Author Archives: abogny

New negotiations on 421-a were reported this morning. The latest rumors involve a 45 year tax benefit with a minimum wage of $60 an hour for 300-plus unit developments in luxury neighborhoods and $45 an hour elsewhere. Buildings over 25,000 … Continue reading →

The Building Congress reported this week that while overall residential construction spending is expected to increase, the number of new housing units produced is forecast to decline from 36,850 units last year to 31,300 in 2016. Looking ahead, the Building … Continue reading →

Governor Cuomo has until October 29th, but is expected to act sooner, on the AirBnb bill which would prohibit advertising illegal short term rentals…and severely crimp AirBnb’s business model. The company and opponents were still fighting while the Governor deliberated. … Continue reading →

Buildings between 25,000 and 50,000 square feet will have to start filing electricity and water benchmarking data when the City determines that utilities can upload the information directly to the EPA Portfolio Manager website, according to legislation approved by the … Continue reading →

NY Housing Authority maintenance workers are routinely falsifying reports on whether smoke alarms are working and other safety information, according to a report issued Tuesday by the City Department of Investigation. Governor Cuomo signed legislation late last week providing for … Continue reading →

No. 2 and 4 oil will have to be 5% biodiesel by October 1, 2017 under legislation passed by the City Council, last week.  No. 2 oil would have increasing percentages beginning in 2025. The Council also passed legislation conforming … Continue reading →

An interactive map showing the percentage of units deregulated in every building since 2007; the number of building permits issued for each building since 2013; and buildings purchased in 2015 for more than the average price per unit in a … Continue reading →

The City Council, Wednesday, passed legislation requiring residential building owners to allow bicycles in elevators, and to allow foldable bicycles in commercial and residential building elevators. The bills, which do not address space or safety concerns raised by the industry, … Continue reading →

HUD has issued new 2017 Fair Market Rents, effective October 1st. The maximums are about a 4% increase over 2016: $1352 for a studio, $1419 for a one bedroom, $1637 for a two bedroom, $2101 for a three and $2267 … Continue reading →

Mayor de Blasio, this week, bragged that increased City spending had increased the number of tenants represented by lawyers in Housing Court from 1% in 2013 to 27% in 2015. The report he based the claim on, however, also noted … Continue reading →