Crain's New York Business, March 25, 2024

LAW FIRMS LIFT OFFICE MARKET

Property tax system could get overhaul

A revived suit alleges rental properties face a higher burden than owned homes

By Eddie Small

e city’s much-maligned property tax system could be headed for a major overhaul.

e New York Court of Appeals, the highest court in the state, revived a 2017 lawsuit from the advocacy group Tax Equity Now New York challenging the byzantine system in a 4-3 ruling issued March 19. Tax Equity, a coalition of property owners, renters and economic justice organizations, had argued in its suit against the city and the state that property taxes in the city place a higher burden on rental properties than owned homes, violating the state’s real property tax law.

e group also said that real estate in districts where most residents are people of color are overtaxed, violating the federal fair housing law. e Court of Appeals ruled that both of these arguments against the city can proceed “on the general basis that the system is unfair, inequitable and has a discriminatory disparate impact

See TAX on Page 22

They don’t pay top-dollar rents or seek out penthouse space, but they do ll up middle and lower oors of buildings

In good times or hard times, lawyers always win.

Revenues at the top 100 rms rose to $131 billion in 2022, the most recent year available, from $7 billion in 1986, a 19-fold increase, according to American Lawyer. Pro t margins never fell below 35% in even the worst years and hit a record 45% in 2021. For comparison’s sake, Apple’s operating margin last year was 34%.

Now lawyers are winning the

BY THE NUMBERS

65% Law rms’ average daily of ce attendance, behind only real estate

By | Aaron Elstein

o ce-space game, too: Law rms are historically reliable but not exactly sexy as o ce tenants, compared to the ashier and pricey deals in recent years signed by tech and nance companies. But several of the biggest deals over the last year involve law rms, and with Manhattan o ce landlords scrambling for tenants, members of the bar are enjoying their unlikely new status as belles of the ball.

“It’s nice that the Knicks are good again because brokers are inviting me to all the games,” said one partner in charge of his rm’s real estate needs. Law rms typically don’t pay top-dollar rents, or seek out penthouse space, but they soak up space in the middle or lower oors of buildings, helping landlords balance their books. At 55 Hudson Yards, a 51-story tower, the top three oors are leased by hedge fund ird Point at $137 a square foot, according to KBRA data. Below that comes private equity rm Silver Lake, paying $111 per square foot under a lease inked in 2017. Next comes

See LAW on Page 19

JASON MCGREGOR PHOTO COMPOSITE ILLUSTRATION

Midtown business leaders blast the city and state for not doing enough to extinguish illegal weed shops

By

Julianne Cuba

Manhattan business district leaders told Crain’s on March 19 that one of the biggest threats to the city’s success is the proliferation of illegal cannabis stores in nearly every neighborhood — and city and state officials’ apparent powerlessness to nip them in the bud.

Instead of relying on the multitude of government agencies tasked with taking action against the illicit shops, the president of the Times Square Alliance business improvement district said his staff has taken it upon themselves to shut them down by being persistent and shaming the property owners who lease to them — successfully shuttering four shops within the district.

“I have sent letters to all of the property owners who are leasing. We reported them to every single agency. That doesn’t seem to do anything about them,” Tom Harris said at a Crain’s Power Breakfast in Midtown during a discussion with Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten and other BID leaders.

“I will say that, through just annoying the hell out of them, we have gone from 12 in Times Square down to eight. I’m not going to stop until there are zero illegal weed stores in Times Square.”

Illegal stores ‘thriving’

Harris added that what makes the resiliency of the city’s illegal marijuana industry so disconcerting is that its success stands in stark contrast to the decline of

MAY

Crain’s

other legal retailers like salons, restaurants and pharmacies.

“The illegal weed stores in the city are thriving,” he said. “So that’s one aspect of retail that seems to be doing well.”

All three other leaders of Midtown’s Business Improvement Districts — the Grand Central Partnership, 34th Street Partnership and Garment District Alliance — agreed, echoing the sentiments of Gov. Kathy Hochul, who recently called the launch of the state-run legal cannabis industry a “disaster,” as illegal ones continue to pop up on nearly every corner.

“There’s general disorder and mayhem in Midtown, and that has to do with vendors on the streets and open restaurants that haven’t been taken down when they’re in deplorable condition, and, you know, 100 billion weed shops we can’t close even though we all know they are illegal,” said Barbara Blair, president of the Garment District Alliance. “This idea of ‘Who is steering the boat, and is it anybody?’ is having a depressing impact on our population.”

Harris called on all New Yorkers and politicians to support legislation introduced last year by Midtown Councilman Keith Powers, who was in attendance, that

would make it easier for the city to shut down illegal cannabis shops by amending the nuisance abatement law to include selling pot to anyone under the age of 21. He also said the state Legislature must come up with an effective solution of its own.

“We need to take the handcuffs off the police and put them on the criminals who operate illegal weed stores and come up with effective legislative mechanisms to make it unappealing for them to have illegal weed stores,” said Harris. “So call your Assembly member, state senator, to tell them that you’re tired of the illegal weed stores. They have to figure this out.”

The discussion came on the heels of a new survey released March 19 by the Citizens Budget Commission, which found that only 30% of New Yorkers rate the quality of life in the city as excellent or good, down from 50% in 2017 and 2008.

In a statement sent after the event concluded, City Hall said it does not have the power to permanently shut down illegal marijuana stores.

Other takeaways

Harris said he was “optimistic” about the future despite some

“I’m not going to stop until there are zero illegal weed stores in Times Square.”

Tom Harris, president of Times Square Alliance

quality-of-life challenges such as the sale of illegal merchandise and cannabis, and that pedestrian counts in the district actually exceeded 2019 levels this month with 375,000 people in Times Square in one day.

He also said he’s confident in Mayor Eric Adams’s abilities to lead the city but that state lawmakers up in Albany have “both (of his) hands tied behind his back.”

The BID presidents — including Dan Biederman of the 34th Street Partnership and Alfred Cerullo of the Grand Central Partnership — all said the state Legislature needs

to step it up as well when it comes to facilitating more housing and allowing more flexibility for commercial to housing conversions.   The business leaders also called on city and state officials to help New Yorkers feel safer by addressing several quality-of-life issues such as theft, and the twin crises of mental health and housing. Blair of the Garment District Alliance said she believes there is absolutely no need for a casino in Midtown, but two other BID presidents, including Harris and Cerullo, did not have an opinion about the possibility of one coming to their neighborhood.

Crain’s Editor-in-Chief Cory Schouten interviews Midtown BID presidents, from left Tom Harris, Alfred C. Cerullo III, Barbara A. Blair and Dan Biederman. BUCK ENNIS

LaGuardia’s $8 billion renovation finally getting its flowers

By Jack Grieve

LaGuardia Airport just won a customer satisfaction award. Yes, really.

The much-maligned Queens airport that President Joe Biden notoriously compared to “some Third World country” in 2014 earned the 2023 Airport Service Quality Award (ASQ) for hubs serving 25 to 40 million passengers per year.

The recognition follows the $8 billion, six-year redevelopment of the airport, which included massive soup-to-nuts rebuilds of its once-debilitated terminals.

Airport executives tied the award directly to the renovations, noting that the ASQ survey was conducted during the first full year that all of the new facilities were completed and in use.

“Taking LaGuardia Airport from worst to best is now more than just an aspiration, it’s an accomplishment that passengers have now resoundingly recognized,” Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, said in a written statement. “When we started out on our $8 billion transformation of LaGuardia, few believed we could create the world-class airport our region deserves. But the ASQ award proves that seeing is believing.”

The award also comes as LGA recorded its busiest year on record, having served a new high of

“LaGuardia’s days as a punchline for late-night comedy writers and for jokes [are] now finally over.”

Rick Cotton, executive director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey

32.4 million passengers in 2023, a 4% jump from its previous peak in 2019.

“The ASQ award is a testament to the hard work and dedication of not only those who designed and built the new airport, but to those providing exceptional service each and every day,” said Suzette Noble, chief executive of LaGuardia Gateway Partners, the developer and manager of Terminal B.

The award program is the product of a partnership between the Airports Council International, a trade organization rep-

resenting thousands of airports, and travel technology company Amadeus. “ASQ’s approach is anchored in live research conducted through surveys administered directly to travelers at the airport, capturing their satisfaction levels on the very day of travel,” according to a press release announcing the award.

LGA shares the award in the 25 to 40 million passenger category with Minneapolis–Saint Paul International Airport. Among larger airports that serve more than 40 million passengers each year, Dallas Fort Worth International

Airport, Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport and Toronto Pearson International Airport earned this year’s distinctions.

Decades of disinvestment

Because of decades of disinvestment, LaGuardia routinely ranked as one of the worst U.S. airports to travel through before former Gov. Andrew Cuomo launched the needed airport overhaul in 2015. The airport has gained in popularity in recent years as customers began to reap the rewards of the renovations, including a 10 slot-

jump in last year’s J.D. Power rankings.

“LaGuardia’s days as a punchline for late-night comedy writers and for jokes [are] now finally over,” Cotton said inside the airport announcing the award.

“LaGuardia used to come in last — dead last — year after year after year in every single passenger survey. It was universally regarded as the worst airport in the country. It was the airport everyone loved to hate. But no longer. Today’s results are definitive: LaGuardia Airport has officially transformed from worst to best.”

A pricey renovation and new features like a light-up fountain helped LaGuardia Airport win a customer-satisfaction award. | BLOOMBErG

Port Authority chief

Rick Cotton at a March 11 award celebration for the airport.

Luxury developer’s maneuverings to

amass

Gramercy Park site reveal how game is played

Legion Investment Group seeks to build a condo project of about 20 stories at Third Avenue and East 21st Street

By C. J. Hughes

Abigger development site can produce greater profits. But how exactly developers stitch together those parcels, a process that can make or break projects, often plays out privately.

However, an unusual amount of transparency has surrounded the push by Legion Investment Group to put up a luxury tower in the Gramercy neighborhood, thanks to a battle waged in court by a person in the path of the new project.

Legion seeks to build a condo of about 20 stories at Third Avenue and East 21st Street. To do so, the firm, whose CEO is Victor Sigoura, seems intent on the condo not just sitting on Third but extending deep into the block toward Gramercy Park. That push eastward would necessitate acquiring real estate from the 38 Gramercy Park North co-op that stands there today.

