A screenshot of Tiny Tower

From the February issue: Wannabe developers who fancy themselves the next Stephen Ross or Gary Barnett can now practice building their own city skyscrapers, thanks to a new iPhone application.

Called “Tiny Tower,” the addictive game lets players build their own high-rises — and collect rent from the “bitizens” that inhabit them — in real time. Designed by NimbleBit, a Solana Beach, Calif.–based company founded by twin brothers Ian and David Marsh, “Tiny Tower” launched in June, and was named Apple’s 2011 iPhone Game of the Year. [more]

Alan Rosenfeld

Mayor Michael Bloomberg suggested yesterday that Alan Rosenfeld, a Queens teacher and real estate pro who hasn’t set foot in a classroom for almost a decade, put his property knowledge to good use to help the city, the New York Post reported.

The teacher, who hasn’t had any contact with children since he was accused in 2001 of making inappropriate comments to students (but not charged), continues to make $100,000 per year for making occasional photocopies and spends his days developing his $10 million real estate portfolio, including the acquisition properties in Queens, Great Neck, and Florida, the Post said. [more]

New York City lost 900 construction jobs in September and added 100 real estate sector jobs, according to an Eastern Consolidated report with the most recent city employment data from the New York State Department of Labor.

Overall, the city lost 13,500 jobs last month, including 8,700 private sector jobs, marking a correction in an otherwise positive trajectory of job growth.

“Since bottoming in September 2009, New York City has added 82,200 jobs, or 2.2 percent. The U.S. has added 2.09 million jobs since its nadir, February 2010, a growth rate of 1.6 percent,” the report says. “The city is 36,400 private sector jobs short of its peak in April 2008, or 1.5 percent below. The U.S. remains 6.26 million private sector jobs short of its peak in January 2008, or 5.4 percent below.” – Katherine Clarke… [more]

From left: Gifford Miller and Robert Frost, partner at Signature Urban
Properties

The Department of City Planning will be holding a public hearing on former City Council Speaker Gifford Miller’s Bronx real estate project later this month, the Wall Street Journal reported.

As previously reported, Miller and longtime friend Robert Frost, a partner at Signature Urban Properties, are planning to transform a derelict section of the Bronx near the Sheridan Expressway with 10 new “affordable” apartment buildings, they said.

The $400 million Bronx project is the pair’s first ground-up venture, the Journal said; the area is currently home to a strip of car repair shops and smaller residential buildings. Signature, founded in 2007, is currently working to have it rezoned to allow for the development. … [more]

As real estate sales have slowed and transaction taxes have dropped,
the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, the city and the state
overall are seeing revenues much lower than the $400-million plus that
came in on a monthly basis in early 2007, at the high point of the real
estate boom. The MTA on Monday announced a budget shortfall of $621
million for this year, and about half of the shortfall was due to real
estate transfer taxes being lower than expected. Between January and
February 2007, the city pulled in $604 million in mortgage recording
taxes and property transfer taxes, compared to $141 million during the
same period this year.
… [more]