From left: Bill Thompson, Milstein Properties Chairman Howard Milstein, and Brookfield Chairman John Zuccotti

A pair of deals mayoral candidate Bill Thompson oversaw as chairman of the Battery Park City Authority that aid Lower Manhattan developers has helped line his campaign coffers while stripping the city of much-needed revenue, according to the New York Daily News. Thompson stepped down from the post this month to focus on his mayoral campaign, but in the last year he’s helped overturn scheduled fee increases for Battery Park City condominium owners and secured valuable rent breaks for Brookfield Office Properties’ planned redevelopment of World Financial Center retail. [more]

While local politicians and art enthusiasts alike have celebrated the construction of Museum for African Art, which is set to open April 11 at 1280 Fifth Avenue on the corner of 110th Street, the tenants next door are none to pleased about the ensuing ruckus, according to the Village Voice. The 19 residents living in 8-18 East 110th Street have filed a suit in housing court, claiming that the museum’s construction has caused a five-story crack to develop in their building’s wall. [more]

The election may be over, but Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city Comptroller William Thompson are still finding things to clash over. Thompson refused to approve a $34 million design contract to reopen and expand a Downtown Brooklyn jail yesterday, the New York Daily News reported, for the third time in a row — even after Bloomberg sent him a letter mandating that he approve the plan under law. Thompson said that he found the contract “fundamentally flawed” and that it shouldn’t be constructed, especially considering the numerous budget cuts that Bloomberg’s administration has pushed through. “The people of New York City do not deserve to have their tax dollars wasted on an unnecessary project,” Thompson said. “This boondoggle has been a disaster since day one.”

The Department of Buildings’ Queens Quality of Life Unit has been
unable to address thousands of complaints regarding illegal home
conversions because inspectors have not been able to access private
properties, according to an audit by New York City Comptroller Bill
Thompson. The division received complaints about 8,345 properties
during the 2008 fiscal year and was unable to access 39 percent, or
3,279 of them. In 23,410 inspection attempts, according to a press
release from the comptroller’s office, inspectors were unable to gain
access 67 percent of the time. An illegal home conversion could mean
adding an apartment in the basement or garage of a home or dividing an
apartment into separate units. TRD Comments

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