The biggest prize for Sigoura would be to purchase the five-story building that houses the 33-unit co-op. By adding that parcel to his site, Sigoura would gain a lot that directly faces the private park, a legal requirement for use of the leafy green space.

In 2022, Sigoura offered the co-op $40 million to buy its building, records show, before upping his bid to $42 million. Finally, in 2023, he dangled $45 million.

Sigoura also invited No. 38’s shareholders to take a tour of his breakout Upper East Side condo project, 109 E. 79th St, filings show, perhaps to impress any fence-sitters with his level of craftsmanship. And the charm offensive seemed to work: Shareholders voted 25 to seven to sell to Sigoura, though the deal has not yet closed.

But the ex-real-estate lawyer, who did not respond to a request for comment, also launched a separate campaign that seemed aimed at letting him acquire a bit of No. 38 if he could not have it all. Indeed, Legion offered to buy a small slice of air rights over a portion of the co-op so Legion’s condo could jut slightly eastward.

Whether a 25-foot cantilever into No. 38’s air space would be enough to qualify Legion’s condo buyers for access to Gramercy Park is unclear.

But even if the bump-out was simply conceived to make the apartments roomier, it touched off a battle royale at No. 38. Indeed, two years ago resident Joseph Cogan sued the board there for allegedly entering into a sweetheart deal with Legion for the air rights, which Cogan claimed were undervalued dramatically. The board denied any wrongdoing.

A Manhattan Supreme Court judge ultimately found for Cogan, ruling in May 2023 that the co-op “breached its fiduciary duties in failing to perform adequate due diligence.” But as part of its settlement, the board shelled out $1.5 million to purchase Cogan’s one-bedroom, removing the chief obstacle to the air rights sale, which closed on Feb. 27 for $4.2 million. And the building could follow suit.

37 GRAMERCY PARK EAST

If Legion canvassed other properties in the neighborhood in its search for valuable park frontage, it probably knocked on the door of this building, a five-story rental with six apartments next to 38 Gramercy Park North. Although not even 20 feet wide, the prewar site stares directly at Gramercy Park’s ginkos and elms and thus owns keys to the park’s gates; No. 37’s rear wall also sits near Legion’s Third Avenue sites. Likewise, the 8,700-squarefoot structure appears to have a single owner, the BenDov family, and so any deal would not require sign-offs from a long list of shareholders like at the co-op No. 38. But the Ben-Dovs appear to be keeping their building in the rental column, at least for now. The duplex penthouse in the elevator building, which comes with a private roof deck, was asking $18,000 a month in December.

36 GRAMERCY PARK EAST

Designed by Texas courthouses architect James Riely Gordon in 1910, this 12-story apartment building can seem like an inspiration for the 1913 Woolworth Building downtown. Both are awash in Gothic details—a pair of knights in armor flank No. 36’s front door—and both have white terra-cotta facades. No. 36 was also cutting-edge in its day for being among the city’s first purpose-built co-ops, offering shareholders a cut starting at around $9,000, records show, though by the 1940s it seemed to function as a rental. Artsy types flocked, perhaps drawn to the area by organizations like the Players Club (16 Gramercy Park South) and the National Arts Club (at next-door No. 15). Actor John Barrymore, sculptor Daniel Chester French and playwright Eugene O’Neill were once tenants. In 2010, developer Maurice Mann began a condo conversion expected to eventually generate $144 million, though 10 of the 57 units, which function as rentals, remain unsold.

34 GRAMERCY PARK EAST

This Hogwarts-like brownstone-and-brick edifice made a major wager when opening in 1883 as an early co-op: Would wealthy New Yorkers leave single-family townhouses behind and plunk down money instead for an apartment in a multifamily building? To make sure buyers said yes, the building made itself taller than usual, at 9 stories, which required installing recently-invented elevators, according to profiles of the building. No. 34 also created an on-site restaurant for convenience. And it seemed to work, as No. 34 has been a desirable address ever since. Margaret Hamilton, who played the Wicked Witch of the West in The Wizard of Oz, once lived there. More recently, The Tonight Show host Jimmy Fallon was a shareholder. He bought his first apartment in the building in 2002, and after marrying movie producer Nancy Juvonen in 2007, began combining it with next-door units and upstairs ones. By 2021, when they put it on the market, the couple’s home encompassed four units, three floors and about 5,000 square feet, as well as quirky rustic touches like an antler chandelier and fieldstone fireplace. The co-op sold in 2022 for $10.8 million, which appears to be a building record by a long shot.

38 GRAMERCY PARK EAST

Built as a rental in 1930 and taken co-op in 1988, this 5-story, 33-unit site has been at the heart of a drawn-out battle pitting a luxury developer, Legion Investment Group, against a shareholder who opposed selling air rights to Legion for a next-door condo project. The co-op board ultimately paid the opponent, Joe Cogan, $1.5 million for his apartment, which had cost $620,000 in 2006. It’s not the first time that the co-op has been caught up in controversy. In 2010, the building sought to add a wine bar in its basement retail berth. But some neighbors worried about Gramercy’s residential character pushed back against the plan, derailing it. Singer and songwriter Rufus Wainwright once owned a home in the building, which sits in an enclave with deep artistic roots.

256 THIRD AVE.

One of four sites acquired by Legion Investment Group for a condo project, No. 256, a four-story brick prewar mixed-use site, is perhaps the most prominent. Occupying its commercial space is Plug Uglies, an Irish bar that knows something about the neighborhood’s gentrification. From 1997 to 2015, the bar, named for a 19th-century New York gang (the Dead Rabbits were a rival) was located across the street at 257 Third, before Alfa Group razed the site for 20 E. 21st St., a 20-story, 67-unit condo. Now, development will likely chase Plug Uglies away again, though it does already have a secondary location on First Avenue on the Upper East Side. Above the bar are four renovated apartments; a three-bedroom with two baths in 2021 was asking $3,700 a month. The site, previously owned by Ki-Sook Choe and HeeNam Bae, sold for $17.1 million. The Korean investors paid $5 million for it in 2009, according to the city register. The pair were also the sellers of the trio of other sites on the block that Legion snapped up: Nos. 252, 254 and 258 Third Ave.

248 THIRD AVE.

Shortly after being created by developer Samuel Ruggles in 1831, Gramercy Park, one of the few members-only green spaces in the city, awarded keys to the five dozen or so tax lots surrounding the two-acre, iron-fence-lined site. Through the years, development subsumed some of those parcels; there are about three dozen qualifying sites today, including 38 Gramercy Park North. But the rules remain generally the same. After paying an annual assessment for the park of $10,000, the park-facing sites get two keys, which are doled out by doormen in some cases. But residents of the buildings can also apply for their own personal version for an annual $350 fee. Around 400 are reportedly in circulation. Losing a key is a big deal; a replacement costs $1,000. Those copies are made by the hardware store in this Italianate building, Warshaw. But that’s not the extent of the store’s key-making business. Every year the park changes its locks for security purposes, necessitating a new wave of keys. The Warshaw family has owned the 5,700-square-foot property, which also has four apartments, since at least the 1970s, records show. The city puts No. 248’s market value at $3.8 million, suggesting it could actually sell for about twice that.

151 E. 20TH ST.

This complex, made up of side-by-side brick buildings, is a condo representing a much earlier era. Developed in 1987 from a rental complex that once served as a hospital, the condo nabbed $2.5 million back in the day for sales of its studios and one-bedrooms, according to its offering plan. In 1989, a pipe exploded nearby under Third Avenue, killing three people, sending asbestos raining down on the block and leaving a crater in its wake. No. 151 used its $125,000 in Con Edison settlement money to refurbish its facade, according to news reports. As bars move and close, the area has gotten sleepier, though the watering hole Barfly N.Y., which appears to have anchored one of the building’s two retail berths since the 1980s, endures. The other storefront, which uses the address 246 Third, houses Gramercy Bagels. But years ago, when the Third Avenue corridor was dotted with German businesses from the East Village’s Kleindeutschland all the way to the Upper East Side, the space was apparently home to a butcher known for his wursts.

N.Y. nurses report heightened rates of assault at work

By Amanda D’Ambrosio

Nurses in New York say they experience verbal or physical violence at work more often than nurses throughout the rest of the country — a reality that could push nurses out of their jobs and jeopardize existing staffing shortages, a staffing report shows.

Nearly 60% of New York nurses experienced workplace violence in the last year, according to a report released this month by Incredible Health, a San Francisco-based digital nurse hiring platform.

Workplace violence — includ-

leave their job because of it.

The pandemic put a spotlight on violence against nurses and other health care workers, sparking concerns from organizations such as the Chicago-based industry group American Hospital Association and Oakland labor giant National Nurses United about protecting providers on hospital grounds.

Specific strategies

“When you have staffing shortages, there’s a higher probability of medication errors, there’s a higher probability of readmission.”

Dr. Iman Abuzeid, co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health

ing verbal or physical assaults by patients or hospital visitors — was higher in New York than nationwide. Roughly half of nurses reported violence at their workplace across the U.S., and more than a quarter said they were likely to

“This is an area we would love for more hospital executives to pay attention to,” said Dr. Iman Abuzeid, co-founder and CEO of Incredible Health. She said there are specific strategies that hospital executives can implement to reduce violence in the workplace, such as hiring additional security personnel or training health care workers on how to de-escalate patient conflicts.

Abuzeid said that staffing challenges during the pandemic could have played a role in heightened instances of assault.

“When you have staffing shortages, there’s a higher probability of medication errors, there’s a higher probability of readmission,” Abuzeid said. “It doesn’t

help that if a nurse has to cover more patients, that can result in frustration from patients or their families.”

Nationally, more than 63% of nurses reported being assigned too many patients at once, the report shows. Approximately 88% said that they believed that staffing shortages resulted in worse

patient care — a significant increase from the 73% who agreed with the statement last year.

Analyzed data

The data come from Incredible Health’s fifth annual state of nursing report, which analyzed data from the one million nurses that

use its platform, the company said. The researchers also surveyed 3,300 nurses as a part of their methodology.

