Policy

MAP: Two thirds of landlords benefiting from 421-a tax breaks didn’t file rent regulation paperwork

View the map from ProPublica in its interactive form here >>

October 27, 2016

MAP: Two thirds of landlords benefiting from 421-a tax breaks didn’t file rent regulation paperwork

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The city's 421-a program, which expired in January, provides tax breaks of up to 25 years to new residential buildings that reserve at least 20 percent of units as affordable. Proponents of the program feel it offers a much-needed incentive to build low- and moderate-income housing, but those not in favor think it gives unfair tax breaks to the wealthiest developers. The latter camp may be gaining steam, as a new report from ProPublica, outlined in Gothamist, says that nearly two thirds of the 6,400 rental buildings where landlords received tax reductions through 421-a didn't have required rent stabilization paperwork on file, meaning they could raise rents as much as they chose. ProPublica compiled this data in both an interactive map and searchable database.
Is your landlord cheating the system?
Pier 55 appeal dismissed in court; park construction can move ahead
October 26, 2016

Pier 55 appeal dismissed in court; park construction can move ahead

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After nearly a year and a half of yo-yo-ing back and forth between stop work orders and lawsuits, the Barry Diller-funded Pier 55 park can finally move ahead freely. The New York Law Journal reports that yesterday the state Court of Appeals denied the City Club of New York's appeal of September's ruling in favor of Pier 55 and the Hudson River Park Trust (HRPT) that said construction could continue on the 2.75-acre offshore park, dismissing the opponents' claims that the park failed to go through adequate environmental impact evaluations and violated the public trust doctrine by planning to host private events.
What this means for Pier 55
Airbnb files federal suit against Governor Cuomo’s $7,500 fines on illegal listings
October 24, 2016

Airbnb files federal suit against Governor Cuomo’s $7,500 fines on illegal listings

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Back in June, the NYC legislature passed a bill that would impose fines of up to $7,500 on those offering illegal short-term Airbnb rentals, and at the end of last week, Governor Cuomo signed the bill into effect, reports the Times. The new regulation piggybacks on what's been the state law since 2010--that apartments can't be rented out for less than 30 days if the lease holder isn't present. Despite the fact that a recent report estimates 56 percent of the site's 2015 listings fell into this category, Airbnb is taking aim against the Governor, filing a federal lawsuit that says the new law "would impose significant immediate burdens and irreparable harm on Airbnb."
Find out more this way
Designation of South Village Historic District may mean approval for massive St. John’s Terminal project
October 21, 2016

Designation of South Village Historic District may mean approval for massive St. John’s Terminal project

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The Landmarks Preservation Commission's plans to add 10 additional blocks to the South Village Historic District are at the top of the agenda for city preservationist groups. As Crains reports, the addition of the historic district is also a condition for a City Council vote in support of the St. John's Center development, a 1.7 million-square-foot, mixed-use project proposed for 550 Washington Street across the street from Pier 40 in Hudson River Park. That project requires the council's approval, and City Councilman Corey Johnson said in August that he'd vote for the project, proposed by developers Westbrook Partners and Atlas Capital Group, if the addition of the third and final phase of the historic district, currently bordered by Sixth Avenue, West Fourth Street, LaGuardia Place and Houston Street, goes forward. The Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation (GVSHP), among others, has pushed for the landmarking of what would be the city's first tenement-based historic district.
Find out more
Trump’s Wollman Ice Rink and Bronx golf course were more personal gain than public good

Photo via Flickr cc

October 19, 2016

Trump’s Wollman Ice Rink and Bronx golf course were more personal gain than public good

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Photo via Flickr cc Though few would deny that Donald Trump enjoys placing himself in the spotlight, WNYC reports that the Republican presidential nominee has a history of claiming to save the day on public projects when it turns out that he didn’t hold up his end of the bargain, and the city ended up holding the bag. Among his supporters, Trump has a reputation for stepping in to rescue abandoned city projects, a favorite example being Central Park’s Wollman Ice Rink. About thirty years ago, the rink had fallen into disrepair and had sat unused for six years due to the city’s inability to find the funds or move past the red tape involved in fixing it. Trump brought his “get it done” attitude to the project, offering to help fix the rink. In 1986, the city agreed to let him lend a hand. Though Trump completed the repairs on time and under budget, the rink repair job wasn't the act of philanthropy–nor the ongoing financial bonus for the city–that the candidate claims it was.
So what's the real story?
Plan to turn Sunset Park library into 49 low-income apartments moves forward
October 17, 2016

