Mayor Michael Bloomberg and a rendering of the WTC Performing Arts Center

A $100 million fund was created today for the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center site, as part of a master plan to use federal funds to redevelop Lower Manhattan and revitalize the cultural landscape there, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Governor David Paterson and Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver announced. The federal funds, which are being managed by the Lower Manhattan Development Corporation, will also be used for local infrastructure upgrades and economic development at the East River Waterfront Esplanade and Piers Project, plus the completion and maintenance of parks and transportation improvements. LMDC is working to develop proposals for these projects, and will solicit public input, with the board expected to vote on the proposals at its next meeting in November. “Our collective desire to put $100 million towards the development of the Performing Arts Center at the World Trade Center site makes clear that the cultural venue is a critical part of the ongoing revitalization of Lower Manhattan,” Bloomberg said. TRD

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Gov. David Paterson and Steven Spinola of REBNY

Governor David Paterson signed into law today several amendments to the state’s real estate agency disclosure law that will increase transparency in the real estate process and offer increased protection to consumers and real estate brokers. The amendments, to take effect Jan. 1, 2011, will require that agency disclosure forms be completed for all residential transactions. Previously, verbal consent for agency disclosure was accepted for multi-family buildings with over four units. The new law specifies that a written agency disclosure form must be used for all residential transactions. The amendments have also created a section on the agency disclosure form where consumers can give their advanced consent to be represented by two agents from the same real estate brokerage in the same transaction. “The revised agency disclosure law provides additional safeguards for sellers, buyers, tenants, landlords and brokers to ensure that transactions move forward fairly with all parties understanding who is representing whom,” said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. TRD

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Gov. David Paterson and Steven Spinola of REBNY

Governor David Paterson signed into law today several amendments to the state’s real estate agency disclosure law that will increase transparency in the real estate process and offer increased protection to consumers and real estate brokers. The amendments, to take effect Jan. 1, 2011, will require that agency disclosure forms be completed for all residential transactions. Previously, verbal consent for agency disclosure was accepted for multi-family buildings with over four units. The new law specifies that a written agency disclosure form must be used for all residential transactions. The amendments have also created a section on the agency disclosure form where consumers can give their advanced consent to be represented by two agents from the same real estate brokerage in the same transaction. “The revised agency disclosure law provides additional safeguards for sellers, buyers, tenants, landlords and brokers to ensure that transactions move forward fairly with all parties understanding who is representing whom,” said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. TRD

[more]

Gov. David Paterson and Steven Spinola of REBNY

Governor David Paterson signed into law today several amendments to the state’s real estate agency disclosure law that will increase transparency in the real estate process and offer increased protection to consumers and real estate brokers. The amendments, to take effect Jan. 1, 2011, will require that agency disclosure forms be completed for all residential transactions. Previously, verbal consent for agency disclosure was accepted for multi-family buildings with over four units. The new law specifies that a written agency disclosure form must be used for all residential transactions. The amendments have also created a section on the agency disclosure form where consumers can give their advanced consent to be represented by two agents from the same real estate brokerage in the same transaction. “The revised agency disclosure law provides additional safeguards for sellers, buyers, tenants, landlords and brokers to ensure that transactions move forward fairly with all parties understanding who is representing whom,” said Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York. TRD

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While Mohammed Rauf’s Islamic Society of New York quickly became an epicenter of Islamic life on the Upper East Side when it opened in 1991, Rauf’s son Feisal Abdul Rauf is drawing an equal amount of attention with his own proposed Islamic Community Center, the Park51 project, decried by opponents as the “Ground Zero mosque.” Indeed, plans to build the Islamic center in the Cordoba House — a former Financial District Burlington Coat Factory — has drawn a firestorm of controversy among religious leaders and conservative politicians. But an equally vehement sector of the population — including a group of so-called “9/11 families” who lost family members during the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks on the World Trade Center — have spoken out in support of the proposal. In this video from MSNBC, political commentator Keith Olbermann takes aim at the Islamic center’s opponents. In the meantime, Governor David Paterson announced plans today to meet with the project’s developers, after publicly suggesting that the project be moved elsewhere.

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A radioactive waste storage facility at 261 Kent Avenue in Williamsburg may have to find a new home soon, pending Governor David Paterson’s approval of a piece legislation that has already been passed by the state Senate and Assembly, according to the Brooklyn Eagle. The legislation would restrict where hazardous waste facilities can be installed, prohibiting them from being set up within 1,500 feet of a school. The facility at 261 Kent Avenue sits within that distance to a local elementary school, P.S. 83. The potential new law comes after years of lobbying by community groups to remove the facility from the neighborhood, according to Luis Garden Acosta, founder of El Puente, a local advocacy organization. “With Governor Paterson’s support, we look forward to ‘Toxic Free School Zones’ across New York state,” Acosta said. [Brooklyn Eagle]

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Governor David Paterson’s proposal to override the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village court decision by allowing units receiving tax abatements to be taken out of rent-stabilization has drawn criticism from tenants, Crain’s reported. Under the proposal, landlords affected by the court decision — which said that rents were illegally raised while the buildings received J-51 subsidies — would be able to pay the tenants back without facing any penalties. Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, praised the proposal to supersede the state appeals court’s decision, saying it would give landlords the peace of mind needed to make investments in their units. But landlords found fault with another part of Paterson’s plan, which would raise the vacancy decontrol and high rent threshold to $3,000 a month, and which tenants also frowned upon. The proposal is part of a series of amendments that would extend state rent laws, which are due to expire in 2011, for eight years.[Crain's] 

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After Governor David Paterson’s ill-fated selection of the Aqueduct Entertainment Group to operate the Aqueduct racino in Queens, state officials are once again soliciting bids from potential developers, according to the Observer. The selection of AEG drew considerable ire from the state officials and the public, as accusations of favoritism and unfair political connections cropped up almost immediately after Paterson’s winter announcement. [more]

A coalition of construction trade groups has filed suit against the state, in response to Governor David Paterson’s decision to suspend infrastructure improvement payments, according to Crain’s. The group, which includes the General Contractors Association, the Construction Industry Council and the Associated General Contractors of New York, is represented by former New York Lieutenant Governor Al DelBello, who said Paterson’s edict casts a gloomy outlook for these groups. “There are no assurances that the contract workers [are] going to be paid,” DelBello said. “But if they stop work, they’re in breach of their contract. It’s an unconscionable position they’re been put in.”

A package of state foreclosure legislation that will enforce broad protections for troubled homeowners is set to take effect April 15. The new laws aim to crack down on loan modification scams, extend the number of days banks are required to give notice before foreclosing on a home and demand that banks provide upkeep on foreclosed homes to avoid degradation of property values. The bills, which were signed into law last December, are also designed to help homeowners who did not take out subprime mortgages but, nonetheless, face foreclosure. “A lot of innocent bystanders were impacted by [the] subprime crisis,” State Senator Jeff Klein said. “These are people who played by the rules and paid their mortgages on time.”