It’s been mostly quiet on the Walmart front since plans for a Brooklyn behemoth collapsed last fall, but prominent New York brokers insist that the world’s largest retailer is in active negotiations for a spot in the five boroughs. Read More
The Department of Buildings ordered Joseph Chetrit to stop work at the Chelsea Hotel on Friday night, one day after City Council Speaker Christine Quinn sent a scathing letter asking the developer to do so, The Real Deal reports.
The order, the latest of a series of setbacks at the property, followed complaints from tenants that heat and gas service had been shut off at the site, leading DOB inspectors, a range of other city organizations and ConEdison to visit the site on Friday.
“HPD will be issuing violations for no heat and hot water and no gas as these conditions have not yet been addressed by ownership,” one city official told The Real Deal.
Once a mecca for bohemians, artists, writers and musicians, from Bob Dylan to Charles Bukowski to Iggy Pop, the famed “hotel” undergoes its own transformation, to the chagrin of some.
Ms. Quinn, in her letter, recalled the outstanding violation against Mr. Chetrit that was issued after construction workers broke through a tenant’s ceiling.
“You must stop this blatant harassment of your tenants,” Quinn wrote. Read More
Did you ever uncover that your grandmother had numerous “favorite” grandchildren, or that your brother or sister was earning a bigger allowance?
If so, you might have felt like the city’s mayoral candidates as they come to realize that they might not be so special in the eyes of some real estate executives.
An article published in the New York Daily News shows that some real estate executives are throwing cash at more than one mayoral candidate in what critics believe is an attempt to butter up the next mayor – whoever it may be – to better suit their interests.
“Critics say it’s proof that some donors are not supporting a vision for the city — they just want a sympathetic ear from whoever wins,” the report stated. Read More
New Yorkers won’t elect their next mayor for another eight months, but contenders seem to have been jockeying for position in the race since the moment Mike Bloomberg was elected to his controversial third term in November of 2009.
For nearly as long, the real estate industry has been chiming in on a rotating lineup of presumed frontrunners—some of whom have since dropped out of the race and several of whom have yet to officially declare their candidacies—and pondering the future of development in a city whose current mayor has been notably kind to it.
Here, below, are six standouts of the current crop of likely mayoral hopefuls; their notable positions on residential and commercial real estate issues as culled from news clippings, pre-debate roundtables and voting records; and the amount of money the real estate industry has thrown their way as of last month, according to the New York Public Interest Research Group. Read More
Things could get rowdy when a consortium of elected officials including City Council Speaker Christine Quinn rallies near City Hall this afternoon to issue a report card to Joe Moinian’s The Moinian Group for alleged failings as a real estate developer and landlord.
The report card grades the developer – with letter grade “F” across the board – on tenant relations, safety, financial stability, vendor relations and the creation of good jobs.
“It’s going to be rowdy – we’re expecting hundreds of people,” said Jessica Ramos, a spokesperson for Build Up NYC, one of the groups spearheading the effort. “We want to create public support and awareness for them to be a responsible developer and build buildings with good jobs that actually help the economy.” Read More
City landlords are questioning the efficacy and enforceability of a proposed City Council bill that would land building owners in housing court for failing to make necessary repairs on properties.
If the bill passes, the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development would target landlords who make cosmetic repairs in lieu of underlying structural problems, hoping to turn properties over for a profit without addressing major issues.
Many landlords reacted favorably to the bill, though most believed the bill could be difficult to enforce. Read More
Can The Commercial Observer party at its own party? You bet! The CO got down at its annual Power 100 celebration, which honors its picks for the top 100 most powerful, influential and successful real estate figures in the city. Held at the Core Club in Midtown on Monday night, the gathering featured a collection of the most distinguished owners, brokers, executives and politicians. After the jump, a minute-by-minute color commentary on the city’s most powerful human beings. Read More
It is very obvious that we are approaching election season in New York, as the fundraisers and calls from local politicians are starting to come with greater frequency.
Given the budget deficits that New York is facing, both at the city and state level, one of the questions I always ask politicians looking for donations is what three specific line items in the city budget do they believe could withstand cutbacks. I have never received a straightforward answer to this question and most of the time the default position from the politician is, “We must work hard to eliminate waste, fraud and abuse.” Read More
If the computer’s don’t kill us, the taxes will.
The city’s Department of Finance began using a new formula along with new computational software last year to calculate taxes for the city’s vast swathes of co-operative housing stock last year. It resulted in huge new assessments for hundreds of buildings, according to The Journal, driving Read More
Happy birthday, Mother Teresa! If you were alive, you would be 100 years old—not that anyone’s counting. In fact, instead of talking about how you spent your life helping people in India, everyone is busy either celebrating you or protesting the fact that you’re not being celebrated. Right now, there’s a rally organized by the Read More
The folks at Extell Development are apparently fans of Christine Quinn.
Late last month, Lela Goren, a business partner of Extell’s who does extensive work with the company, held a fundraiser in the West Village for Council Speaker Christine Quinn that was attended by many executives from Extell. Ms. Quinn is eyeing a run for Read More
The Battle of Bulbs now has an aircraft carrier in the fight.
The U.S.S. Intrepid, docked permanently at Pier 86 off West 46th Street in Manhattan, announced Tuesday that its 900-foot flight-deck will be lighted blue and white on Aug. 26 in honor of what would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday.
It’s not the Read More
The Battle of the Bulbs continued on Saturday between City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Empire State Building owner Tony Malkin.
Ms. Quinn sent a letter to the real estate mogul blasting his support of her plan for New Yorkers to place battery-operated candlesticks in their windows on Aug. 26, Read More
On a leaden Thursday afternoon at City Hall, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn castigated Empire State Building owner Anthony Malkin for refusing to light his building blue and white in honor of what would have been Mother Teresa’s 100th birthday.
Ms. Quinn said she had spoken by phone with Mr. Malkin earlier in the afternoon to urge Read More
There was a less-than-subtle undertone to a Monday morning mayoral press conference in Chelsea.
Speaking in the wake of the City Council’s rejection of a proposed mall project in the Bronx, Mayor Bloomberg, side by side with Council Speaker Christine Quinn, emphasized “creating jobs;” of “progress” on development projects; of cooperation with the City Council.
On Read More