Plan to turn Sunset Park library into 49 low-income apartments moves forward

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In 2014 the news surfaced that Brooklyn Public Library (BPL) was planning to sell its Sunset Park branch at 5108 4th Avenue to a non-profit community development organization, Fifth Avenue Committee (FAC). The developer would demolish the 43-year-old building and build in its place a larger library with eight stories above that would contain 49 below-market-rate apartments, in part with public money allocated by Borough President Eric L. Adams. The developers say the plan will create housing for Brooklyn's neediest residents. Brooklyn Paper now reports that developers are preparing to pitch the project to Community Board 7’s land-use committee on November 3 as part of a public review process. The city council has the final say whether it goes through.
Find out more
Public Advocate’s office releases watchlist of NYC’s 100 worst landlords
October 14, 2016

Public Advocate’s office releases watchlist of NYC’s 100 worst landlords

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New York City Public Advocate Letitia James released this year's annual "Worst Landlords Watchlist" Thursday at a tenants' rights rally in lower Manhattan. The interactive database lists the top 100 building owners who have racked up the most violations (like rats, roaches and dirty elevators, to name just a few) relative to the number of buildings they own. This data is gathered from the Department of Buildings and Department of Housing. Three of the city's five worst landlords according to the list have been on it for two years in a row. The top three offenders–Harry D. Silverstein, Allan Goldman, and Efstathios Valiotis–own buildings throughout the Bronx, Brooklyn, Manhattan and Queens. Silverstein received 2,032 HPD violations and 50 DOB violations over 575 units in eight buildings.
Find out if your landlord is on the list
Landmarks lauds Natural History Museum expansion plan, see new renderings
October 12, 2016

Landmarks lauds Natural History Museum expansion plan, see new renderings

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After revising its expansion plan last month to preserve more public parkland, the American Museum of Natural History had its day in front of the Landmarks Preservation Commission yesterday, and as DNAinfo reports, the agency lauded the plan for a new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation, with chairwoman Meenakshi Srinivasan referring to it as a "stunning piece of architecture" and an "absolutely wonderful addition." In making their determination, the Commission was presented with a slew of new renderings, which show the $325 million, Jeanne Gang-designed project from various angles, as well as new views of the surrounding parkland.
More renderings and next steps
The Avegant Glyph is a wearable movie screen with surround sound
October 6, 2016

The Avegant Glyph is a wearable movie screen with surround sound

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The Avegant Glyph offers cinema screen entertainment without the distraction of people rustling popcorn. The wearable, invented by a Silicon Valley start-up, resembles a hefty pair of headphones but when you slide the band down over your eyes, micro mirror projection gives the impression that you’re watching an enormous display. READ MORE AT METRO NEW […]

Macro Sea’s David Belt takes us inside New Lab, an 84,000-square-foot thinkspace in the Navy Yard
October 5, 2016

Macro Sea’s David Belt takes us inside New Lab, an 84,000-square-foot thinkspace in the Navy Yard

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The Brooklyn Navy Yard has since its inception acted as a pole for the cutting edge and creative, from its time as the "The Can-Do Shipyard" where U.S. warships assembled, to present day as urban farmers, photographers and filmmakers carve out spaces for themselves on the campus' more than 300 acres. But the latest most notable addition to the Navy Yard is most certainly New Lab. New Lab is the creation of Macro Sea (who many will remember brought dumpster pools to NYC a few years ago) and is a revolutionary hub that turns an 84,000-square-foot former shipping building into a thinkspace for nearly 300 engineers and entrepreneurs working in advanced hardware and robotics. Here, members whose work include everything from designing nano microscopes to using synthetic biology to engineer cities can take their ideas from concept to prototype to production under one roof. It's what the founders are calling "a breakthrough ecosystem of shared resources." In this 6sqft feature, we speak to New Lab's co-founder and Macro Sea Executive Director and founder David Belt. David is also the founder and Managing Partner of DBI, which is currently managing the realization of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center, amongst other high-profile projects around the city. Ahead, he takes us through the new facility and gives us some intel on what inspired the design, the cutting edge companies that have taken up space, and what he ultimately hopes to achieve with New Lab.
Learn more about New Lab with David here
Buried treasures from the city’s past will be on view at a new Manhattan research center
October 5, 2016

Buried treasures from the city’s past will be on view at a new Manhattan research center

