City’s largest-ever residential conversion would add 1,500 market-rate apartments to
yB C. J. Hughes
e Financial District, home to a long list of planned residential conversions, may be hogging the spotlight when it comes to turning o ce towers into apartment buildings.
But the city’s largest-ever reinvention of a commercial property will actually be in Midtown,
Midtown
where the former two-building headquarters of pharmaceutical giant P zer, at 219 and 235 E. 42nd St., is poised to become a 1,500-unit rental complex.
And as Mayor Eric Adams drums up support for the City of Yes initiative, which would make such conversions easier and more widespread, the P zer project isn’t sitting idly by. Dem-
olition is set to begin in a few weeks, developers say.
As more developers and ocials express interest in o ce reinventions as a way to help stem the housing crisis, the P zer project, which has somewhat own under the radar, also serves as a showcase of just how much has to be taken into account, from windows to a ordable housing levels, to get such conversions o the ground.
“We’re not waiting for any changes in policy,” said Nathan
SUMMER BEGAN WITH a late-June heat wave in the city that pushed temperatures into the 90s for four days. Mayor Eric Adams and Gov. Kathy Hochul urged residents to seek shelter in cooling centers and libraries, with similar guidance sure to come as weather forecasts predict more 90-degree days in the of ng. Here, a city worker gets some relief from the heat thanks to a re hydrant. Read our coverage at crainsnewyork.com
Berman, the chief executive of project lead Metro Loft Developers, a proli c converter that once focused exclusively on Lower Manhattan, of the P zer work.
“And we may become an interesting case study for what the city and state are trying to do.”
Major makeover
A massive conversion would need a major footprint, which Nos. 219 and 235 have in spades. e two empty buildings that are now there contain an unusually voluminous 973,000 square feet of space, according to city records. And the sites, which are between Second and ird avenues, also come with unused air rights, which Metro Loft and partner David Werner Real Estate plan to utilize for new oors. Ultimately, Metro Loft and Werner will create more than 1,500 units, ranging from studios to three-bedrooms, which likely
Progressives suffer banner defeat but score local wins
Latimer dealt Bowman a loss, but Assembly races were a mixed bag in N.Y. primaries
yB Nick Garber
Progressives su ered a setback June 25 when George Latimer defeated Congressman Jamaal Bowman, but other results from New York’s Democratic primary elections presented more of a mixed bag for left-wing candidates across the city.
Latimer, the Westchester County executive, triumphed by more than 10 percentage points in a nationally watched contest in Westchester and the Bronx, which featured a record $25 million in advertising spending.
Much of that money came from pro-Israel groups supporting Latimer, and the race was seen in part as a referendum on Bowman’s ery criticisms of Israel’s war in Gaza.
But foreign a airs were less of a factor in scores of Assembly races across the city, where progressives had more success.
Claire Valdez, a candidate a liated with the Democratic Socialists of America, won a Western Queens primary to replace incumbent Juan Ardila, who was hobbled by accusations of sexual assault that he denied.
WORKFORCE
This nonpro t has a hack to break down barriers, diversify local tech companies
Incumbent progressive Assembly members fended o their own challengers in Brooklyn and Queens.
A small group of socialist lawmakers have had an outsize inuence in Albany in recent years, including by pushing successfully this year for a version of “good cause” eviction tenant protections. e results on June 25 dispelled the notion that DSA candidates might su er at the ballot box after the organization faced intense criticism last fall for endorsing a pro-Palestine rally in Times Square one day after Hamas’s attack on Israel.
Page 18 See PRIMARIES on Page 19
GOTHAM GIG FDNY’s new counseling chief wants to see re ghters ‘whole’ again PAGE 23
BUCK ENNIS
George Latimer (left) and Jamaal Bowman | ARTS WESTCHESTER/FLICKR, BLOOMBERG
See PFIZER on
Bronx sees brunt of affordable housing production as Lower Manhattan lags, according to studies
yB Eddie Small and Nick Garber
Distributing a ordable housing projects fairly throughout the ve boroughs and not building enough homes in general remain two glaring problems for the city, according to a pair of recently released studies.
e city produced 14,227 new units of a ordable housing last year overall, heavily concentrated in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, central Brooklyn and northern Manhattan, according to the New York Housing Conference’s third annual housing tracker report.
e study looks at the number of a ordable housing units by City Council district and shows a stark disparity between the top and bottom 10 districts. District 17, which covers South Bronx neighborhoods including Hunts Point and Longwood, produced the most units last year at 1,266, more than the bottom half of all council districts combined, the report says. District 21 in Queens, which includes the neighborhoods Corona and Elmhurst, came in second with 1,031 units. No district in the top 10 produced less than 600
Kathryn Wylde
The industries that drive New York – and the city itself – are at a major crossroads. What kind of city do we want to be? How will business drive the future of housing, work, health care, climate change, technology, arts and transportation in the Big Apple? Crain’s New York Business & Partnership for New York City will dive deep into the innovations, challenges and pivotal developments that will inspire the city’s reinvention over the next 50 years.
units last year.
“I couldn’t be prouder of what we’ve accomplished, ensuring these units are genuinely a ordable with historic area median income (AMI) levels,” said Councilman Francisco Moya, who represents District 21. “I will continue to advocate tirelessly for our community’s well-being.”
A representative for Councilman Christopher Marte, who represents District 1, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
Rachel Fee, executive director of the New York Housing Conference, said in a statement, “We can’t continue to let low-density neighborhoods o the hook from developing any a ordable housing.”
“New York needs to build more housing, both to address New Yorkers’ immediate existing needs and to spur future growth.”
Sean Campion, author and the director of housing and economic development studies for the budget commission
By contrast, District 1, covering Lower Manhattan neighborhoods such as Tribeca and the Financial District, produced no a ordable housing at all last year, nor did District 5, which includes portions of Midtown East and the Upper East Side. e highest number of units produced by a district in the bottom 10 was six.
Councilwoman Julie Menin, who represents District 5, released a statement highlighting her support of an Upper East Side project with 146 a ordable housing units as part of the East 94th Street rezoning earlier this year in response to the report.
“Increasing a ordable housing in New York City is of critical importance and a top priority for me and my colleagues as the shortage of available housing units has contributed to an a ordability crisis a ecting all New Yorkers,” she said.
She added that the housing tracker report highlights why City of Yes zoning reforms are crucial to making the city more a ordable.
City of Yes is the major housing push from Mayor Eric Adams’ administration. It aims to build “a little more housing in every neighborhood” through zoning changes such as eliminating parking space requirements for new developments and legalizing small backyard and garage apartments.
e City Council has also attempted to address this type of disparity through its fair housing framework, which Adams signed into law in December. It creates ve-year production targets for each of the 59 community districts in the city but does not include any enforcement mechanism, which could sharply limit its impact.
e overall number of a ordable homes built in 2023 was the highest for the city in recent decades, and more than half were constructed using the now-expired 421-a affordable housing tax bene t, according to the report. e state replaced that program with a new tax break, 485-x, in this year’s budget, although many in the real estate industry have criticized it for not being as e ective as 421-a.
A separate report released
June 27 focused on the economic costs of New York City’s decades-long trend of underbuilding housing.
The city loses $1.9 billion
e city loses out on as much as $1.9 billion in tax revenue each year as a consequence of its undersupply, according to the study by the Citizens Budget Commission. e watchdog group based that metric on previous studies that found underbuilding reduces the national gross domestic product by 2% each year.
e a ordability crisis has contributed to a well-documented pattern of outmigration, with a net 160,000 people departing the city in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. at population loss cost the city about $309 million in income and sales tax revenue in 2022, according to the budget commission’s estimates, which reects the fact that higher-income households—ones that make
more than $109,000 per year— were more likely to leave.
And the housing shortage has taken a toll on the day-to-day quality of life of city residents. New Yorkers move less frequently than other Americans. According to the census, the city’s turnover rate for rental units is 41% lower than the national average, limiting options for people searching for new homes. It also contributes to poor living conditions, the CBC report says, with 25% of city households considered overcrowded, de ned by the census as having at least 1.5 people per room. ( at rate is double the national average for renters.)
“New York needs to build more housing, both to address New Yorkers’ immediate existing needs and to spur future growth,” wrote Sean Campion, the report’s author and the director of housing and economic development studies for the budget commission. “ e past underproduction failure results in New York not meeting the need nor capitalizing on its potential.”
Aaron Elstein
e owner of 9 Times Square has agreed to sell the o ce building for 60% less than it paid 10 years ago.
American Strategic Investment Co. said June 26 that an unidentied party entered into a letter of intent to buy the 21-story, 170,000 square-foot tower for $63.5 million — $100 million less than the company paid in 2014.
9 Times Square, also known as 200 West 41st St., is a Class B building developed in 1926 at the southwest corner of Seventh Avenue. It is 30% vacant, according to
a regulatory ling. Tenants include I Love NY Gifts on the ground oor.
Once known as New York City REIT, American Strategic Investment a decade ago amassed a portfolio of 1.2 million square feet of o ce and residential space in New York, much of it in older buildings that are now out of favor with commercial tenants. e publicly traded company has nearly $700 million in real estate assets but just a $24 million market capitalization, meaning investors have almost no con dence management can extract value from the portfolio assembled in
better times. e sale of 9 Times Square is no sure thing. American Strategic Investment has agreed to a term sheet but not a de nitive purchase agreement. at means the buyer could still back out.
In a statement, CEO Michael Anderson said the sale of 9 Times Square should produce $13.5 million in net proceeds and will strengthen the rm’s balance if the transaction is completed. 9 Times Square carries a $50 million mortgage written by Capital One Bank, which has modi ed the loan twice, according to a quarterly ling. e rm is also trying to sell its 550,000 square-foot o ce building at 123 William St. and a condominium at 196 Orchard St. Other holdings include a parking garage in the Upper West Side condo complex formerly called Trump Place and a 250,000-square-foot
o ce tower at 1140 Sixth Ave., which is 23% empty. Cornell University’s medical school is moving out of 30,000 square feet of lab space at 400 E. 67th St. American Strategic Investment had a $2.9
A rendering of phase two of The Peninsula, a massive affordable housing project in Hunts Point. | WXY STUDIOS
This nonpro t has a hack to break down barriers, diversify New York’s tech companies
A Boston-based nonpro t determined to break down hiring barriers and expand access for diverse early career tech workers has brought its ambitious fellowship program to New York.
Hack.Diversity was founded well before corporate diversity, equity and inclusion efforts received a shot in the arm in 2020. e nonpro t launched in 2016 at the hands of Jody Rose, president of the New England Venture Capital Association, and Je Bussgang, a general partner at Massachusetts-based Flybridge Capital.
e vision: partner with big-name tech employers to bridge the gap between corporate America and early career Black and Latinx workers. To do that, they created a nine-month fellowship program connecting aspiring technologists to their rst internship in tech. Since the launch, the program has paired more than 500 fellows with 50-plus tech-focused host companies. In 2023, the average pay for Hack interns was $37 per hour.
e program was initially focused on the Massachusetts market but expanded to New York last year. Hack’s pilot New York cohort was made up of 15 software engi-
neering fellows, nearly 90% of whom were either Black or Latinx.
Past Hack fellows told Crain’s New York the training element of the program was among the most fruitful. Tilon Bobb, for example, was a member of the 2023 Hack New York cohort. He had studied computer science at Brooklyn College and was well equipped to enter the workforce from a technical perspective, but he felt the skills he learned in school did not fully set him up for the practical aspect of nding a job in tech after graduation.
ceived professional development training and industry exposure that ultimately landed him an internship at food-tech rm ezCater. “ ey broke it down to a science so that you can be as successful as possible with these interviews.”
