In one week, the mayor’s signature housing plan will be up for debate.
The City Council is hosting hearings on Monday and Tuesday on the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity. The first is for administration officials and the second is for members of the public to testify.
It will be a long two days.
Ahead of these hearings, a coalition led by the New York Housing Conference has launched a digital ad campaign to promote the text amendment.
Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, tells me this is her organization’s first-ever ad campaign of this kind. The initial cost is $25,000.
“We’re investing in this because we really think this is what New York City needs,” she said.
Yes to Housing Coalition members plan to testify during next week’s hearing and will be emphasizing the need to keep the proposal “intact as much as possible,” she said.
The proposal will almost certainly be altered; City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams has already said the text amendment does not go far enough. Council members will likely seek affordability mandates and subsidy commitments from City Hall. Whether parking mandates are eliminated or accessory dwelling units are legalized remains to be seen.
What we’re thinking about: What city office leases did Cushman & Wakefield broker Diana Boutross work on? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: During a City Planning Commission meeting on Tuesday, Commissioner Raju Mann asked how he and other commissioners should be thinking about reports on the city’s office leasing. He was referring to reports that state officials are investigating city office leases as part of a probe into possible bribery and money laundering.
On Wednesday, the commission will hold a hearing on a proposal to move the Administration for Children’s Services’ carpentry shop to Salmar Properties’ 850 Third Avenue, where the city’s Human Resources Administration and the Department of Finance already lease space.
Mann asked how the commission should consider this latest lease.
“It does raise concerns for me, making sure that we’re not complicit in anything that felt inappropriate or was inappropriate,” he said.
Commission Chair Dan Garodnick said the commission’s role is to consider whether the use of the land is appropriate, but noted that commissioners could ask Salmar representatives questions during the hearing.
The commission will also vote on the Department of Aging’s deal to take 80,000 square feet at Alexander Rovt’s 14 Wall Street.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Mayor Eric Adams has tapped Chauncey Parker as the new deputy mayor for public safety, Gothamist reports. Parker, who served as assistant deputy mayor for public safety, is replacing Philip Banks, who resigned last week.
— Buffalo Mayor Bryon Brown stepped down Tuesday to become president and chief executive of Western Regional Off-Track Betting, the Associated Press reports. He had been mayor since 2005.
— Gov Kathy Hochul showed support for Mayor Eric Adams on Monday, acknowledging that she pushed him to reorganize his administration following his indictment, Spectrum News reports. “The mayor has been very focused,” Hochul said. “We’ve been working very closely through this chaos and I had asked him to work to bring in new blood and new people to work to stabilize the city and calm it all down and he’s doing that.”
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Tuesday was $20 million for a 9,000-square-foot townhouse at 45 East 74th Street on the Upper East Side. The Carrie Chiang Team from The Corcoran Group had the listing.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $4.8 million for a 4,460-square-foot, mixed-use property at 977 Second Avenue in Turtle Bay.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $33.3 million for a 9,275-square-foot condominium at 20 West 53rd Street in Midtown. Charlie Attias of Compass has the listing. — Matthew Elo