A Rent Stabilized Lease is a Public Assistance Benefit, the State Court of Appeals ruled, yesterday, in a case involving whether a stabilized lease could be sold as part of a bankruptcy estate. Using a simplistic analysis, the court said that rent regulation was public, in that it was created by law, and provided assistance. The scathing dissent noted that by the same analysis, minimum wage laws and antidiscrimination laws, and worker safety requirements would be public assistance…and that most rent stabilized tenants would be surprised to learn that they are on the dole.
While further eroding property rights in the area of bankruptcy the decision creates new constitutional questions about how and why “public assistance” should be paid for by random building owners
The third area the City expects to rezone for higher density housing, after East New York and Cromwell-Jerome, is West Flushing, according to testimony at a City Council hearing this week.
The City Council announced plans to revisit manufacturing zoning, in another attempt to save jobs by restricting local land use. Manufacturing employment has dropped to ten percent, which, coincidentally, mirrors the national average.
Apparently desperate for affordable housing, the de Blasio administration is planning to sell a $110 million developments rights package in Clinton for $1 to a non-profit affordable housing developer, which will, in turn, develop the property and sell some of the rights to a for profit project nearby.
Meanwhile, the Economic Development Corporation has issued an RFP for affordable housing and related development of about 495,000 square feet of air rights from bridge ramps in Long Island City. The rights may be free for the right proposal.
At the same time, the City administration is still looking to raise money from luxury development. An increase in the transfer tax for property over $1 million was floated this week. Any change would require approval by the State Legislature.
Finally, the International Codes Council, author of the International Building Code on which New York City and State Codes are based, agreed this week to a policy long sought by NAHB that any proposed changes come with an analysis of what it would mean to construction costs.