Andrew Cuomo seems to be repeating the strategy he used to get elected governor in 2010. Rather than challenge the weakened Gov. David Paterson, he prepared his campaign and created a sense of inevitability while allowing the incumbent to self-destruct.
Paterson, who had unexpectedly succeeded Gov. Eliot Spitzer barely a week after the Ashley Dupré scandal broke, did exactly that. Paterson eventually chose not to run for election, and Cuomo cruised to victory.
Mayor Eric Adams has similarly self-destructed, first by filling his administration with unprofessional and self-service cronies, then by getting indicted, and finally by throwing himself at the feet of President Donald Trump. His scandals have largely replaced Cuomo’s in the public consciousness.
Cuomo could hardly have scripted a better narrative for himself if he’d ordered his own staff to write it (something he has done before). Now he can portray himself as the person to restore order.
“There’s a craving for someone to run the city,” said one real estate industry source. “There’s a sense that the city is not being run. Andrew speaks to that.”
The industry would likely embrace Cuomo’s candidacy, which is expected to be announced in the next two weeks. One sore point is his failure to stop the Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act of 2019, not to mention the bail reform law, but the source said the industry would not hold Cuomo’s stalling of 421a against him.
The crucial tax break for multifamily projects lapsed for 15 months when Cuomo dismissed a 2015 proposal by the Real Estate Board of New York and Mayor Bill de Blasio, ordering REBNY to negotiate with the construction unions instead.
Those talks went nowhere. “There was a lot of frustration,” the source recalled.
During a year-long stalemate, Cuomo came to realize that a resolution was needed to get apartment projects going again, and pushed the unions to reach terms. Eventually they did.
“[Developers] were fine with the way it landed,” the source said. “It was a program that people could build under.”
What we’re thinking about: Change is hard. Have you changed your mind about congestion pricing, bail reform, gay marriage, the Affordable Care Act, the millionaire’s tax, or any other policy after it was implemented? Send your thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Written testimony can be submitted within 72 hours of a City Council land-use hearing’s conclusion to landusetestimony@council.nyc.gov. Three properties are on the Land Use Committee’s agenda Wednesday.
Elsewhere…
One developer said it’s often overlooked that when the Rent Guidelines Board doesn’t allow rents to rise with expenses, it affects not just rent-stabilized buildings but also mixed-income housing (such as 421a projects) and subsidized housing.
“Affordable housing has to follow the same escalations [set by] the Rent Guidelines Board,” the developer told The Real Deal. “We have tons of affordable housing where if you raise rents 0 percent or 1 percent when inflation is 7 percent for insurance, water, and repairs, we can barely make the repairs we need to make.”
Over time, below-inflation rent increases wreck a property’s finances, he noted.
Of the buildings in the developer’s portfolio, he said, “A lot of them are pretty much underwater.”
Closing time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Tuesday was $14.65 million for a 4,163-square-foot co-op unit at 247 West 12th Street in the West Village. The Stein Team at Sotheby’s International Realty had the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $38 million for a 101,724-square-foot, 20-unit apartment building at 33 East 18th Street in Flatiron.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $11 million for a 3,860-square-foot condominium unit at 321 Greenwich Street in Tribeca. Peter Zaitzeff, Jared Freedman, and Samantha Germano of Serhant have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 99,066-square-foot, 12-story, 99-unit mixed-use project at 290 Wyckoff Street in Boerum Hill. Hamish Whitefield Architects filed the permit on behalf of Yitzchok Katz of Developing NY State.
— Matthew Elo