Quinn calls Extell’s “poor door” discrimination

Christine Quinn and 40 Riverside Boulevard rendering
Christine Quinn and 40 Riverside Boulevard rendering

New York City Council Speaker and mayoral candidate Christine Quinn is calling for the state to intervene on Extell Development’s controversial plan to have a “poor door” for lower-income renters at the new 40 Riverside Boulevard building.

In a letter sent yesterday to state Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, state Senate Majority Leaders Dean Skelos and Jeffrey Klein, Quinn said she “won’t stand for this or discrimination of any kind.”

Managers of the 33-story tower requested millions in tax breaks through the 421a tax abatement program, which offers incentives for projects with low- and middle-income units. Quinn said Extell’s plan “negates the inclusiveness the program seeks to create,” the New York Post reported.

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Manhattan City Council member Robert Jackson unveiled a bill requiring developers who receive any form of an affordable-housing subsidy to provide the same services for all tenants, the newspaper said.

The building, also being developed by the Carlyle Group, will have one entrance for the condominium buyers, whose residences will face the Hudson River, and another for the tenants, who will live in affordable rental units. It is to have 274 units, 219 of which will sell as condos and 55 of which will rent to individuals who make 60 percent or less of the area median income, about $51,540, as previously reported.

Extell did not comment to the Post on the matter. [NYP]Mark Maurer