The Daily Dirt: Restaurants, nabes with most social distancing complaints

An analysis of New York's top real estate news

Businesses across the state have faced hundreds of violations, and officials have suspended the liquor licenses of more than 100 establishments. But where are these violations happening most?

A map of 311 calls related to social distancing issues gives a snapshot of where violations are occurring. Sasha Jones reports that Brooklyn saw the most 311 calls of any borough between March and July, with 5,891 related to commercial properties and 4,259 to residential ones. Manhattan followed with 5,095 commercial and 2,785 residential calls.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has called on city governments to step up enforcement of Covid-19 rules, though some feel the burden has unfairly fallen to businesses and landlords.

“They don’t have any power or authority to do anything other than try to get the person out of the restaurant, which just escalates things, and then they’re punished for something they really couldn’t do anything about,” said Katie Murphy, an attorney in Goodwin Real Estate Industry Group.

Green Kitchen, a restaurant on the Upper East Side, was hit with 59 social distancing complaints — the most of any commercial property citywide. A 1,197-unit building at NYCHA’s Stephen Wise Towers on West 91st Street received the most of any residential property with 136 calls. Be sure to check out the two heat maps that show 311 calls related to commercial and residential buildings throughout the five boroughs.

The city and a construction union group have committed to hiring low-income New Yorkers for certain projects.

Mayor Bill de Blasio and the Building and Construction Trades Council of Greater New York announced Thursday that they had signed two project labor agreements aimed at providing union-paying jobs in high-poverty communities.

The first applies to renovation work at city-owned properties and stipulates that the BCTC must “prioritize referral” of workers who live in areas where 15 percent of the population lives below the federal poverty level or are residents of public housing. According to the city’s announcement, the “goal” is to ensure that such workers log at least 30 percent of the hours worked on certain renovation projects.The deal also sets goals for the number of apprentices and pre-apprentices from disadvantaged communities including public housing.

The second PLA applies to new construction receiving city funding, but the projects are TBD.

The union umbrella group must report its recruiting and apprenticeship program stats to the city at least once a year.

“These agreements show that city dollars can do more than get work done,” Deputy Mayor Phillip Thompson said. “City dollars can help uplift people out of poverty.”

We’re still waiting on some details on the agreement (I am trying to get my hands on the PLAs), such as how these thresholds will be enforced. Employers will be required to include employee ZIP codes on certified payroll reports, but it isn’t clear if there will be a breakdown of workforce demographics beyond certifying that they live in an area where at least 15 percent of the population lives below the poverty line. The citywide poverty rate is 19 percent.

What we’re thinking about: What do you think of the “Elsewhere in New York” section of this newsletter? Love it? Hate it? Could take it or leave it? Let me know by sending a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

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CLOSING TIME

Residential: The priciest residential closing recorded Thursday was for a condo at 95 Charles Street in the West Village at $7 million.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was for multifamily building at 91-35 193rd Street in Jamaica at $11 million.

BREAKING GROUND

The largest new building filing of the day was for a 71,550-square-foot residential building at 155 Emerson Place in Clinton Hill. Nikant Ohri of the Institute for Community Living filed the permit application.

NEW TO THE MARKET

The priciest residential listing to hit the market was for a co-op at 830 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill at $8 million. Sotheby’s has the listing.
— Research by Orion Jones

A thing we’ve learned…

Snoop Dogg has his sights set on Atlantic City real estate. “I’m coming to the state, I’m coming to the city, I’m looking to invest in some real estate, do some big things,” the rapper said on a FaceTime call with Mayor Marty Small earlier this week, according to NJ Advance Media. He also apparently offered to be on hand when New Jersey legalizes recreational marijuana (an issue being put to voters in November). Also in Snoop-by-the sea news, he narrates Discovery’s “Sharkadelic Summer,” which premiered tonight as part of Shark Week.

Elsewhere in New York

— Pushing back against criticism of the city’s plan to reopen schools, Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Thursday that every school will have a nurse on hand, Politico New York reports. “There were schools that didn’t have nurses historically, and we needed it for this situation,” de Blasio said. “They’ve got a whole month to get it in place. They’ll get it done.”

— The state has cut spending projections by $4 billion, the New York Post reports. The reduction stems from a hiring freeze.

— More than 1,500 gyms have sued the state in an effort to reopen, Gothamist reports. “All these gyms want the same thing. They want to be able to open up in the same way other businesses have been opening up,” said attorney James G. Mermigis. “They want to be able to open up their businesses to prove they can open up safely, just like all these other businesses — like Walmart, Target, etc…” For now, New Yorkers can do only one of the GTL trifecta of activities made famous by “Jersey Shore.” They can’t gym or tan, but they can laundry.