This Week in Comments

City Council approves 15 Penn Plaza
[The Empire State Building] can and will still be iconic, but it doesn’t
have to be the only icon. Once our perception of Midtown changes to
incorporate 15 Penn, both buildings will complement each other.

Thompson Street tunnel garage transformed into rental, with Porsche giveaway
A starting rent of $6,500 is simply out of touch with economic reality for that location. An incentive of a Porsche for the agent who leases the most units? Apparently the [developers] believe a sucker is born every minute. Why [incentivize] agents with a car they don’t need?

City passes new identity disclosure rules for residential landlords
Tenants don’t have the right to know who the investors/owners are in their buildings. They have the right to habitable conditions and there are 13 different city agencies in place to ensure their apartments are inhabitable. It’s hard to fathom a system more equipped to protect tenants. All this law does is add unneeded physical risk to landlords.

Sellers turning to finders not brokers
The idea that brokers are unnecessary is absolutely crazy. Single-family home owners know next to nothing about real estate. The fact that they were involved in at least one deal in their lifetime makes them experts the way buying a car makes you a mechanic. Add to this the emotional connection most of them feel for their homes [and it] makes it a recipe for disaster.