Incredible Health, founded in 2017, partners with 1,500 hospitals across the country, including NYU Langone, New York-Presbyterian and Catholic Health, Abuzeid said.

The confusing and contradictory state of post-pandemic retail

The industry’s enjoying a smooth recovery with only brighter days ahead, right? Not exactly.

Generalizations are by definition never completely accurate, but it is usually fair to describe the overall status of a sector of the real estate industry as either good or bad. Unless, of course, you’re talking about the current state of New York retail, where it is getting harder to tell whether we are in a golden age of robust rents and happy shoppers or a dark age of Targets and drugstores getting robbed every five minutes.

bankruptcies soon followed. It looked like the final nail in the coffin for an already struggling sector.

It’s helpful to remember where retail was before the pandemic began. Things were, to use a term from the prior paragraph, bad, with the seemingly unstoppable rise of e-commerce making the idea of leaving your home to shop less and less appealing. And once Covid did hit, making the idea of leaving your home to shop a public health hazard, a wave of retail closures and

But it wasn’t. As it turned out, shopping in stores was something people were actually excited to resume doing. Manhattan retail rents have now risen for six quarters in a row, and the number of available ground-floor spaces has dropped 33% from its mid2021 peak, according to data from CBRE. A pair of recent blockbuster retail deals on Fifth Avenue— Prada buying its 724 Fifth Ave. home for $425 million and Gucci's parent company buying 717 Fifth Ave. for almost $1 billion—were also widely seen as a major vote of confidence in the sector even as the back-toback timing may have been coincidental.

So, hooray! The predicted retail apocalypse didn’t happen, and now the sector is enjoying a

smooth recovery from the pandemic with nothing but brighter days ahead, right?

Well, not exactly.

The city’s rollout of its legal adult-use marijuana market has devolved into its own universe of dysfunction at this point. A lot of unlicensed smoke shops selling cannabis products have taken retail leases and seem to be making money and paying rent, which should in theory be a welcome boost for any retail landlord. The issue is that this booming business is by and large illegal, and there is a growing effort to crack down on smoke shops by going after property owners. This has turned what should have been a boon for landlords—a new type of tenant to fill their storefronts and provide them with rent—into a legal nightmare.

And then there’s theft. This issue has been all over the news in recent years, but a Walgreens executive’s comment in early 2023 that the firm might have “cried too much” about

it in 2022 seemed to indicate that its salience was on the decline.

Not so in New York. Retail theft was up year over year as of mid-March, according to NYPD data, and a series of high-profile decisions have helped keep the issue front and center.

Combating shoplifting

In September Target announced it would close its East Harlem store and blamed the decision on theft and organized retail crime. It, instead, is opening a store right nearby. In January Gov. Kathy Hochul made combating shoplifting a centerpiece of her State of the State address, although the state Senate has pushed back on this in its recent budget proposal. And Westfield, which runs the swanky shopping mall in Lower Manhattan’s Fulton Transit Center, has claimed that crime at the retail

complex has gotten so bad that it now has no choice but to break its lease (the firm is currently in a nasty legal battle with the Metropolitan Transportation Authority over whether it has the right to put an early end to its 20-year deal).

So to sum up: Retail in the city has bounced back better than almost anyone expected from a pandemic that was supposed to destroy it once and for all. But a much ballyhooed surge in crime has led some retailers to claim they have lost faith in the viability of operating in certain parts of the city. And landlords are finding lots of willing tenants for storefronts in smoke shops—too bad they are operating illegally.

Are you confused yet? Me too. Maybe just go invest in some warehouses.

What Schumer’s rare criticism of Netanyahu means for this year’s presidential election

The U.S. Senate majority leader’s public break with Israel’s long-serving conservative prime minister is a sea change

You would be hard-pressed to find any member of Congress who has a longer, deeper track record of supporting Israel than Chuck Schumer, the Senate majority leader.

Schumer, who has been in Washington for more than 40 years, has always been a cheerleader — or even rubberstamp — for the Israeli government. When President Barack Obama brokered the Iran nuclear deal, Schumer was one of a number of hawkish Democrats to oppose it, breaking with the leader of his own party. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who along with most Israelis reviles Iran, blasted Obama and was all too happy to see some Democrats, like Schumer, join with Republicans in opposing the nuclear agreement.

to give an extraordinary speech.

“The Netanyahu coalition no longer fits the needs of Israel after Oct. 7,” Schumer said. “The world has changed — radically — since then, and the Israeli people are being stifled right now by a governing vision that is stuck in the past.”

Ross Barkan

Schumer is Jewish; his old political base is the heavily Jewish neighborhoods of Brooklyn. Israel, for him, has been sacrosanct, and any criticism of its government has been rare, if nonexistent.

That all changed March 14 when Schumer took to the Senate floor

Schumer said the Benjamin Netanyahu government was an “obstacle to peace” and called for new elections in Israel. He criticized the long-serving conservative prime minister for the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza since Hamas first attacked Israel and killed more than 1,200 civilians on Oct. 7, triggering a war that has claimed more than 30,000 Palestinian lives.

Netanyahu, who has had a tense relationship with both Barack Obama and Joe Biden, has angered the Biden administration with his decision to approve an invasion of the Gaza city of Rafah. Democrats in Congress who have been largely supportive of Israel are now voicing concern as more than 2 million Palestinians struggle for access to food, water and

medicine. Gaza has largely been leveled while Hamas remains in power.

Schumer’s public break with Netanyahu is a sea change — evidence of how much the Israeli government’s actions have alienated international actors, including leaders in the U.S. For now, Republicans are sticking with Netanyahu, along with a few Democratic hawks like John Fetterman, the Pennsylvania senator, and Bronx congressman Ritchie Torres.

Awareness

It would be easy to say Schumer is afraid of a primary or trying to pander to various progressive activists who have been protesting ceaselessly for a permanent ceasefire since October. But Schumer does not support this kind of ceasefire nor their other demands, like conditioning military aid to Israel. He is very much a Zionist, unlike far-left activists in the Democratic Socialists of America and Jewish Voice for Peace.

And he doesn’t need to pander, necessarily, because he just won re-election in 2022. His next primary wouldn’t be until 2028, four long years away. What the world

looks like then or what issues will be on the table is anyone’s guess.

Schumer, however, is aware of where his party is, the risks for Biden in November, and the reality that, regardless of Hamas’ terrorism, a human rights catastrophe has unfolded in Gaza. Netanyahu himself is no longer popular in Israel. He won’t have to face voters for several years but would likely lose an election were it held today.

Schumer, throughout his career, has often represented the median of the Democratic Party. He is a canny legislative leader, a politician who has evolved on a host of issues; he tracks public opinion closely, and that’s how he’s managed a halfcentury in politics.

Biden listens to Schumer. The president won’t call for Netanyahu to go, but it’s likely Biden's private sentiment. He’d prefer a different negotiating partner.

For Netanyahu, however, a very

different calculus is at play. He knows that Trump would be far more supportive of his military ambitions, and he’s likely hoping to drag out the war long enough to see who gets elected in November. If Biden hasn’t reined in Netanyahu, he’s at least a threat to do so at some point. Trump is not. Trump’s return to the White House would be everything the Israeli prime minister ever dreamed of. Ross Barkan is a journalist and author in New York City.

Eddie Small

End New York’s housing policy paralysis

For three years, New York State has been caught in a mire of indecision and retreaded ideas while a housing crisis ravages the state. e process remains painfully stuck; it’s a testament to Albany’s failure to confront and address an issue that a ects millions.

New Yorkers are living through a crisis not seen in generations. Since 2015, rents in the New York City metro area have surged by 30%, and home prices have skyrocketed by 50%. e gap between the burgeoning job market and the meager addition of only 400,000 new homes in the face of 1.2 million new jobs statewide is stark. e city is in desperate need of 560,000 new homes by 2030 to keep pace with expected population and job growth. Yet, the state’s legislative gears grind to a halt, bogged down by the same worn-out debates and lack of forward momentum.

State legislation is needed to empower New York City to forge ahead with housing creation, and that necessity cannot be overstated. e city’s hands are tied without the legislative tools and incentives needed to spur development, leaving hardworking people to bear the brunt of inaction.

e stagnation in Albany is not just disappointing; it’s infuriating. Time is not merely slipping away; it is being wasted.

Every moment lost to legislative dithering is a moment that New Yorkers continue to su er.

Here’s what Albany must do:

◗ Revive and revise incentive programs: e 421-a incentive program’s expiration has left a gaping hole in a ordable housing development strategy. It’s imperative that a replacement, potentially

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed 485-x, is quickly revamped and made appealing to both developers and legislators. Without it, a ordable housing production will continue to lag dramatically.

◗ Adopt a version of “good cause” eviction with caution: While the intentions behind good cause eviction are noble, a delicate balance must be struck. Protecting tenants from unfair evictions should not come at the expense of disin-

centivizing the very developers and landlords we rely on to alleviate this housing crisis.

◗ Eliminate the oor area ratio cap: is is a pivotal step that would enable the construction of more a ordable homes in neighborhoods well-served by public transit.

◗ Utilize state-owned land for affordable housing: e Senate’s proposal to use state-owned land for a ordable housing development won’t move the needle as far as the city needs it to go, but it is one tool in the box. e idea needs to move from the drawing board to concrete planning.

◗ Embrace of ce-to-housing conversions: is approach could breathe new life into underused o ce spaces, addressing the dual challenges of housing shortages and evolving o ce use in a postpandemic world. e Legislature should put real money behind this idea, not the token amounts discussed in past sessions. e scenario unfolding in Albany is one that should be met with shame. In a state as prosperous and resourceful as New York, it’s unconscionable that legislators have allowed this crisis to fester and grow. e time for action was yesterday. e people of New York can’t wait any longer.

A shot in the arm for the state’s primary care workforce

Even with the worst of winter behind us in New York, a lot of people I know are still getting sick. Covid, the u, stomach viruses, seasonal allergies, colds, even mono — they’re all popping up. And if you or your child needs to see a primary care doctor, it can be challenging to get the care you need.