“College prepares you for the theoretical aspect of computer science, but not the realistic approach of getting into these careers as a software engineer or web developer.”
Tilon Bobb, member of the 2023 Hack New York cohort
“College prepares you for the theoretical aspect of computer science, but not the realistic approach of getting into these careers as a software engineer or web developer,” he said. “I was the rst person in my family to even pursue this kind of career. ere was no roadmap.”
en he found Hack. As a fellow, he re-
Hack estimates it raises about $2 million in individual contributions and grants each year, its biggest donors being the Barr Foundation, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Clara Wu Tsai Social Justice Fund, Schooner Foundation and the Linde Family Foundation. is year, Hack received more than 1,000 applicants, about 100 of whom were admitted to the program. e New York-speci c cohort welcomed 17 fellows.
As 2024 fellows now enter the summer months, they have already gone through extensive Hack workplace training programs and are beginning internships at about 25 host companies, including rms
the likes of AWS, Bain & Company, Liberty Mutual Insurance, Moderna, Wayfair and more.
e program is also adding more New York companies to its partnership list. is year, Midtown-based data platform provider MongoDB joined the cohort of host companies, as did media giant Bloomberg.
A two-pronged approach to breaking barriers
As for what Hack adds to the hiring process, the 18-employee team looks under the hood of DEI initiatives to identify and alleviate the systemic handcu s hindering longterm diversity successes. In their eyes, rms may be hiring diverse talent, but they are doing it without rst implementing the structures necessary for early-career employees to actually succeed.
e challenges, as they see it, are twofold. Inhibitors to long term success lay both on the side of the employer and the employee. Hack’s solutions, therefore, are twofold, too.
First, the nonpro t works with host companies to reimagine their approach to
Michelle De La Isla, CEO (left), and Angela Liu, chief strategy of cer (standing), of Hack.Diversity, a Boston-based nonpro t that has expanded to New York. Also pictured are 2023 fellows Tilon Bobb and Xica Felix (right) | BUCK ENNIS
yB Jack Grieve
Former ‘Village Voice’ publisher Peter Barbey lists penthouse in Greenwich Village for $32 million
Billionaire apparel mogul owned the storied alternative newspaper from 2015 to 2020
yB C. J. Hughes
No Village Voice, no Village home.
Peter Barbey, a billionaire apparel mogul who led a failed e ort to revive the storied Village Voice newspaper in the mid-2010s, is looking to say goodbye to the neighborhood in the publication’s name.
paid the asking price or more have hardly been a sure thing.
$32M
Listing
Barbey has listed his 4,000-square-foot duplex condo at 140 W. 12th St., No. PH8, in Greenwich Village for $32 million, according to an ad that appeared last month.
e holder of a major stake in VF Corp., a clothing and luggage
VF Corp. brands include Timberland, Eastpak and Supreme and has a market capitalization of around $6 billion.
conglomerate founded by his family in the 19th century whose products include Vans sneakers, JanSport backpacks and SmartWool socks, paid $26 million for the four-bedroom home in 2015, according to the city register. At that valuation, Barbey could nab a more than 20% pro t, though high-end sales for which the buyer
e same year Barbey snapped up the penthouse, which comes with a storage unit, a parking space for a “large SUV” and 3,100 square feet of terraces in a building near Seventh Avenue, he also purchased the Voice with plans to inject new life into the struggling, decades-old publication.
for
Barbey was no stranger to periodicals. His great-great-grandfather and great-great-uncle founded the Reading Eagle of Reading, Pennsylvania—an English language reboot of an existing German paper—in 1868. Barbey served as CEO of the Eagle’s parent company at the time. But after cycling through three editors-in-chief in three years at the Voice amid a harsh ad sales climate, Barbey in 2017 reduced the alternative weekly to a digital-only o ering and a year later pulled the plug on its website, ending a prize-winning 63-year run.
e Eagle ran into nancial problems too, and in 2019 Barbey led for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for the paper, which MediaNews Group, a newspaper publisher and an a liate of hedge fund Alden Global Capital, later grabbed for $5 million.
Founded in 1955 by a group that included author Norman Mailer,
the Voice didn’t stay dead for long. In 2020 Street Media, the publisher of L.A. Weekly, bought the publication from Barbey’s Black Walnut Holdings for undisclosed terms and resumed publishing stories on its website and in print in 2021.
Wealthy family
Hailing from one of the country’s wealthiest families, Barbey and his relatives control a nearly 20% stake in VF Corp., which John Barbey founded in Reading in 1899 as a gloves and mittens manufacturer. e company, which today is based in Denver and whose brands also
A 20-story hotel that gentri ed the Lower East Side faces default
yB Aaron Elstein
e 20-story Hotel on Rivington is struggling 20 years after the glass tower transformed the Lower East Side’s bohemian streetscape. Business hasn’t recovered since the pandemic faded away, and some guests on review sites complain the hotel is showing its age. More worrisome, the 109-room boutique hotel isn’t generating enough cash to cover its expenses and interest payments, Fitch Ratings said in a report last month. Debt investors are facing an $8 million loss on a $35 million mortgage that matures in two years.
“ e hotel continues to underperform,” Fitch said, and warned of an “increased probability of default.” Rivington owner Paul Stallings could not be reached for comment.
e Rivington’s opening in 2004
marked the beginning of gentrication for the three-by-three grid of blocks south of Houston Street that’s been chock full of mobbed bars and clubs for years. Yet in spite of that location — or maybe because of it — the Rivington has struggled. In 2015 it had lower occupancy and lower room rates than other downtown boutique hotels, such as the Soho Grand or the Ludlow, according to bond-rater KBRA.
Agreeing to split
In 2018 Stallings agreed to sell the hotel to the Kushner family for $65 million, but the deal never closed and both sides sued. e parties settled by agreeing to split the Kushners’ $2 million down payment, an attorney for Stallings, Michael Stepper, told Crain’s Since the pandemic, the Rivington has struggled to lure back
guests. Occupancy last year was just 57%, well below the 84% rate enjoyed by competitors, according to KBRA, and revenue per available room was 40% lower.
e city Department of Finance estimates the building’s market value has fallen by 45% in the past decade, to $19 million.
Recent guests praise the Rivington’s views and sta but some say on TripAdvisor the hotel needs freshening up. One said the elevator was “completely shabby” and light switches in the bathroom took multiple presses to work. e hotel replied that it is working on a “new concept” for rooms.
Fitch said a renovation “was planned” to reposition the Rivington as a ve-star hotel and redesign the restaurant, rooftop, night club and guest rooms.
“ e borrower has not provided updates regarding the renovation,” Fitch said.
include Timberland, Eastpak and Supreme, has a market capitalization of around $6 billion.
Publicly traded since 1951, VF had a stock price of about $15 June 21, well below its prepandemic price of close to $90 a share.
Barbey’s West 12th Street penthouse, which is part of a large condo complex called e Greenwich Lane that Rudin Management developed on the site of St.
Vincent’s Hospital, was reportedly his rst-ever home in New York City.
Richard Ziegelasch, the Corcoran Group broker handling Barbey’s listing, declined to comment.
price
No. PH8 at 140 W. 12th St.
140 W. 12th St., Greenwich Village | CORCORAN GROUP
Hotel on Rivington | COSTAR
Brad Lander’s scheming shows Eric Adams’ weakness
The city comptroller’s possible plans to join the mayoral race next year mainly show how far the mayor has fallen since taking of ce
Is another Democrat about to run against Mayor Eric Adams?
Reports indicate that Brad Lander, the city comptroller, is strongly considering taking on Adams in the Democratic primary next year. Lander has reportedly told donors he’s interested in a mayoral bid, and he’s retained top pollsters and consultants to guide him. For now, he’s mum, but this kind of news suggests he’s serious.
If Lander opens an exploratory committee, he will join two other Democrats, Scott Stringer and Zellnor Myrie, in taking a pivotal step toward running. Jumping in would be risky for Lander because he’d have to give up a second term as city comptroller to try his hand at beating Adams.
poll since 1996. His administration has been bu eted by scandal and federal investigators continue to probe him and his allies. Eric Ulrich, his ex-Buildings commissioner, has already been indicted on corruption charges. Many in politics are waiting to see if Adams himself faces charges soon.
But the fact that Lander might be willing to do it — and enter what would be a bitter, racially polarized primary against the city’s second Black mayor — speaks to how little political capital Adams has left.
Polling has been relatively sparse, but Adams late last year notched the lowest approval rating by any mayor in a Quinnipiac
Beyond the corruption clouds, Adams has struggled to retain talented sta and manage the municipal government. He lost a police commissioner and his housing czar. Little in the way of ambitious policy gets done, and he has failed, unlike his predecessors, to formulate a coherent governing vision for the city. e exception might be his “City of Yes” rezoning proposal, largely being overseen by Dan Garodnick, the head of the Department of City Planning. Progressives, moderates and conservatives have all found reasons to dislike Adams.
Could Adams actually lose? e short answer is yes, even if it’s historically di cult to oust an incumbent mayor. Adams only managed to win the 2021 Democratic primary by fewer than
10,000 votes. Kathryn Garcia almost became mayor, and a large swath of the city also voted for Maya Wiley, the leading progressive candidate.
Underrated political talent
Lander, as a white progressive from Park Slope, can’t compete with Adams in the working-class Black and Latino neighborhoods of Brooklyn, Queens and the Bronx. He can’t out ank Adams with more conservative Asian voters or Orthodox Jews. Adams will be happy to deride Lander as an a uent, out-of-touch liberal from one of the city’s most expensive neighborhoods.
But Lander’s own brownstone Brooklyn base is vote-rich. Just as Adams can throttle him in central Brooklyn or Southeast Queens, Lander could run up huge margins in northern Brooklyn, western Queens and large parts of Manhattan. Lander beat a tough primary opponent in then-Council Speaker Corey Johnson to win his 2021 comptroller primary, and he’s an underrated political talent, able to forge coalitions among activist groups, labor unions and community organizations.
To win, Lander would need to pull large parts of Garcia and Wiley’s coalitions — something that is plausible if he wins endorsements from the New York Times editorial board, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and the Working Families Party. His overt progressivism could alienate moderates, but he’d also be well-positioned to make a technocratic pitch to voters: He is a genuine policy wonk who would take management of the municipal government seriously.
Lander o ers less potential excitement than Myrie, a Brooklyn state senator who is just 37 and could make history as the city’s rst Afro-Latino mayor. He might be less of a political brawler than Stringer, who has survived several tough primaries and can pull plenty of votes from his old West Side base. Ranked-choice voting makes this all less zero-sum: e antiAdams voters can put Stringer, Myrie and Lander on their ballots.
O ice-to-residential conversions getting more feasible, less fanciful
Iwill admit to being a major skeptic of o ce-to-residential conversions when the idea rst gained prominence right after the pandemic began. It just seemed like one of those concepts that was too perfect and simple in theory to work in practice.
Yes, the city is facing a huge surplus of o ces and a major shortage of housing, but the idea that you could get rid of both problems in one fell swoop by turning empty o ces into rentable apartments glossed over issues ranging from construction costs to where in the city people want to live. It seemed like the kind of idea political leaders would latch onto because it sounds exciting, not because it would actually solve a core problem. ink of it like, say, trying to deal with the region’s transportation issues by
proposing a fancy streetcar running along the Brooklyn-Queens waterfront.
e concept still seems unlikely to be a complete x for the city's housing woes, especially given the problems they have faced elsewhere. During a panel discussion at the National Association of Real Estate Editors annual conference, Southern and West Coast developers and architects said that turning o ce buildings into residential ones tends to cost more than demolishing an o ce building and starting over, making the idea fairly impractical. It has reached the point where they are now more focused on converting malls, which predate o ces as real estate’s problem child by several years.
