A rendering of Hunter’s Point South (source: Mayor’s Flickr page)

The city broke ground today on the first phase of the development of two apartment towers — comprising 925 affordable units — at the Hunter’s Point South project in Long Island City, slated to be the largest housing development since the construction of Co-op City in the Bronx, Crain’s reported. And Mayor Michael Bloomberg was on hand to announce the launch of the second phase with a request for development proposals. [more]

From left: Sam Zell, Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Stephen Ross and Richard LeFrak

The New York City real estate industry is no stranger to huge volumes of cash trading hands. But only a few local players crack the upper echelons of the world’s wealthiest individuals. Still, several familiar names grace Forbes’ 2013 list of 1,426 global billionaires, who collectively have a net worth of $5.4 trillion. [more]

Inset: Mayor Michael Bloomberg

“Numbers to know” is a weekly web feature that catalogues the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. Foreclosures’ effect on crime, Bloomberg’s fight to bring more tourists to NYC and the G train’s saga. See this week’s countdown after the jump. [more]

Steven Spinola

The union that represents doormen and service workers is teaming up with the Real Estate Board of New York to screen mayoral candidates beginning this week, Capital New York reported.

The groups — which have often been at odds over the years — will ask the Democratic mayoral candidates questions at the Sheraton beginning tomorrow. Next month, the group will screen the Republican mayoral candidates.

[more]

“Numbers to know” is a weekly web feature that catalogues the most notable, quirky and surprising real estate statistics. Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s onstage compatriots during his State of the City speech, an army of snow plow machines and a boom in the number of park-adjacent New Yorkers. See this week’s countdown after the jump. [more]

Mayor Michael Bloomberg delivering the 2013 State of the City address at Barclay’s Center (Image courtesy of Frank Franklin II/Beaumont Enterprise)

Mayor Michael Bloomberg, in his final State of the City address, applauded the role that real
estate developers have had in shaping what he referred to as “the big city of big dreams,”
and pointed out that megaprojects such as Hudson Yards, One World Trade Center and the
redevelopment of the South Street Seaport would revitalize the economy and ensure that New
York will remain a major player on the world stage. … [more]

A storm-damaged Rockaways home

Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration today took a step to suspend some zoning restrictions to advance the post-Sandy rebuilding process, on the heels of the Federal Emergency Management Agency issuing provisional flood maps to dictate where and how properties can be rebuilt, Crain’s reported. [more]

From left: repair work and NYCHA chairman John Rhea

The city has stepped up efforts to eliminate the backlog of non-emergency repairs at city-administered buildings by the end of the year, a statement from the Mayor’s office today said. “No one has felt the impact of Federal underfunding more than [New York City Housing Authority] residents, who have had to face long waits for repairs to apartments and public spaces,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said at a press conference today at the Drew Hamilton Houses in West Harlem. “Through better management of materials and equipment inventory, improved scheduling of skilled trades workers and by hiring more workers to make repairs, NYCHA will … deal with new requests more quickly.” [more]

Rendering of the new micro-unit development in Kips Bay

Mayor Michael Bloomberg this morning announced the winners of the contest to build the city’s new “micro-apartments.” The city believes that these 300-square-foot apartments will help alleviate local housing shortages, a statement from the mayor’s office today said. A development team composed of Monadnock Development, Actors Fund Housing Development Corporation and nARCHITECTS was selected from a field of 33 bidders to build the 80 units set to rise on East 27th Street in the Kips Bay area. [more]

Storm damage in the Rockaways

New York’s Rapid Repairs program has completed the work on more than 10,000 houses impacted by Hurricane Sandy, the New York Post reported. The program offers free emergency repairs on heat, power and hot water systems to New Yorkers unable to return to their homes because of the storm. The program is funded primarily by FEMA. [more]