How much does the city real estate industry like City Council Speaker Christine Quinn? Industry executives have donated more than $800,000 into what remains her unofficial campaign for mayor, Crain’s reported, citing numbers from the New York Public Interest Research Group. All in all, this sum accounts for 14 percent of her total funds raised, which in January ticked in at over $6 million.
Of all the real estate donors, Related Companies’ employees have been pretty generous. They have donated a total of $40,499 to her campaign. Quinn has also received donations from real estate political action committees, such as the Building Congress and RPAC.
On the other hand, Quinn rival Bill de Blasio has received $226,000 in donations from city real estate figures. This accounts for 8 percent of his total donations.
As previously reported, the city’s public advocate slammed Quinn’s proposed property tax cap for buildings that pledge to reserve a certain percentage of units for affordable tenants. De Blasio reportedly called her proposal a “giveaway” to deep-pocketed developers. His comments sparked complaints among some real estate insiders, who also said that de Blasio lacked a commitment to subsidize affordable units. [Crain’s] —Zachary Kussin