An analysis of New York's top real estate news by TRD's Kathryn Brenzel Yuh-Line Niou (Facebook) The next six months are going to be interesting.
It’s official: Assembly member Yuh-Line Niou is coming for Brian Kavanagh’s seat in the state Senate. Niou announced Monday that she will challenge the senator, whose district covers Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn, in the Democratic primary in June.
Kavanagh, who chairs the Senate’s Committee on Housing, Construction and Community Development, is widely seen as a moderate influence — someone the real estate industry can work with. But he does support Sen. Julia Salazar’s bill that would bar evictions without “good cause,” effectively capping rent increases at 3 percent, or 150 percent of the region’s Consumer Price Index, whichever is higher. He has called 421a “problematic,” but has not publicly committed to revoking the tax break.
Niou is not a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (according to City & State), though she supports many of the group’s priorities, including good cause eviction. Last year, she sponsored legislation that would have cancelled rent for the duration of the statewide emergency, plus an additional 90 days. That measure did not get to the finish line, in part because lawmakers prioritized a milder bill sponsored by Kavanagh.
Niou has also called 421a a “huge tax giveaway” to developers. Tenant advocates are pushing to get rid of the program.
The primary will take place June 28, roughly two weeks after 421a is set to expire. The last time the tax break was renewed, it was decoupled from the state’s rent laws, meaning that the two policies would no longer be played off each other during negotiations. It will be interesting to see how discussions about good cause impact those about 421a renewal, and vice versa. Both issues will almost certainly play a major role in the race for Kavanagh’s Senate seat.
What we’re thinking about: When will Eric Adams name the next head of City Planning? Will it be Dan Garodnick? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
CLOSING TIME Residential: The priciest residential closing recorded Monday was $4.5 million for a condo at 62 Beach Street in Tribeca. Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $257 million for a mixed-use building at 123 Melrose Street in Bushwick — part of All Year Management’s sale of the Denizen luxury apartment complex to Atlas Capital for $506 million. BREAKING GROUND The largest new building filing of the day was for a 70,000-square-foot, mixed-use building at 459 Smith Street in Gowanus. Yoel Schwimmer of Bona LLC filed the permit application. NEW TO THE MARKET The priciest residence to hit the market was a condo at 530 East 76th Street in Lenox Hill asking $3.8 million. Sotheby's International Realty has the listing. TRD's new podcast "Deconstruct" is essential listening for understanding the great, big world of real estate. Be sure to subscribe to the podcast and check out this week's episode about the metaverse.
A thing we've learned... To pay your New York City property taxes and water bills by mail, you must send it to a P.O. Box in… Newark, New Jersey? I am still waiting on the Department of Finance to explain why this is, but thank you to Elie Hirschfeld for pointing it out!
Elsewhere in New York — National Football League employees were permitted to cut the line outside a Covid testing facility in Midtown “in anticipation of working closely together in the office at the league headquarters for tonight’s double header,” Gothamist reports. This drew the ire of the 100 or so people who said they had spent hours waiting for scheduled appointments. “We're miserable and freezing cold,” said Robin Spigel, a Manhattan resident. “It's a state program with priority for the NFL, and who knows who else, with no explanation. It's pretty hard to understand.”
— Mayor Bill de Blasio is urging President Joe Biden to use the Defense Production Act to provide the city with a larger number of at-home tests and monoclonal antibody treatments, Politico New York reports. “We need to act urgently,” de Blasio said. “We do not expect to see some of the painful reality we saw in the spring of 2020 or even last winter.”
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