But New York exceptionalism already exists on issues ranging
from pizza quality to bagel quality to pizza bagel quality, so why not add o ce-to-residential conversions to the list? anks to an incentive program in this year's state budget and a general eagerness among developers to get on board, conversions are starting to look much likelier now than in 2020 to at least make a dent in the city's twin housing and o ce-vacancy crises. And they can’t start a moment too soon.
Bigger tax break
e housing deal in this year’s state budget was the type of compromise that left basically everyone dissatis ed, but the o ce-toresidential conversion tax incentive was one of the few elements real estate organizations praised. SL Green CEO Marc Holliday said shortly after the state reached its budget deal that his rm would be one of the rst to take advan-
tage of the program by converting 750 ird Ave. into a residential building, while development giants including Silverstein Properties and GFP Real Estate had conversion plans in store well before the incentive program became law. And even skeptics of the program aren’t necessarily skipping out on giving conversions a try, as developer Nathan Berman’s plan to turn Midtown’s former P zer headquarters into apartments shows. is enthusiasm is a particularly stark contrast to the industry's reaction to the budget's other supposed boon to developers, a replacement program for the expired a ordable housing tax break 421-a. e responses here have ranged from mild criticism to project cancellation. Developers are not known for holding their tongues on government policies, and the response so far to the conversion incentive
Lander must be taken seriously because he can go toe-to-toe with Adams in fundraising — with public matching funds, he was able to spend more than $5 million on his 2021 race — and he’s very wellknown in the college-educated stretches of Brooklyn that he represented in the City Council for 12 years. Adams might be able to counter with super-PAC spending, especially if real estate developers and powerful nanciers like Steve Cohen decide Lander is too liberal to govern the city.
e wild card here remains Andrew Cuomo, the disgraced former governor. Cuomo is very hungry to get back in the game. He’s been visiting Black and Latino churches, penning op-eds and hoping for redemption. He’s a formidable contender if he gets in. Whether formidability is enough to actually win is another story entirely.
Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.
of ce-to-residential conversion.
bodes well for the level of interest in it. e fact that companies get bigger tax breaks the earlier they start gives them another reason to launch these projects sooner rather than later.
A handful of six- gure leases have led to a few relatively strong months for the city's o ce market, but Manhattan is still grappling with close to 100 million square feet of available o ce space. Residential conversions won’t take care of all of this. ey probably won’t even take care of most of it. But now that we've moved on from the "wouldn't it be cool" phase and into the "here's what type of tax policy will make it feasible" phase, the concept is looking a lot more realistic than it once did.
Ross Barkan
City Comptroller Brad Lander (left) may surrender his seat to challenge Mayor Eric Adams, a sign of how little political capital the mayor has left, writes columnist Ross Barkan. | AYMAN SIAM/OFFICE OF NYC COMPTROLLER; ED REED/MAYORAL PHOTOGRAPHY OFFICE
Eddie Small
750 Third Ave., where SL Green is planning a major
Home of one of Tribeca’s last dive bars changes hands
yB Julianne Cuba
e building that houses an old-school dive bar in Tribeca — one of the last remaining in the ritzy neighborhood — has been sold to a private entity whose owner isn’t known, records show. Plans for the local haunt are also a mystery.
Limited liability company Tribeca Portfolio acquired a pair of commercial buildings on Lispenard Street — 1 and 5 — for $7.9 million from longtime owners the Matera Family, according to a deed that appeared in the city register on June 24. e address 1 Lispenard St. is currently home to the popular watering hole Nancy Whiskey Pub, which has been pouring cheap drinks at the cor-
“Fingers crossed the bar will stay open.”
ner where West Broadway and Sixth Avenue meet since 1967 and is now known for its jukebox and shu eboard setup.
e bar’s owner told Crain’s on June 25 that she’s in negotiations with the building’s new owner but declined to comment further.
“Fingers crossed the bar will stay open,” said Melissa White.
A now-deceased member of the Matera family, John Matera, bought the two buildings, including the already-established bar, in the 1960s and ’70s for an unknown price, records show, and ownership was later transferred to an entity called Matera Family Limited Partnership, with an address on Staten Island. John Matera's son, Peter, died last September, the local paper, Tribeca Citizen, reported at the time. Attempts to reach the family and those who control its trust were unsuccessful.
Mysterious entity
As for the mysterious entity that acquired the properties, the address associated with the company is the sixth oor of 767 Fifth Ave., known as the GM Building, which was previously the o ce of omas Lee and his eponymous nancial rm. Lee was found dead there last February, and his death was ruled a suicide, Crain’s reported at the time.
It’s unclear who, if anyone, occupies that space now. Attempts to reach Lee’s rm were unsuccessful; the phone number associated with it is no longer active. And real estate investment rm
Boston Properties, which owns the Fifth Avenue GM Building, did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
On the same day the buyer scooped up the Lispenard properties, Manhattan-based private equity rm Urban Standard Capital acquired two nearby buildings
on Church Street, 321 and 325, for what appears to be $1 million each through two separate limited liability companies named after the addresses, city records show. Seth Weissman, the founder and president of Urban Standard, signed the deeds himself.
Weissman’s o ces, however,
are in the Woolworth building on Broadway, but the address listed for both of the private entities he used to buy the Church Street properties is also oddly at 767 Fifth Ave. on the sixth oor. e relationship between the two is unclear. Weissman did not respond to a request for comment.
Melissa White, the owner of Nancy Whiskey Pub
Nancy Whiskey Pub at 1 Lispenard St. was sold to a private entity. | GOOGLE STREET VIEW
Every neighborhood must do its part to create more affordable housing
There are some sentiments that New Yorkers consider to be universal truths: We have the best pizza. And we need more places to live that are actually a ordable.
But even as residents feel comfortable saying these things, not everyone truly stands by them. at’s how you end up with New Yorkers ocking to New Haven, Connecticut, for a slice and elected o cials presiding over areas that are doing very little to help address the housing crisis.
A recent study highlights the latter point. e New York Housing Conference’s third annual housing tracker report looked at the number of a ordable units created in each City Council district last year and showed a major disparity between the top and bottom 10 districts, as reporters Nick Garber and Eddie Small wrote in a recent article. e report found that the city produced 14,227 new units of a ordable housing last year overall, heavily concentrated in neighborhoods such as the South Bronx, central Brooklyn and northern Manhattan.
District 17, which covers South Bronx
neighborhoods including Hunts Point, produced the most last year at 1,266, the report says, and District 21 in Queens, which includes Elmhurst, came in second with 1,031. On the other end of the spectrum, however, District 1, covering Lower Manhattan neighborhoods such as Tribeca and the Financial District, produced no a ordable housing at all last year. Neither did District 5, which includes portions of Midtown East and the Upper East Side.
Allow increased diversity
e city is stronger if all neighborhoods have more mixed-income housing, allowing for increased diversity when it comes to who can a ord to live and work here. Accomplishing this takes political buy-in and every part of the city to pitch in, which the numbers show just isn’t happening. And even though some a uent neighborhoods are seemingly ne with the status quo, their elected leaders can’t just rely on feel-good talking points; they must ensure a ordable housing comes to their districts, too.
able homes built in 2023 was the highest for the city in recent decades. But how much more would there have been if every district — yes, even the a uent ones — did their part?
Another truth is that if people can’t nd a place to live in New York, they will move away.
A separate report released June 27 by the Citizens Budget Commission found that the city loses as much as $1.9 billion in tax revenue each year due to its undersupply of housing. e a ordability crisis has contributed to a pattern of outmigration, with a net 160,000 people departing the city in 2022, according to the Census Bureau. at population loss cost the city about $309 million in income and sales tax revenue in 2022, according to the CBC’s estimates, and higher-income households — ones that make more than $109,000 per year — were more likely to leave.
To be fair, the overall number of a ord-
Mott Haven and Washington Heights
can’t single-handedly solve the housing crisis. Nor should the e ort be shouldered by neighborhoods far from central business districts and good transit options. More a uent enclaves such as Tribeca and the Upper East Side will need to chip in as well. Universal agreement that more homes, especially a ordable ones, are needed doesn’t get shovels in the ground. Community leaders must talk the talk and walk the walk.
New legislation on third-party food delivery services will help Bronx small businesses reach more customers
Small restaurants are a re ection of the Bronx communities they serve and a chance to share the unique tastes of their culture with customers old and new alike. However, for many small restaurants, navigating rising costs and constantly shifting rules for operating their business can be overwhelming and dicult to sustain.
at’s why we’re encouraged by new legislation that would give restaurants choice when it comes to what’s best for their business, providing relief from overregulation and expanding access to important resources that allow them to compete and expand their reach in a tough city like New York — and we hope the City Council will join in our support. We regularly hear from restaurants that they’re looking for any way to get ahead. One important way has been using third-party delivery apps, which have offered a way for these restaurant owners — whether new up-and-comers or decadesold favorites — to connect with customers. Local restaurants have made the most of user-friendly platforms like DoorDash, Grubhub, or Uber Eats, taking full advantage of the tools and resources they pro-
vide to serve their customers and grow their businesses.
But despite the important role these services play for thousands of restaurants, New York City has continued to maintain pandemic-era regulations that hinder their ability to maximize their impact. We see third-party delivery apps as no di erent from any other operational or marketing tool, whether it’s an advertising tool or a payment platform. at is why we support Int 0762-2024, the proposed legislation in the City Council that would o er a longterm solution for how restaurants can work with these platforms. It would allow businesses to select the products and services that best support their needs at any moment. Opponents of this bill have argued that this amendment would just allow delivery companies to charge restaurants more for marketing services, but that claim fundamentally misses the point of this bill. is amendment strikes the right balance for small businesses because it empowers restaurant owners to make decisions that are best for their own businesses by ensuring that platforms maintain low-cost options that still provide exceptional services
to local restaurants and unparalleled access to thousands of customers across New York City. ese low-cost options still provide restaurants with signi cant value in terms of reaching new customers, it’s just a matter of if businesses want to take that value even further.
e fact of the matter is, it’s not about marketing at all. It’s about choice.
We know this because we work with small businesses every day. Consider if a successful local restaurant opens a second location and is eager to rapidly reach new customers to support their expansion. For many customers, delivery apps are now one of the best ways to nd new restaurants that may not be in your immediate neighborhood, so what is the bene t to limiting a restaurant’s ability to market themselves at a time that may be critical to their success. We need to be advocating for small businesses to have every tool at their disposal.
stays in place unchanged, they would be forced to reduce service levels, raise customer costs, or take other actions that will inevitably lead to fewer orders being placed for local restaurants. at’s not a viable option for local businesses.
is is not a matter of either adopting the proposed amendments or simply maintaining the status quo; the current status quo is simply unsustainable. e platforms have made clear that if the law
For these reasons, we encourage members of the business community to join us in supporting Int 0762-2024, rather than simply letting the unsustainable status quo stand. Delivery provides a crucial service in the modern economy and every business deserves the right to decide what is best for their own needs.
Lisa Sorin is president of the New Bronx Chamber of Commerce.