Winter germs and spring allergies are not the main driver of the problem. e real culprit is chronic underinvestment in primary care; we devote only about 5 cents of every health care dollar to vital primary and preventive care. An inadequate supply of health care workers poses another big challenge. Even prior to the onset of Covid-19, New York had a shortage of primary care providers, but an exodus of overburdened, burnt-out health care workers in the wake of the pandemic is continuing to strain our health care system.

paring patients for exams. MAs are predominantly people of color, so they are uniquely positioned to build relationships with patients of color and earn their trust — another key component of high-quality care.

David Sandman, Ph.D., is the president and CEO of the New York Health Foundation.

Solving the workforce shortage is no small feat. But there are practical steps we can take now to alleviate the problem. One simple solution is to elevate the role of medical assistants. MAs are members of a primary care team, and they’re one of the fastest-growing segments of the health care workforce. eir jobs may include tasks like taking medical histories, measuring vital signs and pre-

New York lags every other state in making the most of MAs’ potential, most notably when it comes to vaccine administration. We are the only state that does not allow medical assistants, under the supervision of a clinician, to perform clinical tasks like administering vaccines. Our neighbors in Connecticut and New Jersey allow it; New York should follow suit. Care teams that better utilize MAs often see improvements in patients’ health outcomes, better quality of clinical care, operational e ciencies and reductions in provider strain and burnout.

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed executive budget would bring New York on par with other states.

If enacted, it would enable MAs with appropriate training to administer vaccinations under the supervision of physicians, physician assistants and nurse practitioners. Permitting MAs to administer vaccinations increases the number of health care professionals that can protect New Yorkers against disease. It also frees up doctors and nurses to use their time, ex-

pertise and training to meet more complex patient care needs; clinicians should practice “at the top of their license,” using their highest level of education, training and skills.

Crises bring opportunities, and solving our workforce shortage will require creative approaches. Elevating the role of MAs is a common-sense solution. It’s no wonder that in recent testimony to the state Legislature, the health care workers union 1199SEIU, the Community Health Care Association of New York State, the

Healthcare Association of New York State, the Medical Society of the State of New York, the New York State Academy of Family Physicians and the Primary Care Development Corp. all endorsed the proposal to allow medical assistants to administer vaccinations.

Primary care is the backbone of a high-functioning health care system. Supporting and strengthening the primary care workforce will lead to a healthier and more equitable New York. Now’s the time to take our shot.

GETTY/ISTOCK

BUCK ENNIS

Gov. Hochul should agree to the Grieving Families Act

The Grieving Families Act has been reintroduced in the state Senate. This proposed legislation would drag New York's antiquated wrongful death statute out of the depths of 1847.

Twice in 2023, the state's Legislature endorsed a revised version of the bill, underscoring the need to bring justice and accountability to families of wrongful-death victims by allowing compensation for their grief and anguish.

The existing wrongful-death laws in New York inadvertently perpetuate deeply rooted societal inequities, favoring the lives of those with substantial incomes and unintentionally reinforcing historical racial and gender biases. The Grieving Families Act seeks to recalibrate this skewed equilibrium by broadening the eligibility for filing wrongful death actions, expanding the categories of damages, and extending the timeframe within which justice can be sought. It rejects the notion that the worth of an individual's life is tethered solely to their financial standing and challenges the belief that primary breadwinners alone possess lives of financial consequence.

premiums and a potential exodus of physicians. However, these arguments fail to grasp the broader consequences, not only for grieving families but for our community at large. Wrongful death often begets a cascade of repercussions — the loss of jobs, shuttering of businesses, and sometimes even homelessness for spouses and caretakers. When scrutinizing the financial calculus, one must weigh the inevitable government assistance required for some families of wrongful death victims.

Voice of the people

David B. Lever is a member of Lever & Ecker, a boutique plaintiffs personal injury firm in White Plains.

Despite objections from insurance and other interest groups, the Grieving Families Act stands as a testament to the resounding voice of the people, reflected in its near-unanimous approval in both houses of the state Legislature for two consecutive years. The clamor is not merely for a legal edict but for a paradigm shift that places the sanctity of individuals above the machinations of powerful lobbies.

Yorkers are urging Gov. Kathy Hochul to enact a law that prevents families from enduring a double victimization — first, when their loved one is wrongfully killed, and second, when the law denies them accountability for that loss.

Predictably, opponents of the Grieving Families Act, spearheaded by insurance lobbies, seek to sow fear about increased

In the legal community, there's a grim adage that regulations are often written in blood, emphasizing the reality that legal action and damages are sometimes the only deterrents against wrongdoing. New

Despite the bill's two previous vetoes by the governor, who cited concerns about broadening beneficiary eligibility and extending the statute of limitations, it's crucial to note that nearly every other state

Federal tax credit could stimulate low-income housing in New York

New York City is facing a serious housing crisis. Vacancies are at an all-time low. Rents are at an alltime high. And there is almost no affordable housing construction in the pipeline.

The solution to this problem requires the participation of every level of government, as well as collaboration with the real estate community, unions and advocacy groups.

Recently, in a shocking show of bipartisanship, the notoriously ineffective Republican-led House of Representatives passed the Tax Relief for American Families and Workers Act of 2024, which mostly gained headlines for its inclusion of tax credits for corporate research and development expenses and an expansion of the Child Tax Credit. But I proudly pushed to include in the bill a lesserknown provision — the expansion of the Low-Income Housing Tax Credit — which may prove to be as valuable.

to make this permanent. If this legislation passes the Senate and becomes law with President Joe Biden’s signature, it will be the largest federal investment in affordable housing in more than a decade. The Senate must now do its job and move the bill along.

Rep. Dan Goldman represents New York’s 10th District in the U.S. House of Representatives.

The expanded Low-Income Housing Tax Credit, which is the federal government’s most robust resource to encourage the creation of affordable housing in the U.S., would spur the creation of thousands of affordable units in New York City alone — and even more if we can successfully fight

At the local level, New York City is working to increase affordable housing supply in a number of ways. Last year, Mayor Eric Adams’ City of Yes initiative was implemented to, in the mayor's words, “build a little more housing in every neighborhood.” By reworking zoning laws, the city is prepared to increase affordable housing access across the five boroughs by unlocking inventory with equity at the forefront. Additionally, the mayor has committed more than $22 billion for affordable housing programs over the next 10 years.

With the city and federal government on track to spur investment in affordable housing, it is now time for Albany to do its part. The current regressive housing policy does not work, and government-funded construction alone is insufficient to meet the growing demand.

Since the expiration of the 421-a tax abatement program in 2022, construction of affordable housing has all but ground

to a halt in the city. To be sure, 421-a was a grossly imperfect program, but New York City simply cannot meet the demands for affordable housing supply without some tax-incentive program. Without such a program, the math does not work and banks will not provide essential loans in order to fund construction.

has successfully navigated similar complexities. The potential legal intricacies must not overshadow the fundamental imperative of delivering justice to grieving families.

There is a collective hope that justice and equity will be prioritized for all New Yorkers. The call is for laws that champion accountability and fairness in wrongful death cases, placing the interests of the people ahead of influential lobbyists.

wage requirements that meet New York’s standard as the labor capital of America, and stronger tenant protections are essential to protect renters from displacement.

Path to greater affordability

Gov. Kathy Hochul’s proposed and improved replacement tax incentive, 485-x, presents Albany with an opportunity to reverse the dangerous decline in housing production and set New York City on a path to greater affordability. The general framework of a deal is there for the making: a tax incentive that brings affordable housing construction roaring back to life, underpinned by robust labor and wage standards, and combined with strong tenant protections, among other smaller changes to increase supply.

As with any negotiation, such a deal will require some concessions from real estate developers, labor unions and tenants’ rights advocates. Developers must ensure that new projects include prevailing

For too long, Albany has been stifled by NIMBYism that has led to regressive housing policy and skyrocketing rents. Our elected leaders must understand that the only way out of this housing crisis is to use the government as a catalyst for housing construction at all price points, while ensuring that government subsidies come with strict enforcement and accountability mechanisms.

Poll after poll shows housing and cost of living are top of mind for New Yorkers. The status quo is no longer sustainable.

If even a historically unproductive Congress can pass substantial investments in affordable housing, I trust that my colleagues in state government can do the same. I urge our lawmakers in Albany and stakeholders around the state to meet the moment and come together to include a housing deal in this year’s budget.

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Stark racial inequities persist despite continued efforts to reduce maternal deaths in the state

By Amanda D’Ambrosio

Despite years of state efforts to lower maternal deaths, Black mothers in New York are still dying at a much higher rate than white mothers, a newly released report shows.

Black New Yorkers were five times more likely to die from pregnancy than white New Yorkers through 2020, the most recent statewide data available, according to a report released by the Department of Health on March 14. The state recorded 121 pregnancy-related deaths between 2018 and 2020 — more

mittee to review such fatalities.

Data released by these panels lags because of the review process — but the overall death rate is aligned with more recent 2021 numbers from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Little success in closing gaps

Since the state first established oversight committees, there has been little success in closing racial gaps. State leaders and politicians have proposed policies and programs to offer additional resources to hospitals and increase access to doula care, but patients have yet to see the impacts of those initiatives.

“I’ve seen firsthand our maternal care system, so it’s not surprising to see that we have not made major gains.”

state Sen. Samra Brouk

than 70% of which were preventable, the review found.

The new data comes from the state’s Maternal Mortality Review Board, a panel of experts established in 2019 to investigate pregnancy-related deaths outside of New York City and make recommendations to address the crisis. The city has its own com-

While racial disparities persist statewide, city numbers are even more stark. Black women in the city were nine times more likely to die in pregnancy as of 2020 — significantly higher than both the state and national gaps.

Challenges in reducing disparities in pregnancy-related deaths are in part due to the multitude of factors that contribute to them.

Dr. Wendy Wilcox, chief women’s health service officer at New York City Health + Hospitals, said that deaths are largely due to overall declining health, as mothers today

are older and have higher rates of comorbid conditions such as obesity and hypertension.

But the maternal death rate goes beyond medical factors, she added. Research shows that the lives and health outcomes of Black women are impacted by racism, Wilcox said. “Why would this be any different?”

Discrimination, including slower emergency medical services response for some communities, was a factor in nearly half of all deaths reported between 2018 and 2020, the data shows.

