construction of third NYC water tunnel

By Michelle Cohen

Mayor Bill de Blasio will officially announce Tuesday that $300 million will be allocated toward the completion of the city’s third water tunnel (known as Water Tunnel No. 3) which will bring drinking water from upstate to the city’s taps. The mayor’s announcement backs up assurances he made in April that the tunnel will be ready for activation in an emergency by the end of this year, and fully operational by 2025, Politico reports. The allocation, along with an additional $3 million to disinfect the Brooklyn/Queens section of the tunnel, is part of the city's 10-year capital plan and will speed up the timeline for completion of the project.
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Policy

January 20, 2017

MTA backs plan to raise subway and bus fare to $3 come March

By Dana Schulz

At a board meeting over the summer, the MTA began discussions about increasing subway and bus fare to $3 by 2017 "in an effort to raise more than $300 million annually," as 6sqft reported at the time. The Daily News has now learned that the agency will officially recommend the four-percent increase at their board meeting next week. Though they'll be passing on another option that would've kept fares at $2.75, the hike will increase the bonuses that come with re-loading one's MetroCard from 11 to 16 percent, "an extra 96 cents for every $6 purchase."
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January 19, 2017

Amid fears of Russian hackers, expert warns of threat from squirrel cyberattack

By Michelle Cohen

As the U.S. goes collectively nuts over the possibility of alleged Russian hacking and its effects on the election, the Washington Post tells of at least one cybersecurity expert devoted to exposing the very real threat of cyberattack by "an insidious bushy-tailed foe." We're reminded that in 1987, a squirrel nibbled Nasdaq’s computer center (literally) into the black for 90 minutes, upending 20 million trades.
More de-tails this way

Policy

January 18, 2017

Construction fatalities increase as safety inspections decrease

By Metro New York

Construction deaths have been on the rise ever since the city entered into its current building boom. But a new study from the New York Committee for Occupational Safety & Health titled “Deadly Skyline” shows just how dire the situation has become. Between 2011 and 2015, New York state construction worker fatalities jumped from 33 to 55, and of […]

Policy

January 17, 2017

Ding uses your smartphone to revolutionize the doorbell

By Rebecca Paul

While smart home technology includes everything from turning on the heat to monitoring air quality, the simple job of a doorbell has been oddly overlooked until the arrival of Ding. A collaborative effort between the London-based startup and creative consultancy MAP (an arm of the industrial design studio Barber & Osgerby), the smart doorbell is a three-part system made up of an exterior button, indoor Wifi speaker (cleverly named Chime), and a corresponding iPhone app. When visitors come to the door, Chime functions as a normal doorbell, but the app allows residents to communicate with whomever is at the door remotely.
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January 17, 2017

City transit workers reach deal with MTA over wage increases

By Metro New York

After the Transport Workers Union and the MTA failed to reach a deal on Sunday night, the contracts for 44,000 subway and bus workers expired. But a tentative agreement was reached yesterday for a 28-month contract that stipulates a 2.5 wage increase over the first 26 months with a $500 bonus in the last two, […]

January 17, 2017

Trump to name New York developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth to oversee new infrastructure council

By Dana Schulz

President-elect Donald Trump has previously outlined his $1 trillion infrastructure plan not just as a means to repair and build bridges and roads, but as a real estate platform for private entities to build and subsequently own public works such as schools, hospitals, or energy pipeline expansions through $137 billion in tax credits. So it comes as no surprise that he's tapped two of his longtime buddies and big-time New York real estate developers to head up the new council that will monitor this spending. The Wall Street Journal reports that Trump asked Richard LeFrak and Vornado's Steven Roth to manage this council of 15 to 20 builders and engineers, referring to the men as "pros" because "...all their lives, they build. They build under-budget, ahead of schedule."
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Policy

January 16, 2017

Cuomo dubs revised 421-a plan ‘Affordable New York,’ advances new legislation

By Dana Schulz

A year after the city’s 421-a tax exemption program expired, a new version of the affordable housing incentive is officially moving forward. In August, Governor Cuomo released a new version of the plan that which include wage subsidies for construction workers and extended terms for the tax breaks, and after the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York and the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) reached an agreement in November to move ahead with this version, the Governor's office now reports that they'll be advancing new legislation to move ahead the program that's now been re-named "Affordable New York." Cuomo says this will create 2,500 new affordable housing units per year.
All the details this way

