Author Archives: abogny

Mayor de Blasio this week acknowledged “instructing” the Rent Guidelines Board members who froze rents the past two years. There are two vacancies on the Board that he is expected to fill shortly, and a preliminary guidelines vote for next … Continue reading →

Governor Cuomo told the Building and Construction Trades Council last week that “421a is not about an affordable housing program, 421a is about the principle (of protecting union labor).” Surprise. Cuomo,  yesterday, trumpeted a $1.4 billion plan to revitalize central … Continue reading →

Mayor de Blasio may want to freeze rents on rent stabilized housing again, but he wants two percent minimum annual maintenance increases in HDFC low-income co-ops in order to ensure all buildings are “functional in the long run.” The minimum … Continue reading →

Renovation and development just got harder between Amsterdam Avenue and Riverside Drive from 109th to 119th Streets with the creation, Tuesday, of a Morningside Heights Historic District. The value of residential construction citywide fell from $19.5 billion in 2015 to … Continue reading →

The Appellate Division, First Department, yesterday agreed that water rates for 2016-17 should continue to be frozen for all, rather than increased for multifamily customers so that single family homeowners could get a credit. The Mayor’s plan for the homeowner … Continue reading →

The Post reported this week that  the average price for air rights in Manhattan in 2016 was $292 per square foot, up from $277 in 2015. The City wants a piece of the piece over Broadway theaters, proposing that it … Continue reading →

Con Edison rates will be going up less this month than requested thanks, in part, to CHIP’s intervention in the State Public Service Commission rate setting proceeding. This was the first time CHIP took part in the process. Con Ed … Continue reading →

Class 2 billable assessments will go up 10.5% for fiscal 2018, beginning in July, under the Mayor’s latest financial plan released Tuesday. Estimates are that almost one quarter of that might be due to new construction and improvements, but look … Continue reading →

Maria Torres-Springer will take over from Vicki Been as commissioner of HPD, February 6th. Torres-Springer was president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation. Been goes back to NYU. James Patchett, chief of staff for Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, … Continue reading →

Five large property owners and managers were charged with source of income discrimination by the City Department of Human Rights, Tuesday. The cases involve alleged refusal to accept testers with Section 8 or LINC, although all the properties appear to … Continue reading →