Jeff Greene

Billionaire real estate magnate Jeff Greene, it seems, has internalized Occupy Wall Street. Greene, who lives in Palm Beach and summers in the Hamptons, fears that if America doesn’t address some of its most entrenched inequalities, class rifts — even violent uprisings — are inevitable. Greene, profiled this week in New York magazine, worries aloud about the millions of uninsured, about the failing public schools, and about the lack of after-school programs that might help level the playing field for low-income American children. [more]

The Rent Guidelines Board recommended increasing the rent on stabilized apartments in New York City, NY1 reported, but by a smaller amount than last year’s rise. Still, the decision was met by jeers from protestors during the vote. The decision approves rent growth of 1.75 percent to 4 percent for one-year lease renewals and rises of 3.5 percent to 6.75 percent on two-year leases. Last year the increases were 3.75 percent and 7.25 percent for one and two-year leases, respectively. [more]

The New York Civil Liberties Union has filed a brief with the New York City Criminal Court claiming that landlord Brookfield Properties never had the right to evict Occupy Wall Street protestors from Zuccotti Park, the Village Voice reported.

NYCLU, which is arguing that Brookfield gave up its right to treat the park as a private space when it turned the land into a public park, submitted its filing on behalf of protestor Ronnie Nunez, who was arrested during the eviction Nov. 15. [more]

The Bedford condos

Four protesters arrested at a Williamsburg Occupy Wall Street party at the Bedford, at 205 North 8th Street, this past Saturday night were charged with felonies, the Brooklyn Paper reported.

Prosecutors have charged two defendants with assault and the other two with attempted assault, the Brooklyn Paper said. The arrests followed an invasion of the building at 10 p.m. Saturday by around 40 protesters; when officers tried to remove the trespassers, a fight broke out and several officers were injured. [more]

New York real estate faced a whirlwind year in 2011, and numerous contenders surfaced when The Real Deal sat down to pick our favorite stories of the year.

There was the limping recovery of the residential sales market, coupled with several standout deals and the runaway revival of the rental market. Developers snapped up distressed properties, such as One Madison Park, while other stalled projects like the Azure cond-op tower came back to life. [more]

Two Episcopal priests and a retired Episcopal bishop were detained after entering Duarte Square, which is owned by Trinity Wall Street, an Episcopal church, in Lower Manhattan on Saturday, the Episcopal News Service reported.

George Packard, a former bishop, and Revs. John Merz and the Michael Sniffen, Episcopal priests with the diocese of Long Island, were arrested along with about 50 other protestors at the site. As has been previously reported, Occupy Wall Street protestors have been lobbying the church to allow them to camp in the space, at Sixth Avenue and Canal Street, since being forced from Zuccotti Park last month…. [more]

Just over a month after being forced from Zuccotti Park, Occupy Wall Street protesters will test a new landlord’s patience, as according to the Atlantic, they plan to set up camp at the Trinity Church owned Duarte Square.

Comprising 0.45 acres along Sixth Avenue between Grand and Canal streets, the site is about the same size as the protesters’ initial base. They have unsuccessfully been pressuring Trinity Church to allow them to camp at the space for some time, but on Saturday a group plans to hold a rally with a musical act to attract a crowd and eventually encroach on the fenced off land with tents, kitchen supplies, the library and other staples of the Occupy Wall Street protests. … [more]

Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country are joining forces with housing advocates to protest fraudulent foreclosures today, NY1 reported. In New York, they will be marching through the East New York section of Brooklyn, an area especially hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The protestors will assemble later today at the closely-guarded location of a pre-selected foreclosed home, which has been occupied overnight, according to news reports.

“This action is part of a national kick-off for a new frontier for the occupy movement: the liberation of vacant bank-owned homes for those in need, and the defense of families under threat of foreclosure and eviction,” Occupy Wall Street said in a statement. … [more]

Three Occupy Wall Street protestors were arrested this weekend for trespassing after staging an overnight hunger strike at Trinity Wall Street, an Episcopal church downtown, the New York Observer and NY1 reported.

The Occupy protesters want the church, one of New York City’s largest landlords, operating as Trinity Real Estate, to let them use a vacant area of land it owns on Canal Street and Sixth Avenue.

Previously, Trinity had given Occupiers Wi-Fi and power at its 109 Greenwich Street property, between Carlisle and Rector streets…. [more]

Occupy Wall Street protesters are arguing over the lack of space at Zuccotti Park in the Financial District, a two-thirds of an acre park surrounded by marble walls and police officers. The protesters, who began sleeping in tents a few months ago as the weather took a turn for the worse, are now seeking out structures that allow for a higher density of people, like military-style tents with bunk beds, the Wall Street Journal reported.

It’s “sort of like what New York did with the skyscraper,” said Ed Mortimer, a volunteer medic working in the park. “It will create better walkways and emergency exits.”

Hundreds of people are sleeping every night in the park in about 200 traditional tents in total, but the area originally zoned for sleeping by the protestors’ “Town Planning” committee, became inadequate as the number of protestors increased. … [more]