The Daily Dirt: Cuomo signs commercial eviction bill

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has finally signed the commercial eviction bill passed in January.

The law shields businesses with 50 or fewer employees from eviction through May 1 if they file a financial hardship declaration. Owners of 10 or fewer commercial units can fill out a hardship form to avoid foreclosure until then.

The measure closely mirrors the eviction protections for residential tenants that the legislature passed in December. The governor had signed that one right away. His administration has attributed the delay in signing the commercial bill to tweaks the governor wanted.

In a press release announcing the signing, Cuomo also announced that he has reached a deal with the legislature to make changes to the measure (as far as I know the existence of this “deal” isn’t being contested.) The amendments would expand the protections to apply to businesses with 100 or fewer employees, and to those with 500 or fewer employees that were closed to in-person operations by executive order or a Department of Health directive for two or more weeks between May 15, 2020, and May 1, 2021.

The state’s commercial eviction protections have been up in the air since the governor’s last such executive order expired last month. Another order signed at the time seemed to extend it again until March 24, but the governor’s office disputes that.

Howard Hughes has pitched a smaller tower for the South Street Seaport.

The developer has a revised design for 250 Water Street that shrinks the project by about 27 percent, Keith Larsen reports. The proposed tower, planned for a parking lot, would span 550,000 square feet instead of 757,000 square feet, and would rise 470 feet tall instead of 345 feet.

This proposal also includes fewer units: 270 apartments, 70 of which would be affordable. The initial proposal included 360 units, of which 100 were income-restricted.

The developer hopes the Landmarks Preservation Commission will find this version more palatable, after deeming the original proposal too tall. But if Landmarks doesn’t approve, the developer could propose a much shorter building without affordable housing.

What we’re thinking about: Will former President Trump take a more active role in the day-to-day operations of the Trump Organization? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

CLOSING TIME

Residential: The priciest residential closing recorded Tuesday was for a condo unit at 35 Hudson Yards in Chelsea at $4.1 million.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was for a garage at 134 Vanderbilt Avenue in Clinton Hill at $10 million.

BREAKING GROUND

The largest new building filing of the day was for an 11,300-square-foot residential building at 1066 Jefferson Avenue in Bushwick. Nigel Boyden of Croxdale Real Estate filed the permit application.

NEW TO THE MARKET

The priciest residence to hit the market was a condo unit at 601 Washington Street in the West Village at $32.2 million. Compass has the listing.
—Research by Orion Jones

A thing we’ve learned…

Vanessa Carlton has some thoughts about the proposal to rezone Soho and Noho. The pop singer tweeted on Tuesday in support of Open New York’s proposed rezoning framework, after initially tweeting against it. Thank you to Amy Plitt for flagging this strange development.

Elsewhere in New York

— City Council Speaker Corey Johnson has officially jumped into the race for city comptroller, Politico New York reports. When asked at a press conference if he views the comptroller position as a “consolation prize” after dropping out of the mayoral race, Johnson said no. “I look at it as an ability to serve and help New York recover,” he said. “And there are multiple ways to serve this city. The top office is not the only way to serve.”

— The state has expanded Covid-19 vaccine eligibility to New Yorkers 60 or older. It also will start allowing public-facing building service workers to start getting vaccinated March 17.

— Cuomo called lawmakers over the weekend, urging them not to call for his resignation, The City reports. He warned legislators that such statements would undermine the state attorney general’s investigation into the sexual harassment claims against him.