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New York City has catalogued and created a digitized archive of the many buried artifacts from its past; Wednesday the Landmarks Preservation Commission is officially opening a repository of those countless artifacts. The New York Times reports that the Nan A. Rothschild Research Center–the first municipal archive devoted to a city’s archaeological collection, has found a home in Midtown Manhattan. More than a million artifacts will now be available for viewing by researchers and scholars by appointment; a digital archive is already available. The climate-controlled repository at 114 West 47th Street contains artifacts from 31 excavated sites from all five boroughs, including the city’s first major historical dig, the Stadt Huys (now 85 Broad Street in Lower Manhattan), which, when the artifacts were discovered in 1979, raised the idea that archaeological treasures were buried beneath old buildings.
Find out what you can dig up at the digital archive
How Otis’ elevator made modern skyscrapers possible
October 4, 2016

How Otis’ elevator made modern skyscrapers possible

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Advances in engineering continue to push modern skyscrapers to dizzying new heights, but at the core of these structures, quite literally, is an often overlooked technology that’s been key to their proliferation: the elevator. The earliest known reference to the elevator was by Roman architect Vitruvius, who reported that Archimedes built his first elevator around 236 B.C. The design was fairly rudimentary, a platform using pulleys and hoisted by hand or by animal. While elevators found their way into countless buildings and homes in the centuries that followed, including that of Louis XV who used a private lift to connect his Versailles apartment to that of his mistress, it wasn’t until the late 19th century that their true potential was unlocked.
read more about the elevator here
Affordable housing applicants with low credit scores and legal history now protected from discrimination
October 4, 2016

Affordable housing applicants with low credit scores and legal history now protected from discrimination

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In recent months, the city has been pushing for legislation that better protects tenants, including a bill that would guarantee lawyers for all low-income residents facing eviction and regulations over screening software services that leads to landlord discrimination. They're now taking this idea to affordable housing lotteries, where there's been a major uptick in activity over the past couple years due to the Mayor's goal to add or preserve 200,000 units over 10 years. As DNAinfo reports, the city is releasing today an online Marketing Handbook for the lotteries, and among the objectives are protections for applicants with low credit scores and those who have previously taken their landlords to court.
Find out more
Flood regulations may thwart plan to convert Lower Manhattan public spaces to retail
October 3, 2016

Flood regulations may thwart plan to convert Lower Manhattan public spaces to retail

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When plans surfaced last March for a rezoning of the Financial District that would allow property owners to bring in retail tenants to the underutilized public plazas and walkways at the base of their buildings, it was met with mixed reviews. While some felt it would increase foot traffic and create a more vibrant street presence, others thoughts it would result in a loss of public space, but a gain for developers. These concerns may be a moot point, however, as Crain's brings news today that the plan could be "upended by federal flood regulations being applied to more areas of the city since Superstorm Sandy."
What's the deal?
New startup TheGuarantors helps renters qualify for apartments and protects landlords
September 28, 2016

New startup TheGuarantors helps renters qualify for apartments and protects landlords

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For NYC renters who don't have a parent or well-to-do friend who can guarantor their apartment, getting on a lease can be a challenge. In addition to wanting a credit score of at least 700 and looking at bank statements, landlords usually want to see that a prospective tenant's annual income is 40 times greater than one month's rent. If that's not the case, their guarantor must earn a whopping 80 times the monthly rent. Aware of this hardship in a country where rents have risen 20 percent over the last five years, a new financial startup hopes to help clear these hurdles. As noted by the Wall Street Journal, TheGuarantors sells payment insurance to tenants, which gives landlords a guarantee that they'll still be paid if the tenant fails to meet rent.
More info ahead
September 27, 2016

New bill would guarantee a lawyer for tenants facing eviction

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The City Council held a hearing Monday on a bill that would guarantee lawyers for all low-income residents facing eviction. The New York Times reports that the bill, which has the support of an overwhelming majority of council members, would make New York City the country's first jurisdiction to do so. Currently more than 70 percent of low-income tenants in New York City head to Housing Court without legal representation according to a recent report by the city's Office of Civil Justice, while landlords are almost always represented by lawyers. This leaves tenants at a disadvantage from the start, say tenant advocates. Last year nearly 22,000 tenants were evicted from their homes across the city.
Find out more
Play with your pets and others’ pets with Petcube’s interactive camera
September 25, 2016

Play with your pets and others’ pets with Petcube’s interactive camera

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If you have four-legged family members, you've probably wondered what they're up to while you're at work all day. Sure, you can get yourself a regular camera, but Petcube takes pet monitoring to another level. Not only can you talk to, play with, and watch your dog or cat, you can do the same with other people's pets and even shelter animals via Petcube's app. And the best part? You don't need to own a unit to play.
Learn all about Petcube
PHOTOS: Check out NYPL’s new $2.6M ‘Book Train’ conveyor system
September 21, 2016