“I’ve seen firsthand our maternal care system, so it’s not surprising to see that we have not made major gains,” state Sen. Samra Brouk, who represents parts of Rochester and has advocated for reductions in maternal deaths, told Crain’s. She added that the state has started to implement new policies and funding streams over the past year that could start to make a difference.

New data come as state and city leaders unveil new, ambitious plans to address the maternal health crisis. Gov. Kathy Hochul proposed a series of initiatives in January to improve the health of mothers and babies, including making New York the first state to offer a medical leave policy for expectant mothers and eliminating out-of-pocket costs for pregnancy

care. A spokesperson from the governor’s office did not answer a question about how much such proposals would cost the state.

Hochul’s proposal also took aim at unnecessary C-sections, which were linked to higher rates of death. Women who had a Csection made up two-thirds of pregnancy-related deaths in New York, although they represented a little over one-third of total births. State efforts have been compounded by city investments. New York City Mayor Eric Adams announced a $43 million initiative to address women’s health in December — including a plan to reduce maternal deaths among

women of color by 10% before 2030.

It remains to be seen not only whether the state’s newly proposed programs will go into effect, but whether they’ll have a sizable impact. New York state is in the early stages of implementing a new Medicaid benefit to cover doulas, which are nonclinical providers that offer emotional and physical support during pregnancy and birth. The program started on March 1 but is awaiting approval from the federal government, said Danielle DeSouza, a spokeswoman for the Health Department. So far, 40 doulas are enrolled.

Adams calls for more power to involuntarily hospitalize people with mental illness following subway attacks

By Jacqueline Neber

Mayor Eric Adams is calling on Albany to give the city more power to involuntarily hospitalize people with mental illness in the wake of a shooting on a Brooklyn subway on March 14.

Around 5 p.m., shots were fired on a crowded A train, leaving a 36-year-old man fighting for his life. The following day, the police

why he is seeking increased power to involuntarily hospitalize New Yorkers with serious mental illness.

“When you look at many of these random acts of violence that you’re seeing, you’re seeing that it’s dealing with people who are dealing with some real severe mental health illness,” he said in an interview with NY1 on March 15.

“Something simple, as just being able to engage them and give them the help they need… We have to give our law enforcement, our outreach workers the proper authorization to give them the help that they need.”

“When you look at many of these random acts of violence that you’re seeing, you’re seeing that it’s dealing with people who are dealing with some real severe mental health illness.”

Mayor Eric Adams

were searching for a woman who was with the gunman at the HoytSchermerhorn Street station and sliced the back of the victim’s neck with a knife.

It is not known whether the assailants in the March 14 attacks are living with mental illness. But Adams said the incident “personifies”

He noted that some people who commit acts of violence are known in the subway system and have been involuntarily removed more than once. In light of this, he is urging Albany to give him more power to conduct removals, he said in another interview on March 15 with 77 WABC radio.

The mayor’s call for action comes shortly after Gov. Kathy Hochul unveiled a five-point plan to increase security in the subway system, including dedicating $20

million to expand a subway mental health outreach program.

While Adams’ insistence on involuntary removals as a method for addressing the city’s mental health crisis has faced harsh criticism, the latest city data shows that his plan is moving in the right direction. Since he launched a directive reminding law enforcement and outreach workers that involuntary transport to hospitals

is in their purview, they have conducted an average of 137 removals per week. As a result, 54 of the 100 individuals on the city’s Coordinated Behavioral Health Task Force’s lists of people who have mental illness, but resist overtures for help, now have a roof over their heads and more people are connecting with treatment, according to the administration.

Adams has pledged to intensify

street outreach efforts to move more New Yorkers inside for treatment, triple capacity at the city’s Clubhouses, communitybased facilities where people can get support and connection to housing and job services. He also aims to double the city’s Intensive Mobile Treat and Assertive Community Treatment teams, which provide individuals with medication and treatment.

Mayor Eric Adams first revealed his plan to address mental illness in the city in November 2022. MaYOr ErIc aDaMS ON FLIcKr

City, Legal Aid in temporary settlement amid migrant crisis over controversial effort to roll back right to shelter

By Eddie Small

The city and Legal Aid have reached a settlement over the Adams administration’s controversial effort to roll back New York’s longstanding right to shelter amid the migrant crisis.

Under the agreement, the city must provide 30 days of shelter to adult migrants, after which the migrants will not have the ability to reapply for shelter unless they have demonstrated an extenuating circumstance requiring more time in the system. Migrants younger than 23 years old will re-

people have been forced to spend days or weeks waiting on floors and chairs when reapplying for shelter, according to Legal Aid.

Adams said in a statement that the city has “been clear, from day one, that the ‘Right to Shelter’ was never intended to apply to a population larger than most U.S. cities descending on the five boroughs in less than two years.”

“Today’s stipulation acknowledges that reality and grants us additional flexibility during times of crisis, like the national humanitarian crisis we are currently experiencing,” he said.

“We will very closely monitor the city’s compliance with this settlement.”

Adriene Holder, Legal Aid chief attorney

ceive 60 days of shelter, and adults with disabilities can also receive shelter for longer than 30 or 60 days.

The settlement took effect immediately and only applies to adults, not families with children. It also eliminates the use of “waiting rooms” as shelters, as many

Legal Aid stressed that the settlement terms are temporary and will apply only during the current humanitarian crisis, and the government will not be automatically allowed to deny anyone shelter if they need it, preserving the underlying right to shelter that has long been a hallmark of New York.

“We will very closely monitor the city’s compliance with this settlement,” Legal Aid Chief Attorney Adriene Holder said, “and we won’t hesitate to seek judicial in-

tervention should there be noncompliance.”

Adams first attempted to roll back the city’s right to shelter mandate in May amid the surge of migrants coming into the city, arguing that this had made it impossible for New York to provide a bed

for anyone seeking one. Officials began mediation with Legal Aid in October in an effort to resolve the matter. The city has been required to provide a bed to anyone who wants one following a landmark 1979 court ruling in Callahan v. Carey, and the Adams administration has argued this is one of the reasons why migrants are choosing to come to New York.

There are currently 120,000 people in the city’s shelter system, roughly 65,000 of whom are migrants, according to the Adams administration.

Men sleep on a sidewalk behind a metal barricade during the daytime outside the Roosevelt Hotel in Midtown Manhattan. | BUCK ENNIS

Housing nonprofit Community Access opens $120M Bronx development for people with mental illness

By Amanda D’Ambrosio

Community Access, a nonprofit that provides housing and social services to New Yorkers, unveiled a 245-unit supportive housing development in the South Bronx on March 19 for people experiencing homelessness or severe mental illness.

The $120 million project, located at 1169 River Avenue, is the largest housing development built by Community Access to date, said Cal Hedigan, the organization’s chief executive officer. The units are a mix of supportive and affordable residences and are tailored for single adults

tion, among others.

Filling up the units

The development has been accepting tenants since November and hosted an official ribbon cutting on March 19. Roughly 130 apartments are occupied, and Community Access is aiming to fill all of the units by the end of April, Hedigan said.

Supportive housing provides a range of social services to unhoused New Yorkers and people with mental illnesses, including connecting people with medical or mental health services, providing education and job training and helping people form relationships with their neighbors and families.

“Once people have access to housing and support services, they can really move beyond day-to-day survival needs, and have a stable place to think about other aspects of their life.”

Cal Hedigan, CEO of Community Access

and families experiencing mental health conditions or homelessness.

Hedigan said that the project was funded by several state and community entities including the Office of Mental Health, the New York State Housing Finance Agency and the city’s Department of Housing and Preserva -

“Once people have access to housing and support services, they can really move beyond dayto-day survival needs, and have a stable place to think about other aspects of their life,” Hedigan said, adding that some individuals set goals to reconnect with their families or enter the workforce.

More than 100 units in the new development are studio apartments for people experiencing mental illness, Hedigan said. The building is also the first one developed by Community Access that is equipped with larger rooms and will include 17 three-bedroom apartments for

bigger families experiencing homelessness.

The building has 20,000 square feet of commercial space and is staffed by a team of 11 people providing social services. Staff

members include family and youth advocates as well as harm reduction specialists who can connect people to care.

Community Access, based in the Financial District, was found-

ed in 1974. The organization has 20 affordable and supportive housing developments in the Bronx, Brooklyn and Manhattan representing $400 million in real estate investments.

Cohen Bros. files demolition permits for Midtown office

By Eddie Small

Cohen Bros. Realty may be dealing with some of its Midtown office woes by tearing down one of its buildings.

The prominent, family-run real estate firm recently filed demolition permits with the Department of Buildings for 15 E. 54th St., which shares the same block and lot number as the company’s 19-story office building addressed at 3 E. 54th St., city records show. The demolition permit, dated March 13, says the building spans about 280,000 square feet, the same size as 3 E. 54th St., but also lists it at only 9 stories and 78 feet tall, possibly indicating that Cohen Bros. could be planning only a partial demolition of the property.

A representative for the company did not respond to a request for comment by press time.

Cohen Bros. purchased 3 E. 54th St. in 1983, and the building was renovated in 1985, according to property records and the commercial real estate database CoStar. It is located between Madison and Fifth avenues and includes

ground-floor retail and an on-site parking garage, the Cohen Bros. website says.

Cohen Bros., which dates back to the 1950s, has been struggling with major office vacancies in the aftermath of the pandemic. The company owns eight office towers in Midtown, many of which are the type of older buildings facing a rough road amid competition from newer ones and a tough office market in general.

Facing vacancies

The company faces particularly significant vacancies at properties including 3 Park Ave., where the occupancy rate fell to 54% late last year, and 805 Third Ave., also known as the Crystal Pavilion, where vacancies grew to 40%, according to data from Fitch Ratings. Cohen Bros. itself is headquartered in its building at 750 Lexington Ave. in Midtown, where WeWork is the largest tenant. The coworking firm listed Cohen Bros. as an unsecured creditor owed roughly $3 million in unpaid rent and lease-termination fees in its bankruptcy filing last year.

Housing nonprofit Community Access unveiled a 245-unit supportive housing development located at 1169 River Ave. in the South Bronx on March 19. | SEaN SIMES

City council speaker wants to create a public tracker for lagging bus, bike lane projects

By Caroline Spivack

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams wants to prod City Hall into stepping up its efforts to hit annual mileage targets for new bike and bus lanes.

