Policy

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...
Why people hate revolving doors and how to curb the phobia
September 12, 2016

Why people hate revolving doors and how to curb the phobia

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You know that moment of awkwardness when you’re sucked in to a totally irrational game of chicken with up to three other human beings while attempting to do something as simple as enter your office building through an innocuous-seeming revolving door? While it was reportedly first patented in 1888 by a man who couldn’t deal with having to hold regular swinging doors open for the ladies, the revolving door comes with its own means of sorting us according to levels of everyday neurosis. The first revolving door was installed in a restaurant called Rector’s in Times Square in 1899. And that’s probably when people started avoiding it. Will some part of me get stuck? Do I have to scurry in there with someone else? 99% Invisible got their foot in the door and took a closer look at how this energy-efficient invention still gets the cold shoulder and how to fight the phobia.
How to turn this trend around
Revised Museum of Natural History Expansion files with LPC, preserves more park land
September 9, 2016

Revised Museum of Natural History Expansion files with LPC, preserves more park land

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After first revealing its controversial $325 million expansion almost a year ago, the American Museum of Natural History has now filed plans with the Landmarks Preservation Commission to move ahead with the Jeanne Gang-designed project. Though, as the Wall Street Journal reports, there's been some changes, mainly those responding to the community's concerns over how much of the new Richard Gilder Center for Science, Education and Innovation will encroach on Theodore Roosevelt Park, a city-owned space near the back of the museum at 79th Street. The new curving Center will occupy one-quarter of an acre of the park, and two historic trees--a 125-year-old English elm and a 75-year-old pin oak tree-- will be preserved. Therefore, the public space leading into the museum will have better circulation and more gathering spaces.
More details this way
Two years after its launch, .nyc domain lacks popularity
September 7, 2016

Two years after its launch, .nyc domain lacks popularity

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Anyone with a computer and a credit card can register a domain name, but a .nyc extension is limited to a more select group. The Wall Street Journal points out that only local residents and business owners can purchase the domain, limiting the buying pool. There's also a $20 wholesale registration price, which is nearly three times the $7.85 cost of a regular .com, which causes some .nyc domains to go for as much as $40 on sites like GoDaddy. This has resulted in a mere 78,000 .nyc extensions purchased since the websites launched in September 2014, bringing in only $2 million in revenue for the city.
So what's the deal?
Turn any image into a custom template for wallpaper and more with Morpholio’s ‘Stencil’ app
September 6, 2016

Turn any image into a custom template for wallpaper and more with Morpholio’s ‘Stencil’ app

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It's no secret that stencils are all the rage these days, and here in New York City we've been enjoying sites adorned with stencil-inspired graffiti for decades. Like many trends that start in the streets, the art of stencils have made their way into the design language of everything from t-shirts to pillows, magazines and most definitely interior design. As a response to these trends, Morpholio has just released Stencil, a new app that allows you transform any image you come across into a custom digital stencil to use with any of your designs.
find out more here
Mogul vs. mogul: Is Douglas Durst trying to stop Barry Diller’s offshore park?
September 6, 2016

Mogul vs. mogul: Is Douglas Durst trying to stop Barry Diller’s offshore park?

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Once again in the news is media mogul Barry Diller's futuristic offshore cultural pier development at Pier 55 on the Hudson River. The proposed park project, known informally as Diller Park after its main backer, who is chairman of IAC/InterActiveCorp and is married to fashion designer Diane Von Furstenburg, is helmed by the Hudson River Park Trust. The New York Times reports that the project’s main opponent, a civic group called The City Club of New York, may have an equally powerful backer. According to Diller, there is a deep-pocketed "hidden hand” funding the legal actions against the park. In a recent interview, Diller said, “The backer of all this is one Douglas Durst.”
Find out more
City studying the cost of allowing landmarked Midtown East properties to sell their air rights
September 1, 2016

City studying the cost of allowing landmarked Midtown East properties to sell their air rights

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Last week, the city released their long-awaited Midtown East Rezoning plan, a controversial upzoning of the area bound by Madison and Third Avenues and 39th and 50th Streets that would encourage taller, more modern office towers to attract commercial tenants. One of the debated points is the proposal to permit owners of landmarked properties to sell their air rights across the district, whereas now they can only be transferred to sites directly adjacent or above the existing structure. The city has now embarked on an appraisal of these unused development rights, which amount to 3.6 million square feet and will likely be distributed to the 16 new towers that the rezoning would yield over the next 20 years. As Crain's explains, hundreds of millions of dollars are at stake, which is part of the reason Mayor Bloomberg's 2013 attempt at the rezoning failed--opponents were concerned about "the difference between what could be built on a given parcel (such as a soaring office tower) and what actually sits on the site (a church or synagogue a few stories tall)."
More details ahead
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