The city maintains pandemic-era regulations that hinder restaurant owners’ ability to maximize their impact, writes New Bronx Chamber of Commerce President Lisa Sorin. | BLOOMBERG
PERSONAL
VIEW
State’s missed climate solution is a clean fuel standard
New Yorkers are all too familiar with the costs of air and climate pollution.
As one of the busiest transit hubs in the world, our state sees over 2,000 premature deaths annually due to air pollution from vehicles alone. Meanwhile, these emissions also contribute to the climate crisis we increasingly experience in the form of torrential ooding, dystopic orange skies, and extreme storms.
Transportation is one of New York’s leading sources of carbon emissions. To truly lead the nation in the ght against climate change, we must start here. But this year, the Assembly missed a crucial opportunity to immediately slash tailpipe emissions and simultaneously accelerate the transition to electric vehicles (EVs) by failing to establish a Clean Fuel Standard (CFS) in New York.
track charging station construction, and the transition to electric school buses.
We know that EVs and the deployment of related charging infrastructure will play a pivotal role in curbing transportation emissions and ensuring a healthier environment for future generations, o ering a much cleaner and more sustainable alternative to traditional gasoline-powered cars that emit nearly 400g of CO2 per mile. at’s why New York has put forward ambitious electri cation goals and measures, such as the phase-out of sales of fossil-powered vehicles, the Advanced Clean Truck Rule, e orts to fast-
PERSONAL VIEW
But, even with these measures, under the scoping plan’s most aggressive electrication scenario, 50% of heavy-duty vehicles on the road in 2050 will still rely on a liquid fuel. New Yorkers cannot a ord the decades it will take to fully transition our vehicle eet to EVs to start breathing cleaner air. Moreover, the transition to electric will not happen overnight. e costs associated with the transition to electri cation, including grid upgrades, vehicle adoption, and installation of high powered fast charging, come with a price tag that government incentives alone cannot feasibly cover. To fully transition to EVs, we need additional funding sources to meaningfully cut costs and make these vehicles and the charging networks that power them more a ordable to the average New Yorker.
is is where a CFS comes in. Under a CFS, all transportation fuels produced in or imported to a state — including electricity — are assessed on a carbon intensity scale that measures the full life-cycle emissions of each fuel. Fuels more polluting than the standard (such as gasoline and diesel) generate de cits, while sources cleaner than the standard (such as biodiesel and electricity) generate credits.
e pollution standard is reduced steadily each year, which creates a growing market for clean fuels. Credits from a CFS would help decrease the costs of building EV charging networks and can be especially helpful in managing the costs of fast charging infrastructure given their higher cost of deployment and installation.
For example, California — the rst state to implement a CFS — directs a portion of CFS credit to entities that install EV charging infrastructure, either through fuel-based crediting or capacity credits, which helps bring down the cost of charging infrastructure they purchase and reinvest credits they receive into more charging infrastructure.
As a national leader in the ght against climate change, New York should be following in California’s footsteps to establish a CFS that will e ectively create a market for cleaner liquid fuels to power the combustion engine cars and trucks already on our roads while reducing the cost barriers standing in the way of widespread EV adoption. But unfortunately, this year, the Assembly ultimately failed to pass legislation that would have established a CFS (Woerner A964A) despite its Senate counterpart (Parker S1292A) passing with overwhelming support.
e more we delay common-sense, low-cost solutions to immediately provide cleaner air, reduce greenhouse gas emissions, and get more EVs on New York roads, the more challenging it will become
for our sate to achieve the ambitious climate goals set forth by the Climate Leadership and Community Protection Act (CLCPA) and ensure a cleaner, more sustainable future for all New Yorkers. ere is no time left to waste. e success we’ve seen in California is a testament to how a CFS can propel New York into a clean, electric future and bring costs down to ensure that anyone can purchase an EV and have access to charging, not just the wealthy — all while relying on the deep pockets of fossil fuel producers and other corporate polluters to foot the bill.
As we look ahead to 2025, we must prioritize establishing a CFS that will clean up the vehicles on our roads today and ensure that the ones on our roads tomorrow will have equitable access to charging infrastructure. e state might’ve missed the chance to act today, but there is still hope for tomorrow. Let’s make it happen.
Electric school buses are right choice for kids’ health
There’s nothing more powerful than a young person exploring their own potential. But for students to perform at their highest level, they need to be given the right conditions for learning which, without a doubt, include a healthy learning environment. As a nurse for over 25 years and currently as nursing faculty in academia, I have a vested interest in the health of students and the population as a whole.
With that in mind, I was thrilled when I heard the news that voters in the overwhelming majority of districts where electric school buses were on the ballot chose to move ahead with electric school bus procurements. ese results show clearly that voters understand the importance of the state legislature’s historic decision to transition the entire state school bus eet to zero-emission buses by the year 2035.
As a mom of four kids, I see this as critical legislation that has an immense impact on the health of our communities.
fumes. Diesel exhaust, a known carcinogen according to the World Health Organization, puts kids at increased risk for serious conditions like asthma — the leading cause of chronic disease-related school absenteeism in the United States. It’s also linked to negative cognitive development impacts, endangering students’ academic progress.
Jessica Varghese is a registered nurse, a fellow with the Alliance of Nurses for Health Environments and an assistant professor of nursing at New York Institute of Technology.
Today, the vast majority of the school buses in New York run on diesel fuel. Given the negative health impacts that diesel exhaust exposure has on our children, it haunts me to think of them sitting in tra c, forced to breathe toxic
And the dangers of diesel exhaust aren’t felt equally. Students from Black households, low-income students and students with disabilities are all more likely to ride the school bus than their counterparts, meaning more exposure to diesel fumes. ey also live closest to high truck tra c areas and highways and bear the disproportionate burden. By switching to zero-emission electric buses, we can promise a healthy ride to school for students who need it most. ere are widespread public health impacts to clean school bus standards. For example, more electric vehicles have been shown to help reduce asthma rates.
Luckily, there are exciting opportunities available to help New York districts fund their electric school bus journeys. e EPA’s Clean School Bus Program (CSBP), established by the Bipartisan Infrastruc-
ture Law of 2021, designates $5 billion to replace diesel-burning school buses in communities across the country. In fact, New York districts have received more than $214 million in federal funding for electric school buses through the CSBP — including $95 million in funding awarded last month, helping to bring hundreds of electric school buses to students across the state.
And the state is working hard to complement federal funding to make the transition as smooth as possible for school districts. e N.Y. School Bus Incentive Program, for instance, is now open for applications, o ering $500 million for school districts on a rst-come, rst-served basis (so make sure your district knows as soon as possible!) to invest in zero-emission school buses and accompanying charging infrastructure. is funding can be used together with federal CSBP funding to cover the cost di erence between an electric bus and a diesel school bus. Additionally, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) continues to develop free resources and trainings covering all things electric school buses and charging.
We’ve already seen great momentum
for electric school buses, with thousands already on the road across the country, and New York is leading the way thanks to decisive state action. Electric school buses have been proven to work in widely di erent climates, from the cold winters of Michigan to the intensely hot summers of Arizona, as well as on di cult terrain like the mountains of North Carolina. ey’re more than ready to take on New York’s diverse geography.
As with any transition to a new technology, the transformation of our state’s school bus eet will take work. But that work starts to feel more doable when we remember why we’re doing it: to provide a clean, healthy ride to school for students and communities across our state.
Emily Kelly is a senior manager of public policy at ChargePoint, an electric vehicle charging infrastructure manufacturer.
Zero-emission buses promise a healthy ride to school for students who need it most, writes Jessica Varghese, an assistant professor of nursing at the New York Institute of Technology. BLOOMBERG
The more we delay common-sense solutions to provide cleaner air, the more challenging it will become for New York to achieve its ambitious climate goals, writes Emily Kelly of ChargePoint. | BUCK ENNIS
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1
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2 CITY OF NEW YORK
3
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NewYork-area includesNewYorkCityandNassau,SuffolkandWestchestercountiesinNewYorkandBergen,Essex,HudsonandUnioncountiesinNewJersey. Crain's usesstaffresearch,extensive surveysandthemostcurrentreferencesavailabletoproduceitslists,butthereisnoguaranteethattheselistingsarecomplete. e. Crain'sestimate. 1. Employment guresincludeallcityagencies,except theDepartmentofEducation,NYCHealth+Hospitals,theNewYorkCityPoliceDepartment,theNewYorkCityFireDepartment,andtheCityUniversityofNewYork. 2. Figuresincludeaf liatesandare for the entirety of the MTA, which includes Dutchess, Orange, Putnam and Rockland counties. 3. Fiscal year ends Aug. 31. Employee totals include staff at the NYU School of Medicine.
yB Nick Garber
Mayor Eric Adams’ administration unveiled details last week about its plans to boost housing in fast-growing Long Island City, saying the neighborhood-wide rezoning plan could produce as many as 14,000 new homes.
e city is proposing to allow more high-rise apartment buildings along the Queens waterfront and further east near Court Square, as well as high- and medium-density, mixed-use development on several blocks north of the Queensboro Bridge. e rezoning takes aim at a largely industrial set of blocks intermingled among the o ce and apartment towers that have sprouted up in recent years thanks to previous rezonings of Long Island City.
e new Long Island City Neighborhood Plan is a joint e ort by the City Planning Department and the local Councilwoman, Julie Won, who announced last fall that they would study how the neighborhood could accommodate more growth and prioritize a ordable housing. After spending months gathering feedback at 11 public meetings, city o cials presented a draft proposal at a community event on June 24.
e result is a set of zoning changes that would allow for up to 14,000 new units, including about 4,000 that would be income-restricted through the city’s mandatory inclusionary housing program, which would set rents between 60% to 80% of the area median income — or about $1,700 to $2,300 for a one-bedroom apartment, according to City Planning. Some 3 million square feet of commercial space could also be created.
“With this plan, we can deliver much-needed housing, including mandating a ordable housing for the rst time in this neighborhood, good jobs, improved transportation, and excellent open spaces and waterfront access,”
City Planning Director Dan Garodnick said in a statement. e proposal would keep the light manufacturing that is currently allowed along the waterfront near the Anable Basin inlet — where Amazon once planned to open its New York headquarters — and maintain the industrial zone in the blocks just south of the Queensboro Bridge.
Won’s support for the e ort means the rezoning has a strong chance of getting approved by the City Council in late 2025. But she withheld full support for the draft plan, saying in a statement on June 26 that she wants a commitment from the Adams administration to build fully a ordable housing on city-owned sites in
the area.
“Over the next year and a half, I will continue to ensure that our community’s priorities, especially those from our neighbors who have been historically excluded from previous planning e orts, are re ected in the OneLIC Neighborhood Plan,” Won said.
The plan may still change
City Planning will start an environmental review for the plan later this year, followed by the typical seven-month review for zoning changes that culminates in a City Council vote. e city acknowledged that the plan may still change as the review continues.
Besides allowing new housing,
Major Long Island City rezoning could create 14,000 new homes, city says NYC leads the world in congestion, at a $9B cost
yB Caroline Spivack
the plan also aims to improve access to the East River waterfront with a continuous public walkway. at would be made possible by changes to the Waterfront Access Plan that governs the city’s coastlines, o cials said.
Once a low-rise industrial area, Long Island City has boomed thanks to a 2001 rezoning that boosted density on 34 blocks. e area’s population grew by 21% between 2010 and 2020, rising to 138,000, according to census data. (Former Mayor Bill de Blasio also planned for years to rezone more of the neighborhood, but it never progressed past a study.)