Speaker Adams said March 13 that through new legislation she wants to create a “capital tracker of streets plan projects, from conception to finalized construction, that will be updated monthly.” The Streets Master Plan, which be-

was required to create by law. DOT must comply and meet the benchmarks mandated by the plan. New Yorkers can wait no longer.”

The speaker added that a tracker would allow New Yorkers to see progress on specific activities in their communities and make it abundantly clear where transit officials are falling short. “Oversight and transparency are essential to accountability, which is critical to the health of our city and our democracy,” she added.

“Mayor Adams promised to go above and beyond the streets plan and he has utterly failed us so far.”

Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance

came law in 2019, required the Department of Transportation to build 80 miles of bike lanes and 50 miles of bus lanes, among other traffic upgrades, within the first two years of Mayor Eric Adams’ administration.

But the projects have fallen behind. In a February report on the Streets Master Plan, DOT said it has rolled out 58.2 miles of bike paths and just 9.6 miles of bus lanes. Bus transit is especially critical to promoting alternatives to cars with the anticipated June launch of congestion pricing. Speaker Adams said she aims to ratchet up pressure for compliance through greater transparency.

“Laws and policies are only as good as their implementation,” she said March 13 during her State of the City address. “A prime example is the streets plan, which the Department of Transportation

DOT officials say they are hindered by a city hiring freeze and acrossthe-board budget reductions the mayor has ordered. In its February progress report DOT said the agency “did our best to protect services, but unfortunately many programs, including supporting the Streets Plan had to be reduced.”

Speaker Adams’ proposal isn’t yet drafted in bill form, council staff said. DOT spokesman Vincent Barone said in a statement that “we look forward to reviewing the legislation.”

The transportation agency cautioned, however, that it already provides annual updates on the streets plan and noted that more granular updates may pose a challenge. The feedback indicates a political battle may be on the horizon over the implementation of the streets plans. Earlier this year, Speaker Adams said she’s open to exploring a lawsuit against the city in order to force city compliance.

DOT is also behind on upgrading bus stops — 54 of 1,000 have been outfitted with bus time poles or shelters, while another 320 stops have received seating. Simi-

Empire State Building owner lands new loans with tourism recovery

By Aaron Elstein

The Empire State Building’s owner has secured new and potentially much larger loans, a sign that although banks are generally squeamish about lending to office landlords, they are willing to work with certain borrowers.

Empire State Realty Trust’s new $715 million in senior unsecured revolving and term loans can be expanded to $1.5 billion so long as certain conditions are met. The $620 million unsecured portion of the loan package carries an interest rate of 6.6%. The new package, which matures in five years, re-

Occupancy rates at Empire State Realty’s office portfolio remain below 2019 levels, but the Empire State Building is one of the city’s top attractions, and net operating income at its observatory rose by 26% last year, to $94 million.

Annual visitors

Nearly 62 million travelers came to New York last year, 5 million more than in 2022. An additional 2.5 million visitors are expected this year, according to the city’s marketing arm, NYC & Company.

The stream of tourist cash flow helped give the Empire State Building’s bankers confidence to lend more, albeit at higher rates.

larly, the agency did not hit the mark on installing pedestrianfriendly signal timing at 2,000 intersections.

DOT staff say it exceeded a benchmark for adding accessible signals to 1,000 intersections and has reached a record high of more than 1 million square feet of pedestrian space.

Complaints

Metropolitan Transportation Authority Chair and Chief Executive Janno Lieber has also complained about bus lanes lagging. “I love 2022 Eric Adams who said he wanted to be the bus mayor; we’ve got to get back on the track of opening the way” for buses stuck in traffic, Lieber told reporters in February.

Danny Pearlstein, policy and communications director for the Riders Alliance, said he hopes a new project tracker would bring greater public scrutiny.

“Mayor Adams promised to go above and beyond the streets plan and he has utterly failed us so far,” Pearlstein said. “The streets plan is off track, so it requires a heightened degree of remedial monitoring, which is what this will involve.”

Elizabeth Adams, deputy executive director for public affairs at Transportation Alternatives, which advocates for street safety measures, said the city’s annual progress report is too infrequent.

“It shouldn’t fall on the public to track the progress of legally required and taxpayer-funded street safety projects,” she said.

“Once live, the tracker will help ensure projects are being planned equitably across the city, shovels are in the ground, and the projects the New Yorkers deserve get completed.”

Occupancy rates at Empire State Realty’s office portfolio remain below 2019 levels, but the Empire State Building is one of the city’s top attractions, and net operating income at its observatory rose 26% last year.

places an existing $1.1 billion credit facility that matures next year. Real estate dealmakers described the loans as an unusual package for a distinctive building.

“Lenders are probably looking at this as other than a traditional real estate play,” one dealmaker said, “similar to how financings on buildings in Times Square often garner higher loan proceeds as a result of signage revenue.”

Empire State Realty didn’t return a request for comment. In a statement, President Christina Chiu said the firm is “pleased with the successful execution of our new credit facility that maintains our strong liquidity position.”

City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams delivers her State of the City address. EMIL cOhEN/NYc cOUNcIL MEDIa UNIT

St. Louis-based hospitality firm purchases hotel project in Downtown Brooklyn out of bankruptcy

By Eddie Small

A bankrupt but nearly finished Downtown Brooklyn hotel project has found a new owner from the Midwest.

Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in June.

Midas Hospitality, a St. Louisbased company, has purchased the development at 291 Livingston St. for about $34.9 million, property records show. The firm’s portfolio includes several hotels throughout the Midwest and South, along with one in upstate New York, but this appears to be its first purchase in the city.

The city’s hotel industry has enjoyed a fairly solid recovery from the pandemic. However, the market is not expected to fully rebound to pre-Covid levels until next year.

Midas bought the project from a limited liability company linked to Aview Equities, developer Abraham Leifer’s Brooklyn-based firm. The LLC filed to put the project in

The LLC, Hello Livingston Extended, formed in 2018 and bought 291 Livingston St. for $14.8 million, according to court records. It planned to build a 21-story, roughly 46,000-squarefoot hotel and luxury residential project at the site but ran out of funding, an affidavit included with the bankruptcy filing said. The project was already 95% done and would require about $6 million to complete, court documents said. The Leifer-linked firm had defaulted on multiple loans and planned to sell the property to pay off its creditors as part of the bankruptcy process. Its sole asset was 291 Livingston St. itself, and its estimated value was $29.5 million, according to court filings.

Representatives for Midas Hospitality and Aview Equities did not respond to requests for comment by press time. It is unclear if Midas plans to finish the project Aview had planned for the site, although that option would seem to make the most financial sense given how far along it is.

The city’s hotel industry has enjoyed a fairly solid recovery from the pandemic. The sector’s average daily rate for 2023 was $301.12, its most expensive yet, and it is ex-

pected to further increase to $310.23 this year, according to the commercial real estate database CoStar. However, the market is not expected to fully rebound to preCovid levels until next year.

Downtown Brooklyn, meanwhile, has seen a huge influx of residential projects in recent years, and more are on the way. Developer JCS Realty is planning a 154-unit project at 540 Atlantic Ave., for instance, and developer Twin Group Associates is planning a 101-unit project at 150 Lawrence St.

291 Livingston St. | COSTAR

Luxury developer acquires Gramercy properties, air rights in big steps toward expected condo project

By C. J. Hughes

A luxury developer popular with the Wall Street crowd has taken major steps toward a new condo project near Gramercy Park.

Legion Investment Group closed recently on four properties on Third Avenue between East 20th and East 21st streets. At the same time, the firm, whose chief executive is Victor Sigoura, has also purchased some air rights from a nearby co-op, 38 Gramercy Park North, in order to cantilever a 25-foot-wide section of the new building over the co-op’s roof, records show.

traded for $68.3 million, according to deeds in city records. All had the same seller, Hee Nam Bae. Meanwhile, the deal for the air rights, which cost $4.2 million, also closed last month.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. provided Legion with a $33.5 million loan for its acquisitions.

Legion reportedly had its eyes on the air rights for years. But an internal dispute within the co-op had blocked the sale and touched off a court fight. A shareholder who lived in the building, Joseph Cogan, claimed the co-op had dramatically undervalued the air rights, though the case ultimately went nowhere. In the fall, Cogan sold his apartment to the co-op for $1.5 million and relocated to Williamsburg, according to the city register.

Four buildings, a mix of low-slung commercial and mixed-use properties, on Third Avenue between East 20th and East 21st streets, sold for $68.3 million.

All told, the four Third Avenue buildings, a mix of low-slung commercial and mixed-use properties that include 256 Third, home since the 1990s to the bar Plug Uglies,

Inaccurate

Still in play, perhaps, is the sale of the co-op itself, a 36-unit prewar building that the board began marketing in 2022 for $50 million but does not yet seem to have changed hands, based on the register.

It would be extremely unusual for a co-op to sell itself; getting each and every shareholder on board for

even basic maintenance tasks can be difficult enough, let alone convincing them to part with their homes and relocate.

But a payout of more than $1 million per apartment apparently appealed to the occupants of the building, a converted hotel. The last unit to trade before Cogan’s exit was in 2021, when a studio went for $365,000.

About 20 stories

Grabbing that site in addition to what’s already in his pocket would give Sigoura front and center exposure on Gramercy Park, a leafy greenspace fenced off and accessible only to those with keys, of which there are just about 400. Most of the key holders live in properties directly facing the park, including in 38 Gramercy Park North. It’s not clear if the air rights alone might give Sigoura the chance to grab a key.

Sigoura has not yet filed a condo offering plan with state officials. But in previous discussions with No. 38’s board, he apparently said his development would stretch 200 feet, about 20 stories, which would make it among the tallest towers in the low-slung district. The tower would have 61 units under the ini-

tial plan, though No. 38 seemed to be part of that version.

