Anthony Weiner

Anthony Weiner, the former “sexting”-embroiled Congressman who today announced he is running for mayor, would make some substantial changes to city housing policy if he wins the race, Brownstoner reported.

Weiner’s plan for affordable housing would grant upzoning and tax abatement benefits for properties that include 60 percent market-rate units, 20 percent middle-income units and 20 percent affordable units, according to a policy document the candidate released several weeks ago. [more]

John Catsimatidis

Republican mayoral candidate and supermarket mogul John Catsimatidis’ real estate company, Big Apple Real Estate, has been hit with a lien of more than $100,000 for not paying a water bill at a Gristedes location in Chelsea, the New York Post reported.

Big Apple apparently owes $113,421 in water charges at the 15,403-square-foot supermarket on the ground floor of the London Terrace Towers condominium at 215 Ninth Avenue, the Post said. [more]

Christine Quinn

Mayoral candidate Christine Quinn’s affordable housing plan was bound to face criticism. But her plan is especially susceptible since it prominently features a tax subsidy twice proposed and rejected by the Bloomberg administration as unacceptably generous to the real estate industry, according to the New York Times. Aides to Quinn acknowledged the similarities to the previous affordable housing plans and that the idea had come from the city’s real estate industry — who have been some of Quinn’s biggest campaign donors. However they also said that Quinn had altered the plan in significant ways…. [more]

Adolfo Carrión Jr.

As former Bronx Borough President Adolfo Carrión Jr. gears up for a mayoral run, his brief stint as director of the White House Office of Urban Affairs could prove to be a hurdle for his campaign, according to the Wall Street Journal. In May 2010, Carrión stepped down as director of the urban affairs office, after just 14 months for a a mid-level position in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, from which he also stepped down in early 2012. Carrión’s departure coincided with a city Conflicts of Interest Board investigation into his employment of architect Hugo Subotovsky to design a $26,000 balcony and porch extension for his home. At the time, Subotovsky was part of a team seeking the city’s approval for a 452-unit, $81 million Bronx affordable housing project in Melrose known as Boricua Village. [more]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg

Mayor Michael Bloomberg warned today that many of New York’s wealthy residents will leave the city if taxes are raised under his successor. As a result, the city would see decreased tax revenue, Bloomberg said in his weekly radio show, reported on by DNAinfo.

“Most of my friends are committed to the city, but I know a lot of people who just don’t have that great feeling for New York,” he said. “Whether you think it’s right or not, the wealthy are mobile.” [more]

(Clockwise from left) Brokers Richard Steinberg, Steve Kliegerman, Stacey Max, and Victoria Shtainer talk about real estate priorities post-election.

New construction helped define the legacy of Michael Bloomberg’s first two terms as mayor, whether it was parks, schools, apartments, or more controversial mega-projects. That came in lockstep with a wholesale reordering of what should go where in New York, as Bloomberg rezoned 20 percent of the city, which was the most in four decades. But in Bloomberg’s third term, which he won yesterday in a close election against city Comptroller William Thompson, the city’s real estate community seems focused on different issues — some more far-reaching than others.
Some brokers hope lessons have been learned, like with the Second Avenue Subway, whose famously disruptive construction has hurt sales at the Upper East Side’s Georgica condo, said Richard Steinberg, an executive managing director with Warburg Realty Partnership…. [more]