Won’s hand-in-hand work with the Adams administration marks a change from two years ago, where she faced intense pressure from City Hall to sign o on a veblock rezoning in her district. Won nally did endorse that proposal, known as Innovation QNS, which was approved by the City Council in 2022 but has not yet gotten o the ground.
e Long Island City plan is one of several neighborhood-level rezonings that the Adams administration is currently advancing, along with Midtown South; Jamaica, Queens; Atlantic Avenue in Brooklyn; and two East Bronx neighborhoods near new Metro-North train stops.
In addition, the administration is pushing its City of Yes plan that would increase housing density across the ve boroughs. City of Yes could create up to 109,000 homes over 15 years and will face a City Council vote later this year.
All are e orts to chip away at the city’s housing shortage, which has caused sky-high rents and record-low vacancies.
New York is the most congested city in the world, with the average motorist losing 101 hours to tra c last year in what amounts to an estimated $9.1 billion blow to the region’s economy, according to the transportation analytic rm Inrix’ 2023 Global Tra c Scorecard. e ve boroughs beat out Mexico City, London, Paris and 1,000 other cities to claim the dubious title for a second year in a row. New York’s ranking comes on the heels of Gov. Kathy Hochul’s inde nite pause on congestion pricing, which transit o cials estimated would reduce tra c in the busiest parts of Manhattan by some 17% — the equivalent to taking 153,000 cars o the road. Congestion is greater in the New York metro region than it was prior to the Covid-19 pandemic, according to Inrix. Indeed, the rm found that car trips to downtown Manhattan jumped by 13% in 2023 compared to just the previous year. e bump in tra c cost individual drivers an estimated $1,700 in lost time, Inrix found.
“Tra c congestion is both a bane and a barometer of economic health; it symbolizes bustling activity yet simultaneously hampers it,” Bob Pishue, transportation analyst at Inrix, said in a statement. “Re ecting on 2023 and early 2024, the surge in tra c congestion in urban areas indicated a revival of economic hubbub postCovid, but it also led to billions of dollars in lost time for drivers.”
Inrix ranks cities based on commuting distances and delays relative to population, and calculates economic losses based on hourly values of time — $17.45 per hour in the U.S. — which is based on 2016 U.S. Federal Highway Administration guidance on valuation for travel time for economic analysis, adjusted for in ation. e scorecard also highlighted how the pandemic-induced shift in work schedules has led 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. to become “the new ‘9to-5’.” Compared to 2019, the ux in work patterns now means that motorists take nearly as many trips at noon as they do at 5 p.m. “ e continuation of hybrid and remote work,” Pishue added, “is creating new travel peaks from what we’ve seen previously.”
The Long Island City Neighborhood plan would allow new, denser housing near the Queensboro Bridge, along the East River waterfront and further inland near Court Square. EMIL COHEN/NYC COUNCIL MEDIA UNIT
A map shows the zoning districts proposed in the draft plan for Long Island City, including new high-rise housing allowed north of the Queensboro Bridge and near Anable Basin. | DEPARTMENT OF CITY PLANNING
Drivers in the ve boroughs lost an average 101 hours last year stuck in traf c. BUCK ENNIS
As distressed commercial real estate loans pile up, banks play high-stakes game of ‘extend and pretend’
yB Aaron Elstein
A high-stakes game of kick the can is underway at the corner of West 34th Street and Sixth Avenue, where an o ce building called Herald Center is in trouble.
In March the 250,000-squarefoot building’s appraised value was cut in half to $276 million, three months after landlord JEMB Realty didn’t repay the mortgage when it came due and the $255 million loan was sent to special servicing. Instead of foreclosing, however, lenders agreed to extend
It’s a sign of the times. Confronted by a massive wave of troubled o ce loans, lenders are playing a waiting game.
“It’s extend and pretend,” Richard Barkham, global head of research at CBRE, explained at the National Association of Real Estate Editors’ annual conference last month.
In extend and pretend, lenders give debt-ridden borrowers more time to repay their maturing loans.
“Similarly, we expect that many of the 2024 maturities will be extended to 2025.”
CBRE
said in a report last month
the loan until next January in the hopes the building’s fortunes will improve.
Why didn’t banks take the keys to Herald Center away from JEMB?
“Banks don’t want the keys, either,” said Jonathan Adelsburg, cohead of the real estate department at law rm Herrick Feinstein.
e hope is that cash ow will soon improve, perhaps due to better leasing volume, or that borrowing costs will fall if and when interest rates come down. About $300 billion worth of commercial real estate loans were extended last year, CBRE said, swelling the total due to mature this year to more than $900 billion.
“Similarly, we expect that many of the 2024 maturities will be extended to 2025,” CBRE said in a report last month.
While banks are busy extending and pretending, they’ve also set aside $100 billion to protect against eventual losses. Federal regulators could conclude that banks have so much money tied up in dud
real estate loans that creditworthy businesses aren’t getting the capital they need. Regulators would then force banks to purge their balance sheets, a painful prospect last seen after the savings-and-loan crisis in the early 1990s.
Blowing the whistle
Barkham reckons regulators won’t blow the whistle on extend and pretend until 2025 or 2026, when in ation is hopefully under control and interest rates are coming down, he said. But that’s the ideal scenario and Barkham acknowledged “in ation has made a mug of us all over the last 18 months.”
slice of the loan was sold to institutional investors.
“It’s a very, very slippery sh,” he told Crain’s.
Herald Center demonstrates how slippery fortunes can be in real estate.
Located across from Macy’s agship store, the building developed in 1902 was 97% occupied in 2015 when Morgan Stanley originated its $255 million mortgage at a 4.5% interest rate. A $40 million
Problems began in 2022 when ASA College, which occupied two-thirds of Herald Center, moved out six years before its lease expired. Although the Board of Electrical Engineers took part of the space, the building was almost half empty and in March its appraised value was cut to $276 million from $572 million. Morningstar DBRS estimated in a re-
port last week that mortgage investors face a 15% loss. e good news is that the lease continues through 2041 for retailer H&M, which occupies a quarter of the space but pays two-thirds of the rent. Adelsberg added that lenders may have agreed to extend the mortgage by a year because the building’s diminished value remains higher than its debt. JEMB did not respond to a request for comment.
Herald Center COSTAR
MTA’s stop-work orders send construction industry into a panic as revenue gap endangers projects
yB Caroline Spivack
e MTA has ordered contractors to halt construction on transit upgrades across the region including for two Long Island Rail Road stations and is preparing to send stop-work orders to contractors on potentially dozens more projects, according to people familiar with the situation.
e abrupt halts have sent the region’s construction industry into a panic. Firms received more bad news at the MTA’s June 26 board meeting on some $16 billion worth of capital-program cuts the authority is now eyeing. Carlo Scissura, president and chief executive of the New York Building Congress, described the situation as “a frighten-
“Many
cials have hit pause on are improvements to two Long Island Rail Road stations in Queens, according to a letter obtained by Crain’s. On June 17, MTA Construction and Development o cial Steven Leidner directed Su olk County-based Forte Construction Corp. to “stop all work” associated with accessibility upgrades and general improvements at the Forrest Hills and Hollis stations. e order puts the projects and sta hired to carry out the more than $150 million worth of enhancements in an alarming state of uncertainty, said a source briefed on the situation.
e orders are coming down weeks after Gov. Kathy Hochul postponed the implementation of congestion pricing tolls, blowing a $15 billion hole in the MTA’s capital budget. An early, high-pro le victim of the governor’s move was a halt to work in anticipation of an extension of the Second Avenue Subway.
companies are confused because they had planned with an understanding that these contracts were awarded and were bee ng up staff, and now we have question marks.”
ing moment” for the region’s contractors, engineers and architects.
Scissura worries rms will have little choice but to lay o sta .
“Everyone is in limbo now,” he said in an interview. “Many companies are confused because they had planned with an understanding that these contracts were awarded and were bee ng up sta , and now we have question marks. It’s not a good place to be.”
Among the projects transit o -
MTA o cials are looking to halt work on at least two dozen projects in the weeks ahead, transit sources told Crain’s.
A stop-work order essentially suspends contracted work until transit o cials decide on a way forward. Contractors are paid for work that has already been completed, but are basically furloughed until a project resumes, is renegotiated or terminated.
MTA board members reluctantly voted 10-to-1 to put congestion pricing on an inde nite pause at the June 26 board meeting, rubber
stamping Hochul’s decision to delay the tolling program. As a result, MTA o cials said that without a replacement to the anticipated toll revenue that the authority plans to defer billions of dollars in construction projects to modernize the region’s aging transit system.
Clarity on timelines
MTA board chair and chief executive Janno Lieber would not say how many stop-work orders the authority has issued, or is preparing to issue, to its construction partners. Lieber added only that he aims to resolve the agency’s capital budget gap as soon as possible to give contractors clarity on project timelines.
“We’re very much in sympathy and in alignment with the contracting community, although you
would never know it for the arguments that happened at the conference table,” Lieber told Crain’s.
Revenue generated by charging most motorists $15 to enter Manhattan below 60th street represented 30% of the MTA’s current capital program, and some 60% of the remaining projects in the pipeline. Without a toll replacement, the MTA is left scrambling to cover $28 billion in projects with just $13 billion on hand.
“ ere are a lot of projects that we will not be able to build and we’ll [instead] be focusing on the state of good repair,” Jamie Torres-Springer, president of MTA construction and development, told reporters on June 18. is new reality leaves the MTA’s construction partners in a bind.
Firms that have hired sta ers to
carry out projects are now worried they could have to let go of laborers if projects are delayed for several months, or shelved entirely, according to employees at rms working on MTA projects who were not authorized to speak publicly on the situation.
“ is is the economic downside of an action that is supposedly being taken for economic bene ts, it really hurts the people you’re trying to help,” said Lisa Daglian, executive director of the Permanent Citizens Advisory Committee to the MTA, referring to Hochul’s decision to pause the tolls out of concern that it could slow down the city’s economic recovery.
“We’re screwed right now,” said Daglian. “If something doesn’t happen to ll the budget hole, we’re S.O.L.”
Hochul administration eliminates Covid-19 sick leave for state employees after change in isolation rules
Most New Yorkers are set to lose paid sick leave for Covid-19 next summer, per a budget deal between Gov. Kathy Hochul and state lawmakers. But for state employees, the bene t has already ended.
New York’s O ce of Labor Relations noti ed state agencies in March that employees no longer had access to paid sick days speci c to Covid, according to Bryan Viggiani, a spokesman for the state’s Department of Civil Service. Employees are now required to use personal sick time for leave related to Covid-19.
e decision was announced in an email to MTA employees in May, according to a report from Hell Gate, which rst publicized the policy change.
New York state passed a law at the start of the pandemic that re-
quired employers to o er paid sick leave speci cally for Covid-19, to allow people to follow isolation and quarantine requirements. e law required state agencies and large businesses to provide 14 days of paid leave, while mandating that smaller businesses provide 5 days of leave.