Legion has been gradually piecing together development sites elsewhere, including at Madison Avenue and East 84th Street on the Upper East Side, where in January the firm added a parcel for $22 million next to sites for which it has already secured demolition permits. A lawyer who once worked for real estate-focused practice Greenberg Traurig before joining the developer Naftali Group, Sigoura ended up suing firm founder Miki Naftali for allegedly stiffing him out of millions of dollars in profits. Naf-

tali countersued Sigoura for allegedly stealing firm “trade secrets.” Both suits eventually settled. Sigoura’s breakout project, 109 E. 79th St., nabbed $448 million for its 31 apartments, according to the most recent version of its offering plan. Previously, he developed 282 Nassau Ave., a 21-unit condo in Greenpoint, Brooklyn.

An email sent to Sigoura was not returned.

survey of city infrastructure conditions is likely costing taxpayers millions, says

By Caroline Spivack

New York City is failing to accurately survey the condition of its bridges, schools, parks and other key infrastructure in annual surveys, according to an audit published March 15 by City Comptroller Brad Lander. The inaccuracy is likely costing taxpayers millions due to deferred maintenance and repairs made through emergency contracts, the comptroller said.

Lander’s office found that the city’s annual assessment of its infrastructure needs, known as the Asset Information Management System report, consistently fails to

for infrastructure that you did not even inspect,” said Lander in a statement. “We need a more strategic approach, better inspection protocols, and innovative technologies if we’re going to budget properly and maintain our city’s critical infrastructure for the decades to come.”

Every year, the Mayor’s Office of Management and Budget, working with the Department of Design and Construction and consultants, conducts a partial review of city infrastructure that has a replacement cost of at least $10 million and a useful life of at least 10 years. The process is required by the City Charter and the findings are utilized by budget officials to estimate the cost of necessary repair and replacement work.

“We cannot operate our city effectively without accounting for proper maintenance of our infrastructure.”

Lincoln Restler, city council member

accurately detail the costs of keeping up major city structures. The results leave city officials with an incomplete understanding of the costs of maintaining buildings and other facilities that makes it harder for the city to make informed budget decisions.

“You can’t fix what you don’t know is broken, and you sure can’t budget properly for repair needs

In the Fiscal Year 2023 AIMS Report, OMB reported 5,093 infrastructure assets with $14.1 billion in maintenance costs between fiscal 2024 and fiscal 2027. However, the audit raises concerns about the thoroughness of the information the city is relying on.

The comptroller’s office found the AIMS report can produce wildly inaccurate cost estimates. For instance, one survey estimated it would cost $76 million to maintain the Riverside Park

Bridge W. 79th Street Traffic Circle on the Upper West Side. When the project moved into the contract process a few months later, the cost was nearly double at $149.9 million.

Mix of factors

Auditors say inaccurate cost estimates are due to a mix of factors, including superficial examinations of infrastructure, a lack of consistent survey practices and the omission of newer facilities from the surveys.

In a Feb. 7 response to the audit, Travis Godsoe, assistant director of OMB, said the agency will look into comptroller recommendations to improve the process but noted that the audit “contains fundamental misunderstandings” of infrastructure survey practices. Godsoe also “questions the methods of the Audit” in comparing project bid costs to fully assessed construction projects.

comptroller audit

Mayoral spokesman Charles Lutvak also noted that the city worked with the comptroller’s office and consulted procurement experts in 2022 toward pursuing more cost-effective ways to upgrade city infrastructure, and on speedier timelines.

“As our administration continues to deliver high-quality infrastructure more quickly, efficiently, and inclusively, we will continue to follow the Charter-mandated process and work with stakeholders including the comptroller’s office to consider these recommendations,” Lutvak said in a statement.

Lander’s office intends to work with the City Council toward creating clearer guidelines and policies for the infrastructure review.

“We cannot operate our city effectively without accounting for proper maintenance of our infrastructure,” said Council member Lincoln Restler, who represents part of Brooklyn, in a statement. “I look forward to working alongside the Comptroller to pass legislation and create a comprehensive, accurate inventory of infrastructure needs to better inform the City’s capital planning and spending decisions.”

Third

New York City Comptroller Brad Lander called on the city to improve how it estimates costs for the upkeep of critical public infrastructure.

BLOOMBErG

Legion’s maneuverings to amass the Gramercy site show how the game is played: Page 4

Developer Eichner unloads penthouse in West Village for $9.2 million after seven years and a big price chop

By C. J. Hughes

Ian Bruce Eichner, a developer known for hitting lofty heights before plunging into financial troughs, is now seeing the conclusion of a rocky ride at his West Village apartment.

After seven years—a stretch of time that saw the condo market soften, then enjoy a Covid bump and then finally come back down to earth again—Eichner has sold his West Village penthouse for $9.2 million, a discount of more than 30% from the $25 million he was seeking in 2017.

The asking price back then for his top-floor unit, No. PHAE at 100 Morton St., could be considered aggressive. Eichner had paid about $8 million for the 5,700-square-foot spread in 2010, when he bought it from actors and twin sisters MaryKate and Ashley Olsen. And the tripling of its price came as the oncehot mid-2010s condo market was deep into its cooling period.

The Olsens had bought the unit from the building’s sponsor, JD Carlise, for about $7 million in 2004, when the 14-story, 140-unit development, a full-block project called 1 Morton Square, opened.

Featuring a living room with a fireplace, an open kitchen with a 1,000-bottle wine storage enclosure and partial views of the Hudson River, the apartment is currently configured as a two-bedroom. One of the bedrooms, part of a primary suite, includes both a dressing room and a walk-in closet.

Alternative floor plan

But in a move suggesting that buyers expect more places to sleep in an apartment of its size, the Corcoran Group, the agency that handled the listing, provided an alternate floor plan in the listing showing how the penthouse could in fact be converted into a sixbedroom.

The deal went into contract Sept. 29 and closed March 1, according to a deed that appeared in the city register March 14. The buyer was a shell company, Lion and Bull LLC, represented by Manhattan law firm Schwartz, Levine, Pinkas, Stark.

Corcoran’s Laurie Lewis declined to comment. And a message left for Eichner at his firm, Continuum Co., was not returned.

Eichner rose to prominence

in the 1980s with the development of Midtown’s CitySpire tower, a 73story high-rise on West 56th Street that offered a mix of offices and condos but succumbed to foreclosure soon after opening in 1989. Eichner filed for bankruptcy protection two years later.

Another famous misfire occurred in Harlem, where Continuum purchased a site near the 125th Street Metro-North station from Vornado Realty Trust in 2013 and intended to put up a hefty two-towered rental complex. But Eichner ran into debt problems, and after the Durst Organization snapped up a distressed note on the property, at 1800 Park Ave., Eichner agreed to sell it to Durst in 2016 for $91 million.

Eichner’s staying power, however, has been notable. A 65-story, 83-unit condo at 45 E. 22nd St. in the Flatiron District begun about a

decade ago weathered years of court battles among its partners, was forced to bring in new investors along the way when funds ran short and also struggled through a declining sales market.

But the tower’s last sponsor unit, No. 52AB, went on sale in January 2023. Initially listed for $20 million, it sold for $17.5 million in July, records show.

In 2022 Continuum entered into a contract to buy a Unitarian church and some related brown-

stones on East 35th Street for a reported $70 million with the idea of putting up a 15-unit condo tower at the Murray Hill address. Continuum does not appear to have ever closed on the site; there is no deed indicating an outright sale in the city register. But the developer may have instead partnered with the church in the deal.

In any event, the church, the nonprofit Community Church of NY, filed an application to demolish the site this month.

100 Morton St., West Village | BUCK ENNIS

Ian Bruce Eichner, Continuum Co.

GETTY IMAGES

the law firm Milbank Tweed, which signed a lease in 2016 and pays $90 a square foot for 360degree views from the 30th through 39th floors.

“I’m in an interior office, but you can enjoy the views from wherever you are,” said a Milbank spokeswoman.

A return-to-office survey by the Partnership for New York City showed law firms had average daily attendance of 65%, the same as finance and the most of any profession except real estate, at 75%.

Even so, law firms don’t need as much space as they used to, said Tom Fulcher, a vice chairman at commercial broker Savills. They typically lease 600 square feet per lawyer, or 40% less than before, a decline that predates the pandemic. Less room is needed because office-cluttering file cabinets and libraries filled with weighty tomes have gone the way of the scrivener.

Still, there are an awful lot of law firms and they’ve supplanted tech firms as brokers’ favorite clients.

“There was a time when Google was taking 1 million square feet of space. Last year it was financial

“If you sign up for space people actually use, that’s a smart decision.”

Tom Fulcher, a vice chairman at commercial broker Savills

tenants looking for space,” said Ken Rapp, a vice chairman at CBRE. “Next in line is law.”

Manhattan law firms leased 3 million square feet of space last year, said Rapp, who reckoned that was the most or second-most in the last 20 years. Paul Weiss Rifkind Wharton & Garrison last year took 765,000 square feet at 1345 Sixth Ave., and also last year Davis Polk & Wardwell signed a renewal and extension for 700,000 square feet at 450 Lexington Ave.

Law firm leasing activity is robust in other cities, too. In downtown Chicago, the third largest

deal signed by any employer was the 204,000 square-foot renewal by law firm Katten Muchin Rosenman, according to Savills. Close behind, at 185,000 square feet, was a lease signed by ArentFox Schiff, Costar data show.

Law firm leasing volume probably will fall to about 1.5 million square feet this year in New York, Rapp said, because fewer leases are expiring. But several big firms whose leases expire in three years are hunting for space because it takes about 18 months to design and build out an office after finding the right location.

Those on the prowl include Willkie Farr & Gallagher, whose lease for 300,000 square feet at 787 Seventh Ave. expires in 2027. So is Ropes & Gray, whose lease for 330,000 square feet at 1211 Sixth Ave, expires in 2027. Also looking for space are Goodwin Procter and Covington & Burling, both located in The New York Times Building on Eighth Avenue, across from the Port Authority bus terminal.

Willkie Farr said it is reviewing its options. Ropes, Goodwin, and Covington didn’t reply to a request for comment.

Attention is also being paid to Rockefeller Center. The nearly 100-year-old complex is 93% occupied, according to owner Tishman Speyer, a strong figure considering older buildings tend to be out of favor these days with prime commercial tenants and higher than 2019’s 92% occupancy rate, according to Moody’s. Law firm Baker Hostetler’s lease expires in three years and is contemplating new space, according to people familiar with the matter. Baker wouldn’t comment.