January 12, 2017

The city added 21,963 affordable housing units in 2016, the most in 27 years

By Dana Schulz

When Mayor de Blasio took office in 2014, he vowed to build or preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over 10 years, and so far, he's made good on his word, despite the loss of the city's controversial 421-a program. The Times reports that today the Mayor will announce that his administration has added 21,963 affordable units in 2016, the most since 1989. Of these apartments, 6,844 were in newly constructed buildings and roughly 4,400, or 20 percent, were reserved for low-income New Yorkers earning less than $25,000 (much more than the eight percent goal). More than 30 percent were in Manhattan, followed by 29 percent in both the Bronx and Brooklyn.
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January 11, 2017

Citi Bike to add ‘Laserlight’ projection feature to improve rider safety

By Diane Pham

Citi Bike is gearing up for a high-tech upgrade this winter in the form of lasers, reports Metro. The bike share's operator, Motivate, and the designers at Blaze have teamed up to outfit 250 bikes with Laserlight, a safety light that combines a 300 lumen LED with a forward projecting laser that continuously beams an image to warn cars and pedestrians a bike is approaching.
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January 10, 2017

5th Avenue needs pedestrian lanes to accommodate Trump, says transit expert Janette Sadik-Khan

By Hannah Frishberg

Reserving three of 5th Avenue's five traffic lanes for pedestrians will ease the traffic paralysis that President-elect Donald Trump's continued residence in his 56th Street tower has caused, former NYC Department of Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan argues. In an op-ed for the New York Times yesterday Sadik-Khan, a principal with Bloomberg Associates and a key player in the introduction of the Times Square Pedestrian Plaza, angled 5th Avenue's traffic problem as a bipartisan issue that requires change to get better. With the President-elect saying he plans on visiting his Manhattan home frequently even once he has moved to the White House, it is clear New York will need to adapt or risk forever needing to budget an extra three hours to get through Midtown.
Without big changes, the chaos isn't going to improve

January 9, 2017

Governor Cuomo announces six investments to advance NYC’s outer boroughs

By Dana Schulz

Continuing his 2017 State of the State proposals, Governor Cuomo made an announcement this morning that the state would invest in six regional projects "to move New York City's outer boroughs forward." In addition to healthcare-related initiatives, these include: up to 3,000 new units of affordable housing in Brooklyn with wellness-focused amenities; permanent toll reductions on the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge for Staten Island residents; $10 million towards the Orchard Beach pavilion redevelopment; and $108 million in financing for the Kingsbridge Armory in the Bronx to be transformed to an ice center.
Get all the details ahead

January 9, 2017

Jared Kushner will leave role as CEO of Kushner Companies

By Diane Pham

In just 11 more days, Donald Trump will take office as the 45th President of the United States. And just as Trump is gearing up for his four-year term, his son-in-law Jared Kushner and daughter Ivanka Trump are preparing to take on major roles as well. Last week it was revealed that the pair would be moving into a six-bedroom, $5.5 million mansion in D.C., and now the New York Times reports that Kushner will step down as CEO of Kushner Companies as he transitions from real estate mogul to full-time presidential advisor.
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Policy

It may cost NYC taxpayers up to $28M to clean up yesterday’s snow storm

Billionaire’s plan for a West Village mega-mansion gets green light from Landmarks

Pentagon may lease space in Trump Tower at taxpayers’ expense

Excavating the city: A look at urban archaeology in New York

City continues push to raise fee for Theater District air rights transfers

De Blasio defends sanctuary city status, saying withheld funds would be millions, not billions

De Blasio pushes again for ‘mansion tax’ on home sales over $2M

With Ben Carson as HUD Secretary, how will NYC housing and development be affected?

City says Cuomo’s ‘Affordable New York’ plan would cost an extra $820M

De Blasio to spend $384M renovating old city-owned office buildings

Trump’s infrastructure plan may include $26B+ for NYC’s Gateway Project and Second Avenue Subway

De Blasio to allocate $300 million and accelerate construction of third NYC water tunnel

MTA backs plan to raise subway and bus fare to $3 come March

Amid fears of Russian hackers, expert warns of threat from squirrel cyberattack

Construction fatalities increase as safety inspections decrease

For $6.75M, everything you'd want in a Park Slope brownstone

Ding uses your smartphone to revolutionize the doorbell

City transit workers reach deal with MTA over wage increases

Trump to name New York developers Richard LeFrak and Steven Roth to oversee new infrastructure council

Cuomo dubs revised 421-a plan ‘Affordable New York,’ advances new legislation

The city added 21,963 affordable housing units in 2016, the most in 27 years

Citi Bike to add ‘Laserlight’ projection feature to improve rider safety

5th Avenue needs pedestrian lanes to accommodate Trump, says transit expert Janette Sadik-Khan

Governor Cuomo announces six investments to advance NYC’s outer boroughs

Jared Kushner will leave role as CEO of Kushner Companies

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