Effective immediately
Hochul pushed to end requirements for paid sick leave in budget discussions this spring. But she reached a deal with lawmakers that pushed the sunsetting of the paid sick leave law to next July. Private companies will no longer be required to o er Covid-speci c sick leave in 2025, but for state agencies the policy is in e ect immediately.
e state decided to walk back on its paid leave requirements after the U.S. Centers for Disease
Control and Prevention eliminated its veday isolation requirements for people with Covid on March 1. e agency updated its guidance to recommend that people isolate themselves for 24 hours or until their fever goes away. Paid leave for Covid-19 is still available, but is not implemented unless health authorities mandate isolation or quarantine rules — which have not been in e ect since 2022, Viggiani said. e decision comes as Covid-19 cases have started to tick upward. ere were 759 people hospitalized for Covid-19 statewide on June 24, up from roughly 500 ear-
yB Amanda D’Ambrosio
Carlo Scissura, president and chief executive of the New York Building Congress
Gov. Kathy Hochul | SUSAN WATTS/OFFICE OF GOVERNOR KATHY HOCHUL
Bloomberg-funded lobbying group vaults to the top of New York’s in uence list
yB Nick Garber
A little-known group funded by Michael Bloomberg vaulted almost to the top of New York’s lobbying ranks last year in an unusual shakeup during a record-breaking year for lobbying spending.
e group, American Opportunity, ranked second among all registered lobbying clients in 2023 with $4.7 million in spending, according to an annual report released June 25 by the state’s Commission on Ethics and Lobbying in Government. e $361 million in statewide lobbying spending last year was an all-time high, up from $332 million the year before.
American Opportunity spent its money largely on television advertisements and social media campaigns boosting the agenda of Gov. Kathy Hochul, as she tried — but ultimately was unsuccessful — to pass a contentious housing plan through the state Legislature.
e billionaire former mayor donated $5 million to the group, by far its largest source of funding, disclosures show. American Opportunity had ties to the Democratic Governors Association, with
whom it shared an address and spokesperson, but representatives for the group o ered little public information last year about how it came to be.
Bloomberg’s involvement was seen as somewhat surprising, given that he has focused more of his political spending on national issues and had not been considered a vocal ally of Hochul’s. Besides his $5 million donation, American Opportunity’s only other reported contribution was a $100,000 check from the United Re ning Company, a Pennsylvania-based oil company and convenience-store operator led by the Republican businessman John Catsimatidis.
American Opportunity has not reported any lobbying in 2024, and the Democratic Governors Association did not immediately respond to questions about whether the entity is still active. Rather than lobbying lawmakers in-person, the group’s disclosures state that it pressured dozens of o cials via indirect, “grassroots” campaigns focused on the state budget. ( e group did its own lobbying, without hiring any outside rms.)
Much of its work last year took
the form of anodyne ad spots, touting Hochul’s housing plan and e ort to roll back the state’s bail reform law. “Tell Gov. Hochul, thanks for working to keep New York families safe,” a narrator intones in one ad.
Other big spenders
e rest of the statewide top 10 list was made up of more usual suspects, led by the Healthcare Education Project — a joint creation of the labor union 1199SEIU and the Greater New York Hospital Association — which reported $8.3 million in spending. Other top spenders included Malaysian casino company Genting, the New York Trial Lawyers Association, and the pro-charter school group StudentsFirst New York, which was also funded heavily by Bloomberg.
e Healthcare Education Project has now topped the statewide list for two years running, having advocated in 2023 to boost Medicaid payments to hospitals. Most of its $8 million outlay was spent on advertising, while about one-third was spent on social events.
e Greater New York Hospital
Association also made the list in its own right, placing third with $4.7 million in lobbying spending. Other healthcare spenders on the list included the Tobacco-Free Kids Action Fund (ranked sixth, at $2.5 million) and the AARP (ninth, with $1.4 million).
Genting, which owns the Resorts World casino in Queens and is now vying for a full- edged casino license, is a mainstay on lobbying lists. Another newcomer to the top 10 list was Siebert Williams Shank & Co., a nancial services rm.
Albany-based Brown & Weinraub was the state’s top lobbyist last year by compensation, raking in $21 million from clients that included Eastman Chemical and NewYork-Presbyterian. e biggest payment from a client to a single lobbyist was $1.1 million from landlord group Homeowners for an A ordable New York, formed to oppose “good cause”
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eviction laws, to Manhattan-based Fontas Advisors.
e watchdog New York Public Interest Group argued that the high spending “re ects the power of money in policymaking.”
“Obviously, powerful groups would not spend the money if they thought it didn't work,” said Blair Horner, the group’s executive director. “ e public should closely monitor interest groups' spending and not get bamboozled by the high-priced media campaigns too often designed to block initiatives that bene t the public.”
Billionaire former Mayor Michael Bloomberg funded a littleknown group, American Opportunity, that ranked among the state’s top lobbying spenders in 2023. | BLOOMBERG
Archdiocese secures a bargain for Midtown of ce space
yB Aaron Elstein
e Archdiocese of New York’s lease for a new 140,000-squarefoot Midtown headquarters comes with a price that might as well be heaven-sent.
e institution will pay just $45 a square foot for new space at 488 Madison Ave., according to a new report from bond-rating KBRA, or 55% below the area’s average. By leasing space in a landmarked building across the street from St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the archdiocese will occupy less than half the space it has in its longtime o ce home, the Terence Cardinal Cooke Building at 1011 First Ave.
“It’s a signi cant downsizing,” said a person familiar with the
400,000 square-foot building at East 55th Street will be converted into apartments. Estimated market value for the 50-year-old building is $122 million, according to the city Department of Finance. e archdiocese did not respond to requests for comment. Its real estate broker, CBRE Vice Chairman Doug Middleton, declined to comment.
Striking move
“It has been apparent for several years, however, that ‘1011’ no longer made sense as our home.”
lease. “It’s a re ection of a changed dynamic.”
e archdiocese plans to put 1011 First on the market by no later than the fall, the person said. e archdiocese expects the 20-story,
Although plenty of companies and nonpro ts are shrinking their o ce footprints, it is striking that the tax-exempt nonpro t that is also one of the city’s largest landowners would elect to lease space. But rents for Class B space in Midtown have come down so signi cantly that real estate experts say it makes sense for the institution that serves about 2.5 million Catholics to lease instead of own. e organization will pay $6.6 million a year in base rent at 488 Madison to landlord the Feil Organization, according to KBRA, for a lease through 2055.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan cited the cost of maintaining 1011 First as one reason for the move, along with the rise of remote work and a desire to be “closer to the people
we serve throughout the archdiocese.”
“It has been apparent for several years, however, that ‘1011’ no longer made sense as our home,” he said when the institution announced in January that it would relocate. anks to bequests dating back as far as the colonial era, the archdiocese, along with Trinity Church
Wall Street and other religious institutions, controls 13% of all land in Manhattan, according to the nonpro t Bricks and Mortals. But the archdiocese’s $285 million in expenses for pastoral services, schools, social services and other items exceeded revenue by $37 million in 2022, according tonancial documents. It has been closing churches across the city
for many years due to falling attendance. e archdiocese is expected to relocate to 488 Madison next year. Before then, $20 million worth of improvements will be paid for by Feil Organization, which owns 24 million square feet of commercial and industrial space nationwide along with more than 5,000 apartments.
Cardinal Timothy Dolan
Cardinal Timothy Dolan | GETTY IMAGES
Dispute over $1M payment part of behind-the-scenes battle over a Trader Joe’s site under Queensboro Bridge
C. J. Hughes
Trader Joe’s frozen dinners are known for being easy to heat up.
But tensions in a behind-thescenes battle involving the supermarket’s site under the Ed Koch-Queensboro Bridge may not thaw anytime soon.
e ght pits Christine Gordon, the wife of late mall developer Sheldon Gordon, who controlled the bridge site on East 59th and First Avenue for decades, against the partnership of Maddd Equities and Joy Construction, which purchased the ground lease on the Upper East Side property from the Gordons in 2020 for $42 million.
At stake is $1 million that Sheldon Gordon o ered as a sort of seller nancing to help seal the tricky deal and with the expectation that it had to be paid back, as Christine Gordon sees it.
Or, as Maddd and Joy believe, the money was actually a credit provided as a balm during the worst days of the Covid crisis and no di erent than the $3 million that was lopped o the original price around that time. ey believe no payback is necessary, public documents indicate.
But after months of the two sides
being at loggerheads, Christine Gordon on June 26 decided to enlist a judge to settle the matter, suing Maddd and Joy in Manhattan Supreme Court for that money plus interest at a rate of 18%. ( e store is not part of the suit.)
“It’s a matter of fairness, and it’s a matter of contract,” Jim Kennedy, Gordon’s lawyer in the case, told Crain’s
Known as Bridgemarket
e dust-up comes amid a much more heated and protracted legal clash at the property, which historically was known as Bridgemarket and that was home to a Food Emporium store for years.
Indeed, since 2017 a group linked to developer Jenel Management Corp., which snapped up the Food Emporium’s assets after it went bankrupt, has been battling Christine Gordon in court for allegedly blocking its e orts to rent out the site after the Food Emporium’s 2015 closure.
Filings show that Jenel supposedly invested $7 million to improve Bridgemarket, a landmarked space with vaulted ceilings lined with rectangular Guastavino tiles, but never leased
the property to a new tenant.
Although that drawn-out ght does not speci cally name Maddd or Joy, it still may be clouding relations between the former and current owners, the developers say.
“My sense is that the new case has more to do with all the previous years of litigation as well as something to do with the timing of the closing, which was marked by lots of confusion and disarray,” said Joy principal Eli Weiss, who closed on the Bridgemarket property in May 2020 as the coronavirus was ravaging New York. “I think there’s some spillover.”
e site of a farmer’s market in the decades after the bridge opened in 1909 before becoming a storage area for Department of Transportation vehicles after the market shut down in the Great Depression, Bridgemarket welcomed the Food Emporium in 1999, though the grocery store lasted only until 2015 after its parent company, A&P, led for bankruptcy protection.
In 2021 Trader Joe’s, which has nine locations in Manhattan, opened its 30,000-square-foot store at the site, which is technically owned by the city of New York and leased out. It also houses
an outpost of discount retailer T.J. Maxx and the event space Guastavino’s, whose operator is the Rose Group of church-turnedparty-venue 583 Park Ave.
Frequent partners on projects, Maddd, which is led by Jorge Madruga, and Joy previously built the apartment buildings 445 W. 36th St. and 411 W. 35th St. in the Hudson Yards neighborhood. ey also redeveloped 20 Bruck-
ner Blvd. in Mott Haven, the Bronx, a former ice factory now occupied by a charter school.
For his part, Sheldon Gordon, who died in 2017, built shopping centers across the country, including at casinos such as Caesar’s Palace in Las Vegas and Mohegan Sun in Connecticut, according to an obituary. He obtained the ground lease for Bridgemarket from the city in 1993, lings show.
Congestion pricing pause leads to ‘catastrophic’ cuts. Here’s what’s at risk as MTA prepares to scrap upgrades.
Caroline Spivack
e MTA is preparing to scrap more than $16 billion worth of upgrades to the region’s mass transit network after an inde nite pause on congestion pricing by Gov. Kathy Hochul.
Transit o cials detailed the bleak consequences of halting the tolling program without a revenue replacement June 26 at the MTA’s
including at stations in all ve boroughs and the potential cancellation of accessible work at the Forrest Hills and Hollis, Queens stations on the Long Island Rail Road.
“This is catastrophic in many ways to me. It’s very dif cult to take.”
monthly board meeting: Sweeping cuts to expansion projects, a halt on signal modernization for more reliable service and accessibility upgrades halted at subway stations across the boroughs, among many other evaporating improvements.
e MTA says it has little choice but to take a hatchet to the remaining projects in its capital plan. e deferred investments include:
$5 billion in system expansion projects, including an extension of the Second Avenue subway line from 96th Street on the Upper East Side to 125th Street in Harlem.
