Developer Uri Kaufman would ditch scaffold law, rent stabilization as governor: VIDEO

Developer Uri Kaufman lambasted the state’s real estate regulations in a discussion with reporters about what he would do to stimulate business in New York if he was governor for a day.

Kaufman, the head of Albany-based development firm Harmony Group, told reporters the state could do without certain restrictions on the industry, including the scaffold law, which holds builders liable for workers that are injured at high elevations.

“Scaffold law says if a worker comes on to a construction site, drunk as a skunk and stoned on cocaine, falls out a window, I’m liable,” Kaufman said, calling it outrageous. Other developers have recently called for the law to be rethought, as The Real Deal reported.

Kaufman would also nix, rent-stabilization, the loft law and the existing landmark preservation code in New York City, the New York Business Journal reported.

“Fifty-five thousand buildings are landmarked, it’s insane,” Kaufman said. “No one has anything even close to that… “The joke is its the Manhattan Historic District.” Previous bills to weaken the city’s landmark laws, meanwhile, have largely failed. [New York Business Journal] — Angela Hunt