Rockefeller Center’s $1.7 billion mortgage, at a 5.6% interest rate, matures next year and lenders will want a robust occupancy rate in order to refinance the loan. KBRA Credit Profile said in a recent report the 12-building, 6.7 million square-foot complex is “conservatively leveraged,” though net cash flow fell by 2% on an annualized basis last year, to $165 million. Asked if he expects to refinance

the mortgage at an attractive rate, Tishman Speyer CEO Rob Speyer said, “Yes. For sure.”

Others, however, are watching closely for signs of weakness.

“Rockefeller Center is the biggest refinancing in the city,” said a major law firm partner who specializes in commercial real estate deals. “Next is Worldwide Plaza.”

Prefer newer buildings

At the corner of Eighth Avenue at West 50th Street, Worldwide Plaza is shaping into the cautionary tale of what can happen when a building loses a big law firm. Anchor tenant Cravath Swaine & Moore is leaving in August for 2 Manhattan West, near Hudson Yards, and so far no one has leased the firm’s 600,000 square feet of space. Fitch Ratings says the Worldwide Plaza’s $1.2 billion mortgage, at a 4% interest rate, comes due in 2027 and refinancing could be difficult without a big new tenant.

One reason older buildings like Worldwide Plaza, developed in

1989, struggle for tenants is their windows are smaller and columns tend to clutter hallways. That environment was all right when partner offices measured at 350 square feet. But now that they’ve shrunk to about 150 today, Fulcher said, the challenge for law firms is to provide employees a more appealing atmosphere than they can get at home. That’s why law firms want space in newer, column-free buildings with lots of windows, even if they lease less space than before.

“If you sign up for space people actually use, that’s a smart decision,” Fulcher said.

Jon Dorf, managing partner at Dorf Nelson & Zauderer, said his Westchester County-based firm looked at about two dozen possible office locations and visited six before moving into 11,000 square feet of space at 475 Fifth Ave. in December. The only trouble was he couldn’t find any takers for the law-book shelves bought when he was starting out 30 years ago.

“I literally couldn’t give them away,” Dorf said.

From left: Jon Dorf, Mark Zauderer and Jonathan Nelson of Westchester County-based law firm Dorf Nelson & Zauderer. The firm looked at about two dozen possible office locations and visited six before moving into 11,000 square feet at 475 Fifth Ave. in December. | BUcK ENNIS

Goodwin Procter and Covington & Burling, both in The New York Times Building, are looking for space.

BUcK ENNIS

The nearly 100-year-old Rockefeller Center complex is 93% occupied.

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Advertising Section

on certain protected classes of New York City property owners.”

The state Supreme Court had previously dismissed parts of the case, and the Appellate Division then dismissed it entirely, a decision that was appealed. The Court of Appeals' ruling should clear the way for the case to go back to the state Supreme Court.

millions of renters and homeowners in lower income and minority communities.”

Justin Henry, a spokesman for Gov. Kathy Hochul, said only that the administration is reviewing the decision. Representatives for the city did not respond to a request for comment by press time. However, at Mayor Eric Adams' media availability session Tuesday, Law Department corporation counsel Sylvia Hinds-Radix stressed that the Court of Appeals had determined only that Tax Equity had standing, or “the right to bring the lawsuit.”

tem fails to do this, so this decision is certainly a step in the direction of property tax equality.”

Severe criticism

“That does not mean that the lawsuit is concluded," she said. "It goes back to the lower court and then the determinations are going to be made.”

“Today is a great day for millions of New Yorkers who have been treated unfairly by the city’s unconstitutional property tax system.”

Martha Stark, Tax Equity Now New York’s policy director, in a statement

“Today is a great day for millions of New Yorkers who have been treated unfairly by the city’s unconstitutional property tax system,” Martha Stark, Tax Equity's policy director and former commissioner of the Department of Finance, said in a statement. "The court's decision means that finally, after decades of avoiding responsibility to fix a universally-acknowledged problem and a seven-year legal battle, city and state leaders will be required to create a property tax system that is equitable and just for

Still, the court’s decision will likely ultimately cause homeowners in parts of the city with more white residents to see property tax increases and homeowners in non-white areas to see decreases, said Benjamin Williams, an attorney specializing in property taxes at the law firm Rosenberg & Estis.

“The main issue is that the court is compelling the New York City Department of Finance to assess tax more uniformly as a percentage of market value,” he said.

“Right now, the 43-year-old sys-

New York's current property tax system has been in place since 1981 and caps annual assessment increases at 6%, even as property values in some areas of the city have risen by much more than that.

The system has faced severe criticism for years, including from former Mayor Bill de Blasio's administration, although it did not end up taking major steps to reform it, and de Blasio himself did not support the Tax Equity lawsuit. The former mayor did set up a commission to study the tax system that released its final report at the tail end of his second term. Its recommendations included establishing a new tax class for owners of small residential properties, removing growth caps on assessed values and keeping tax class rates fixed for five-year periods barring action from the mayor and the City Council.

an advocate for comprehensive reform, especially following the June 2022 expiration of the controversial 421-a program, which gave developers a tax break in exchange for making 30% of residential units in their buildings affordable.

City Comptroller Brad Lander has been an outspoken critic and

“As my office has advocated, New York needs to overhaul its property tax system because it overtaxes outer-borough communities of color, while undertaxing my neighbors in brownstone Brooklyn and high-rise Manhattan,” Lander said in a statement following the court decision. "This ruling is consistent with our calls for Albany to act on New York

property tax reform."

The Court of Appeals decision noted that government officials have agreed the current system is unfair but also noted they have so far done little to fix it.

“While these officials bemoan the situation, the city fails to act,” Judge Jenny Rivera wrote in the majority opinion. “According to the complaint, the numbers tell the story of a taxation scheme that requires lower-income property owners and renters in majorityminority New York City neighborhoods to pay more than their fair share of the tax burden in violation of the law.”

BLOOMBERG

Oz Moving & Storage GM often plays counselor while boxing up memories

‘This

Oa very personal industry,’ and people ‘can get very stressed about it’

n a basic level, Nancy Zafrani, the second-in-command at Midtown-based Oz Moving & Storage, is responsible for making sure boxes travel safely from point A to point B.

But because those packages can contain an entire life’s worth of cherished antiques, books and wedding presents, items that are often on the go because of a birth or death, the job can be more like that of a therapist.

“ is is a very personal industry, because you are handling people’s homes, and they can get very stressed about it,” she said. “When clients tell me that I helped to make things stress-free, it’s really the best thing I can hear.”

Zafrani has plenty of chances to soothe. Orchestrating about 18,000 moves a year to places like Spain, Switzerland and Seattle, but mostly between oors of New York apartment buildings, she’s handled almost a half-billion relocations in her three-decade-long career, she says.

While a 17-year-old student, Zafrani worked part-time at a sporting goods store in Manhattan that was “terrible” but hard to leave. Her mother, who worked for a board of education in Westchester, and her father, a bus mechanic, had imparted a strong work ethic. “I’m not really a quitter and hate to leave people in the lurch,” Zafrani said. But she threw in the towel, and the next day a friend called to tell her about a telemarketing job at a

moving company, which she got. Her boss there, and a mentor, was Avi Oz, who asked her to join him in 1993 when he founded Oz Moving. “When one door closes, another opens,” said Zafrani, whose initial tasks included cold-calling companies she knew were moving based on newspaper stories. irty-one years and no detours later, Zafari is Oz’s general manager today.

Cleaning up a tainted industry

e company began with a mission that was compelling, she said: clean up an industry tainted by bad actors. Indeed, it was not unknown for some movers to hold belongings hostage until customers forked over an extra couple hundred bucks.

In his crusade, Oz added his rm’s business license number to the side of his trucks and urged clients to call the Department of Transportation to check on his record, something customers did not usually do when plucking random names from the phone book, Zafrani explained. “It was really like the Wild West before,” she said. “We put all our cards on the table, and it worked.”

But the pandemic caused a bumpy ride for the company, which like others has seen its fortunes rise and fall with the real estate market. Initially ooded with calls as New Yorkers scrambled to relocate to Florida or upstate, Oz later saw demand atten as home

sales stalled. “When the market is slow, we can feel it,” Zafrani said.

But the 180-employee company, which reeled in about $30 million in revenue last year, is motoring ahead. In December it snapped up area rm Movage Moving + Storage, a specialist in international relocations, to allow Oz to expand into Europe. Another recent investment was in AI-powered cameras for its eet of 40 trucks, which, unusually, are serviced by two inhouse mechanics. e cameras track eye movements, and if drivers’ lids droop, the cameras bark commands like “Look at the road!” and “Wake up!”

With the role of counselor comes insight, which in Zafrani’s case means realizing how obsessed people can be about their stu : Some customers have stashed boxes in warehouses in Yonkers and New Jersey and not touched it for 20 years. “I try not to be a pack rat myself,” she said. Still, she can relate to some clients; she bounced around a lot in her 20s, “always moving on to the next better or bigger apartment,” she said, before nally settling down.

What may di erentiate Zafrani the most is being the rare woman executive in a heavily male industry, though she downplays the breakthrough. “I have always had the support and respect of the people I have worked with, so it has never felt like a struggle,” she said. Besides, she added, women can

GREW UP The Bronx and New Rochelle

RESIDES Upper East Side EDUCATION Attended Hunter College

CITY ISLAND CONNECTIONS

Zafrani’s maternal grandfather immigrated to the Bronx’s City Island from Norway and found work as a ship captain; her paternal grandfather, meanwhile, owned a pub in the nautically minded Bronx neighborhood.

FAVORITE THINGS Zafrani likes hiking in the hills around Beacon in Dutchess County. She also enjoys ction; a recent favorite book was Ann Napolitano’s “Hello, Beautiful,” a drama about four sisters.

PRO TIP Most people think they can pack for themselves, but run out of steam and fail to nish by moving day. Zafrani suggests starting the process well in advance: If it becomes unbearable, one then has enough time to tack on helpers.

seem like a natural t for the business. “Women have always been the ones to pack up the boxes before moves,” she said.

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Nancy Zafrani

Nancy Zafrani, general manager of Oz Moving & Storage | BUCK ENNIS

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