PHOTOS: Check out NYPL’s new $2.6M ‘Book Train’ conveyor system

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Last week, the New York Public Library released stunning photographs of the renovation of its historic Rose Main Reading Room and Bill Blass Public Catalog Room, along with news that the spaces would be reopening to the public on October 5th. As of this day, when guests request research materials, they'll come from a new, $23 million state-of-the-art storage facility below Bryant Park. To bring the materials up, the library installed an innovative conveyor system known as the "book train," which, according to a press release, "consists of 24 individual red cars that run on rails and can seamlessly and automatically transition from horizontal to vertical motion," transporting up to 30 pounds of materials at a time in just five minutes.
Check out photos and video of the Book Train
De Blasio announces early progress on green building programs
September 20, 2016

De Blasio announces early progress on green building programs

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Mayor Bill de Blasio announced on Tuesday early progress on green building programs in conjunction with the eighth annual Climate Week held in the city, which runs from September 19-25. With a new president of the United States being elected in just weeks, “Climate Week NYC 2016 will gather leaders from business and government to demonstrate […]

A Trump empire built on $885 million in tax breaks has cost the city a fortune
September 19, 2016

A Trump empire built on $885 million in tax breaks has cost the city a fortune

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If you've followed Republican presidential nominee Donald J. Trump's gold-plated real estate career, you might already know how much of his success has been due to his family's extensive political connections–and generous tax breaks, grants and incentives from the government and taxpayers. In case you haven't read Trump's 1987 bestseller "The Art of the Deal," the New York Times illuminates the role that hundreds of millions in tax breaks have played in the Trump empire. While Trump may not be much different from other developers in seeking tax breaks, the candidate vociferously paints a picture of a rigged system and a fixed game. But these very fixes have enabled him to achieve a net worth estimated at 4.5 billion and the opportunity to indulge a run for the nation’s highest office.
So what's been going on here?
UES residents not happy about plan to turn their playground into high-end housing

Google Street View of the Holmes Towers with the playground in question in the foreground

September 19, 2016

UES residents not happy about plan to turn their playground into high-end housing

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This past spring, the de Blasio administration revealed plans to lease "empty" NYCHA land--parking lots and grassy areas--for the creation of market-rate housing, which certainly ruffled the feathers of affordable housing advocates. Though the proposal hasn't been set into motion city-wide, it is taking shape at one housing project on the Upper East Side, the Holmes Towers on 92nd to 93rd Streets and 1st to York Avenues. As the Daily News reports, NYCHA recently "described tenant support for the plan to let a developer build 300 units — half market rate, half affordable — where the Holmes playground now sits." But this "tenant stakeholder committee" says they feel very differently.
READ MORE
City Council approves La Central development, bringing nearly 1,000 affordable units to the Bronx
September 15, 2016

City Council approves La Central development, bringing nearly 1,000 affordable units to the Bronx

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On Wednesday the New York City Council voted to approve the La Central development project in the Melrose section of the Bronx, the Daily News reports. The project, which will be designed by FXFOWLE architects, is slated to bring 992 apartments to the borough, all of them designated as affordable housing under Mayor de Blasio’s mandatory inclusionary housing (MIH) legislation. It is the biggest project to be approved to date under the MIH rules, which require some income restricted apartments in projects that need the city's approval.
Find out more and see more renderings
POLL: Do you think sports stadiums benefit communities?
September 14, 2016

POLL: Do you think sports stadiums benefit communities?

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Yesterday, 6sqft took a look at a Brookings institute study that showed three New York City sports stadiums--Yankee Stadium (the most expensive of all in the country), Citi Field, and the Barclays Center--have received $867 million in direct and indirect federal subsidies. This resulted in the loss of $3.7 billion in government revenues since 2000, due to "lost tax revenue from issuing exempt bonds and the indirect proceeds high-income bond holders receive." Because of this drain, the authors of the study advocate that stadiums should not be eligible to receive tax-exempt bonds, especially since they claim "there is little evidence that stadiums provide even local economic benefits." But not everyone agrees, likening stadiums to other public enterprises like parks. And, at least as pertains to the stadiums in New York, these venues host other community events aside from ticketed sports games. Which side are you on?
Share your thoughts here
$867 million in federal subsidies for three NYC sports stadiums a big loss
September 13, 2016

$867 million in federal subsidies for three NYC sports stadiums a big loss

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A recent Brookings institute study shows that federal government subsidies of big-ticket sports stadium construction are essentially money down the drain, The Real Deal reports. Three New York City stadiums--Yankee Stadium, Citi Field (both completed in 2009) and the Barclays Center--have accounted for a significant portion of these subsidies in the form of tax-exempt bonds, which have resulted in the loss of $3.7 billion in federal government revenues since 2000.
Not exactly a surprise...
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