$2 billion in accessibility projects,
Elevator projects and other accessibility improvements at 23 subway stations: 42nd Street-Bryant Park, 5th Avenue, 7th Avenue, Lexington Avenue-59th Street, Delancey Street-Essex Street, 110th Street, 3rd Avenue-138th Street, Brook Avenue, 145th Street and 168th Street in Manhattan; Je erson Street, Nostrand Avenue, Hoyt-Schermerhorn, 18th Avenue, Kings Highway, and Neptune Avenue in Brooklyn; Briarwood and Parson Boulevard in Queens; Wake eld-241st Street in e Bronx; and the Clifton station on the Staten Island Railway.
◗ $3 billion in signal modernization upgrades to replace 1930s-era equipment to run more reliable, frequent subway service on parts of the A, C, B, D, F and M lines.
$3 billion in maintenance work, including projects set to refurbish ve subway stations, which the MTA has yet to identify.
$1.5 billion in 437 new subway cars, and new commuter rail cars, and $500 million in electric buses.
◗ $1.5 billion in infrastructure and technology upgrades across the MTA’s networks, including cable and ramp upgrades on the Ver-
razzano-Narrows Bridge and public announcement system upgrades at 70-plus stations for clearer communication.
“Plans are exactly that, they’re a plan, and they have to respond to reality,” said Tim Mulligan, the MTA’s deputy chief development o cer, during a presentation on the anticipated cuts. “Our reality for the capital program changed dramatically 21 days ago.”
Transit o cials said they intend to redirect funds from the projects to fundamental maintenance that ensures a functional and safe system. Among those e orts are:
Track repairs
◗
Tunnel work
Power system upgrades
◗ A “select number” of new trains and buses to replace current dilapidated models, said Mulligan.
MTA board members June 26 were visibly rattled by the scale of the proposed cuts, and during the meeting described the reductions as “dire” and “very disturbing.”
“ is is catastrophic in many ways to me,” said MTA board member Norman Brown. “It’s very di cult to take.”
e board reluctantly voted June 26 to formally put conges-
tion pricing on inde nite pause.
e MTA’s board has yet to formally revise its current $55 billion capital plan, meaning these changes have yet to take e ect.
But without a restart to congestion pricing, or a revenue replacement, the MTA’s board is likely to advance the cuts in an attempt to balance its books.
Gov. Hochul says she intends to nd an alternative revenue source for the MTA, but has not indicated where those funds would be drawn. State lawmakers have already rejected Hochul’s proposal to raise taxes on New York Citybased businesses to cover some
of the lost funding, along with a secondary Band-Aid that would have directed $1 billion out of the state’s general fund to the MTA.
“As we’re heading in a slightly grim direction, I just want to emphasize one thing,” said MTA board chair and chief executive Janno Lieber. “Our obligation as duciaries and professionals is to work with everybody, however we feel at this moment, to try to be ready that when that nancial solution that is being talked about arrives — God willing — that we will be ready to put Humpty Dumpty back together again as quickly as possible.”
Norman Brown, MTA board member
Trader Joe’s, 405 E. 59th St., Upper East Side | COSTAR
More than $16 billion in projects to upgrade the region’s mass transit are at risk without congestion pricing. | BLOOMBERG
will be available for lease signings starting in 2026 and move-ins in 2027, Berman shared.
Getting to that point will entail a massive amount of construction. Currently, the windows in the two buildings, which have only ever functioned as offices, can’t be opened, fairly common for office buildings.
But the local housing code mandates that apartments have at least one operable window. Instead of just swapping out windows here and there, however, Pfizer’s developers will go a big step further and replace every window at the site, all 2,000 of them, they say.
Also on the agenda: removing the facades and installing more energy-efficient outer walls, a notable departure for conversions, which so far in New York have tended to keep exteriors as is. But after earlier waves of conversions, eligible buildings with attractive prewar facades are fewer and further between these days, which is forcing developers to consider newer structures, analysts say.
“People walking by those buildings two years from now may think they’re brand-new,” Berman said.
The massive facelift won’t come cheap. Berman estimates the Pfizer project will cost “hundreds of millions of dollars, but we hope to not hit $1 billion.” And the extreme price tag seems to have shaped the business plan; all the apartments at the Pfizer site, which will not have any affordable housing, will be offered at market-rate rents.
Though state lawmakers this spring established a program to award property tax breaks for certain conversion projects in exchange for their making 25% of units affordable, some developers are skeptical that those projects can be financially sustain -
able even with the abatements.
P zer appears eligible for the cityadministered program because it’s in a central Manhattan neighborhood, will have broken ground after 2023 and will wrap up by 2039. But Berman has questions about how a ordable units could stay that way permanently.
“We’ve never had a situation where tax breaks burn o , but you have the affordable units forever,” he said. “It’s a package that needs to be evaluated.”
Berman said he is not counting on the incentives to get P zer across the nish line. P zer has not yet lined up construction nancing and will begin that process in a few months.
Beneath the surface
From a site-selection perspective, the Pfizer properties check important boxes.
Under the current system, developers can generally convert only commercial Manhattan high-rises constructed before 1961. Commercial buildings constructed after that date tended to be much larger than residential ones, and the approval process to build offices is rarely as rigorous as with apartment buildings, so officials made many office sites off-limits to prevent workarounds.
But facing anemic levels of housing production and strong demand, the mayor has proposed easing the rules and allowing conversions of towers from the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s as well.
When Berman’s team went searching for opportunities, however, the old rules were in effect.
At first blush, Nos. 219 and 235 might seem to miss the mark. e lime-green panels across No. 219’s facade suggest the building dates to the Kennedy era, and glassy and unadorned No. 235 seems of similar vintage. But lurking under No. 219’s colorful skin is actually a prewar building built in 1905; the facade was installed in a 1963 renovation. And No. 235, built specically to house P zer, opened in 1961, meaning it squeaked in under the current criteria.
The block, which sits in what’s known as a C zone in planning terms, also allows for conversions as of right, so no special rezoning is needed, an advantage that does not exist in every commercial district. Adams has proposed rezoning 42 blocks in former manufacturing enclaves in
Chelsea and the Garment District to allow for up to 4,000 new apartments, but the rezoning is subject to the city’s public landuse review process and so could take a while to play out.
From meds to beds
The 42nd Street makeover, which will eventually result in a building with a new name that has not yet been determined and a new street address, will mark the end of Pfizer’s half-century association with the block.
Founded on the outskirts of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, by German immigrants Charles Pfizer and Charles Erhart in 1849, before relocating to Maiden Lane in the Financial District in 1868, Pfizer broke ground on part of its third location, the building at 235 E. 42nd St., in 1959 and was finished two years later. (The company relocated to 66 Hudson Yards in 2022.)
Home to 1,000 employees when it opened and 2,700 in recent years, interconnected Nos. 219 and 235 aimed to create medication “breakthroughs that change patients’ lives,” according to an inscription across the tile-studded mosaic in the lobby of No. 235.
Pfizer, a prominent vaccine provider during the Covid-19 pandemic, has given up the site gradually in preparing for its West Side move. In 2018 the company sold No. 235, an Lshaped, 33-story site that extends through to East 43rd Street, to Alexandria Real Estate Equities and Werner for $228 million, according to the city register, though Pfizer was allowed to stay for a few years as a tenant.
Meanwhile, Pfizer sold nextdoor No. 219, a much-smaller but also through-the-block property, to Werner and Alexandria in 2018 for $142 million, the register shows. The deal included both the building and the land.
Next, Metro Loft and Werner are in contract to buy out Alexandria’s stakes in the sites, and a closing is scheduled in the next
few weeks, a broker familiar with the transaction said.
In a separate but related transaction, Werner in 2021 leased the land under No. 235, which is owned by the family of the late real estate investor Bernard Kayden, for $407 million, records show. The deal includes an option to buy the land, which Metro Loft and Werner will exercise a few years down the road, Berman said.
A message left at Werner’s Midtown office was not returned, and efforts to track down the Kayden family’s representatives were unsuccessful.
In the details
To be sure, not all upcoming office conversions are near Wall Street. Commercial landlord SL Green Realty Corp., for instance, has proposed converting 750 Third Ave., a 34-story tower at East 46th Street in Midtown burdened with an 80% vacancy rate, into housing. And developer Lalezarian Properties has filed plans to reinvent 650 First Ave., a Victorian-era brewery site near the United Nations, with 111 apartments.
But most of the five-dozen conversions that are in the works, as per the city’s matchmaking Office Conversion Accelerator program, appear to be located downtown. Examples include 160 Water St., 55 Broad St. and 17 Battery Place, as well as 25 Water St., which is the city’s second-largest conversion project, with 1,300 units underway. For Pfizer, conversions come with the territory. In 2011 the company sold its original Williamsburg location, at 630 Flushing Ave., where Viagra and Lipitor were developed, to the firm Acumen Capital for $19 million. Acumen later obtained a $58 million loan to redevelop the site, which is home to FreshDirect and other industrial-type tenants today. But traces of the past linger. Blue block letters still spell out the word “Pfizer” over a door.
55 Broad St. is one of the ve-dozen conversions that are in the works as part of the city’s matchmaking Of ce Conversion Accelerator program. | JOE WOOLHEAD
The city’s largest-ever reinvention of a commercial property will be at the former headquarters of P zer. | BUCK ENNIS
But Latimer’s victory is an undisputed blow to progressives, making the two-term member Bowman the rst of the left-wing Squad in Congress to lose his seat. In his victory speech, the more centrist Latimer directed remarks at “the far right and the far left,” admonishing them that “you cannot destroy this country with your rhetoric and your arguments.”
Who came up short
And some other left-wing candidates came up short, like Eon Huntley, who trailed incumbent Assemblywoman Stefani Zinerman by just a few hundred votes in Central Brooklyn. Zinerman’s win was also a victory for House minority leader Hakeem Je ries, who represents the same area and treated the race as a proxy war in his long-running e ort to beat back socialist in uence in gentrifying parts of Brooklyn.
Institutional support also prevailed on the Upper West Side, where longtime government ocial Micah Lasher won a competitive race to succeed retiring Danny O’Donnell in a highly engaged district. Lasher, a former policy director for Gov. Kathy Hochul, locked up institutional support from West Side luminaries like Congressman Jerry Nadler and
Manhattan Borough President Mark Levine — helping him defeat progressive Eli Northrup, who was endorsed by the incumbent O’Donnell.
Nearby in Central Harlem, Jordan Wright comfortably claimed the Assembly seat being vacated by retiring incumbent Inez Dickens. Wright’s win over three other candidates marks the continuation of a political dynasty — his father, Keith Wright, held the same seat for over 20 years, and still chairs the Manhattan Democratic Party.
Next door in East Harlem, incumbent Eddie Gibbs survived a challenge by three rivals in a racially fraught primary. Gibbs, in 2022, became both the rst formerly incarcerated person to serve in the New York state Legislature, and the rst Black person to hold what had been perceived as a Latino seat. But Xavier Santiago, his main challenger and the chair of the local community board, won support from local leaders like Congressman Adriano Espaillat, who has boosted Latino candidates citywide and created a sort of local machine.
mixed signals about the remaining strength of the Queens Democratic Party, which is led by Congressman Gregory Meeks. e socialist Valdez’s victory in Western Queens came over both Ardila and her main rival, Johanna Carmona, who ran with the support of the borough’s party apparatus.
Mixed results for the Queens party machine e results in Queens yielded
“ is is perceived as another proxy ght between the Queens County Democratic organization, led by Congressman Meeks, versus progressives,” Democratic strategist Trip Yang said earlier in June. But the party was victorious in
East Elmhurst and Corona, where local leaders were eager to repel a comeback bid by former state Sen. Hiram Monserrate — who was expelled from o ce in 2010 after being convicted of assaulting his girlfriend, and was later convicted on corruption charges. Monserrate was defeated on June 25 by party-endorsed activist Larinda Hooks, who will succeed retiring lawmaker Je rion Aubry.
Elsewhere, in Eastern Queens and North Brooklyn, left-leaning incumbents successfully held onto their seats. In Flushing, progressive incumbent Ron Kim beat back
“This is perceived as another proxy ght between the Queens County Democratic organization, led by Congressman Meeks, versus progressives.”
Trip Yang, Democratic strategist
a serious threat from local business owner Yi Andy Chen, who ran a more centrist campaign. Kim, who called in 2020 for defunding the police, has reoriented himself as a more pro-police candidate as the heavily Asian district trends more conservative. (Kim may still face a competitive general election against a Republican candidate in the fall.)
In Greenpoint and Williamsburg, incumbent Assemblywoman Emily Gallagher easily overcame a challenge by Anathea Simpkins, an executive for the anti-gun violence nonpro t Sandy Hook Promise. at race was de ned in part by Gallagher’s support for the city’s safety-oriented redesign of McGuinness Boulevard, which was opposed by local businesses including the lm studio Broadway Stages. (Simpkins opposes the redesign plans.)
George Latimer (above) ousted progressive Rep. Jamaal Bowman in the June 25 Democratic primary election encompassing parts of the Bronx and Westchester counties. The contest was one of the most expensive House primary races in U.S. history. BING GUAN/BLOOMBERG
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Notice of formation of Limited Liability Company (“LLC”). Name: Good Co Residential LLC Articles of Organization filed with the Secretary of State of the State of New York (“SSNY”) on May 28, 2024. N.Y. office location: New York County. The SSNY has been designated as agent of the LLC upon whom process against it may be served. The SSNY shall mail a copy of any process to Good Co Residential LLC, c/o The Domain Companies LLC, 120 Broadway, Suite 1340, New York, New York 10271. Purpose/character of LLC is to engage in any lawful act or activity.
Notice of Formation of KALUMIPROP LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/31/24. Office location: NY County. United States Corporation Agents, Inc., designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to: 7014 13th Avenue, Suite 202, Brooklyn, NY 11228. Purpose: Any lawful activity
Notice of Qualification of GSO CAPITAL PARTNERS GP L.L.C. Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/09/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/25/15. Princ. office of LLC: 345 Park Ave., 31st Fl., NY, NY 10154. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to c/o Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Jeffrey W. Bullock, Secy. of State, Div. of Corps., John G. Townsend Bldg., 401 Federal St. - Ste. 4, Dover, DE 19901. Purpose: Any lawful activity
Notice of Qualification of THEOREM PARTNERS LLC Appl. for Auth. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/15/24. Office location: NY County. LLC formed in Delaware (DE) on 09/26/13. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co. (CSC), 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207-2543. DE addr. of LLC: c/o CSC, 251 Little Falls Dr., Wilmington, DE 19808. Cert. of Form. filed with Secy. of State, 820 N. French St., 10th Fl., Wilmington, DE 19801. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
Notice of Formation of FAIRVIEW HOUSING CLASS B, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/17/24. Office location: NY County. Princ. office of LLC: 30 Hudson Yards, 72nd Fl., NY, NY 10001. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to Corporation Service Co., 80 State St., Albany, NY 12207. Purpose: Any lawful activity.
QUILLIAN, LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 05/20/24. Office location: Bronx County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to; 135 W. 225TH ST, APT 5F, Bronx, NY 10463 Purpose: Any lawful activity
THEORO LLC Arts of Org filed w/SSNY 03/31/2024. Office: NY Co. SSNY designated agent for process and shall mail copy to LLC at 7014 13th Ave, #202, Bklyn, NY, 11228. Purpose: any lawful act."
Notice of Formation of AG PARATUS LLC Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on 5/16/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 228 Park Ave South, #196188, NY, NY 10003. Purpose: Any lawful activity
NO SOUL FOR SALE LLC Arts of Org filed w/SSNY 03/27/2024. Office: NY Co. SSNY designated agent for process and shall mail copy to 44 SAINT MARKS PL, #4, NY, NY10003. Purpose: any lawful act."
Notice of Formation of QUILCHENA PARK LEGAL LLC
Arts. of Org. filed with Secy. of State of NY (SSNY) on4/19/24. Office location: NY County. SSNY designated as agent of LLC upon whom process against it may be served. SSNY shall mail process to 219 E. 2nd Street Apt 5B, NY, NY 10009. Purpose: Any lawful activity
hiring new talent. “DEI was done so wrong with the best intentions,” De La Isla, who previously served as the mayor of Topeka, Kansas, told Crain’s. “(Companies) end up doing these mass hires and they don’t have the culture or the organization ready to receive new talent that has never been in the corporate world before.”
“If they’re really trying to bring in new talent, they’re going to need some support, because they don’t know what we know,” she added. “Our expertise is supporting our fellows and knowing what they need to be successful.”
Discriminatory practices
She believes many employers are plagued by discriminatory practices even at the earliest stages of the process. Applicants are often prematurely ltered out because they did not attend a fouryear university, for example, or interview exams do not correlate to the actual job at hand.
“ e practical functions of the job might be very di erent from the tech evaluation or tech interview that folks are being taken through,” said Angela Liu, Hack’s chief of Strategy and Growth. e program challenges hiring teams to rethink those processes. “We want companies to evaluate peo-
ple from an asset-based lens.” at continues even after a team is assembled. In De La Isla’s telling, even the best-intentioned businesses lack the skills and expertise necessary to go-it-alone in welcoming fresh talent into the corporate world. Hack works throughout the cycle to help managers at host companies become
more inclusive leaders. e second focus for Hack is on teaching soon-to-be interns of these companies the basics of business they need to know before arriving for work. at’s why the program begins in January and spans nine months, despite the internships themselves occurring in the summer.
In the period leading up to internship season, Hack welcomes mentees into something of a Business 101 crash-course targeted speci cally at breaking down barriers for rst-time corporate employees.
“We work for ve months straight from January all the way up through May, until the fellows
get paired with an internship, supporting them to understand all of the intricacies of being in a work environment,” De La Isla explained. Curriculum includes “how to receive feedback, how to give feedback to your supervisor, how do you write your resume? Once you start making money, how do you actually save that money? How do you show up at work? How do you have sticky conversations and stand up for yourself in a way that is respectful?”
Common things to know
“ ese things may seem very normal and like common things to know, but for our fellows who have never been in this work environment, they are absolutely new,” she added. “ ey’ve never been in a corporate environment and don’t know what the expectations are.”
Bobb is a prime example of a Hack success story, of which there are hundreds. Not only did he land an internship through the program, he said ezCater o ered him a full-time job to return. And while he ultimately opted to go a di erent route to pursue a more AI-focused role, Bobb credits Hack with getting him to where he is now. “ e support and the after effects of Hack.Diversity never stop,” he said. “Hack projected me into getting my foot in the door in other places where I could work up.”
Tilon Bobb (left), a member of the 2023 Hack New York cohort, with Hack’s Chief of Strategy and Growth Angela Liu and 2023 fellow Xica Felix, at a coworking of ce in the Financial District. | BUCK ENNIS
her predecessors as the
promote departmentwide
FDNY’s new counseling chief wants re ghters to become ‘whole’ again
Ann Kans eld was the rst woman and openly gay person to be hired as a chaplain for the Fire Department around 2015
Ann Kans eld comes from a family of re ghters and clergymen. Her grandfather put out blazes in Chicago; her father was a minister in the Reformed Church of America. Improbably, she has found a way to merge the two worlds.
Fresh out of college in 2001, Kans eld was working on Wall Street. On the morning of Sept. 11, she had been preparing to head to the World Trade Center for a job interview when she learned of the attacks. e near-miss made her question everything.
“You know who they didn’t need on 9/11? Stockbrokers,” she said. “I felt as though I’d been given this gift of life. How did I want to spend it?”
Before long she was enrolled in seminary, and in 2003 she took over a Dutch Reformed church in Brooklyn with a dwindling congregation. In the ensuing years, Kans eld has built the Greenpoint Reformed Church back into a thriving community, delivering sermons and running food distributions while serving as co-pastor with her wife, Jennifer Aull.
“I just love people of all kinds,” Kans eld said. “Serving a church is just an opportunity to nd di erent ways of serving people.”
Kans eld had long revered Mychal Judge, the beloved Fire Department chaplain who was the rst o cial victim of the 9/11 attacks. Around 2015, she learned of a rare
opening for one of the FDNY’s seven chaplain positions and was hired — becoming the rst woman and openly gay person to hold the job.
e chaplain role is focused on counseling re ghters and FDNY employees, and the legacy of 9/11 continues to loom large. Kans eld spent much of her tenure working with the families of re ghters who died and rst-responders who continue to deal with cancer, mental health struggles and addiction that stem from the attacks and the “long, deep season of grief” they caused, she said.
Showing gratitude
Her work also extends to the general public. Kans eld has routinely been called to the scene of a re, where she searches out people in distress whom she can counsel without obstructing the re ghting response. She recalled a recent re at a decrepit home full of squatters, where she took it upon herself to console a woman with an infected leg wound who was screaming at the re ghters.
“I spent a fair amount of time trying to get her to calm down, trying to convince her to go to the hospital,” Kans eld remembered.
Now Kans eld is moving up the ranks. In May, Fire Commissioner Laura Kavanagh appointed her to lead the FDNY’s counseling service unit, which o ers both pro-
By | Nick Garber
fessional and peer counseling to department employees struggling with trauma or addiction. e peer unit, too, is an outgrowth of 9/11, created after the FDNY realized that employees often understood one another best.
“As someone who’s had to call 911 in an emergency, I owe so much to the members of the FDNY,” she said.
Unlike her predecessors as the unit’s director, Kans eld is not a licensed therapist, which means her duties will be partly administrative while another employee supervises treatment. Kans eld sees her unique background as an asset, freeing her up to promote departmentwide e orts to improve mental health instead of one-on-one clinical work.
What animates much of Kanseld’s work is the concept of moral injury — the idea that people are born with an innate sense of right and wrong before traumatic events scramble those convictions. She sees her mission as helping FDNY members recover their “innate humanness.”
“ ey do these things which are gut-wrenching and heartbreaking and take a toll on your personhood,” Kans eld said. “For me to be able to show my gratitude by trying to help them become as whole a person as possible in response to this, that’s an amazingly exciting opportunity.”
Ann Kans eld
Grew up Holland, Michigan; Rochester, Monroe County; and New Brunswick, New Jersey
Resides Hell’s Kitchen
Age 48
Education Bachelor’s in history, Columbia University; master of divinity, New Brunswick Theological Seminary
Family Kans eld has a son and a daughter with her wife of 20 years, Jennifer Aull — who is also her co-pastor at Greenpoint Reformed Church.
Famous father Kans eld’s father, Norman, who died in January, was famously defrocked as a Reformed Church minister after he of ciated at her same-sex wedding in 2004. The stand he took sparked a movement within the church for LGBTQ+ acceptance.
Well prepared Kans eld is a Protestant, but she jokes that her years of ministry in heavily Polish American Greenpoint, where many people are Roman Catholic, prepared her well for the very Catholic Fire Department.
Vice
CUSTOMER
Unlike
FDNY counseling service unit’s director, Ann Kans eld is not a licensed therapist. She sees her unique background as an asset, freeing her up to
efforts to improve mental health instead of one-on-one clinical work. | BUCK ENNIS
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