No property tax hikes in city budget deal
Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the City Council settled on a $59.1 billion budget for the next fiscal year that manages to keep in place a $400 property tax rebate and a 7 percent property tax cut. The 7 percent cut had appeared to be in serious jeopardy. Negotiations reportedly came to a standstill at City Hall just a few days before the agreement last month because the mayor wanted to roll back the tax cut to make up for reduced revenue, including a big drop-off in real estate transfer taxes. Council Member Lew Fidler told the New York Sun that the Bloomberg administration was “stomping their feet and rejecting every alternative.”
Construction safety bill passed
City Council members passed a bill requiring the number of fatalities, injuries, accidents and violations at every construction site to be posted on the Department of Building’s Web site, the New York Post reported. The bill will go into effect in four months and was unanimously passed after increased construction-related deaths and two crane collapses this year.
Pinnacle sues Stringer over tenant conversations
The Pinnacle Group filed a lawsuit against Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer in New York State Supreme Court last month to force his office to release records of his communications with tenants who filed a federal lawsuit against the controversial real estate company. Pinnacle sued on June 13, less than a year after a tenants’ organization and 10 residents filed a lawsuit in Manhattan U.S. District Court against Pinnacle alleging deceptive practices, harassment and racketeering. Pinnacle has denied the charges, and moved in November to have the case dismissed. The judge has yet to rule on the motion.
City files charges against Scarano
The city filed charges against architect Robert Scarano last month for allegedly making false or misleading statements on applications filed with the Department of Buildings, acting DOB commissioner Robert LiMandri and Department of Investigation Commissioner Rose Gill Hearn announced. The Brooklyn architect has been accused of illegally dividing a Brooklyn lot in two to build the apartment buildings at 158 Freeman Street and 1037 Manhattan Avenue. Scarano allegedly filed falsified applications related to the two projects in 2000 and 2002.
City and state reach OTB compromise
A deal struck last month between Gov. David Paterson and Mayor Michael Bloomberg authorized the state to assume control of the city’s Off-Track Betting Corporation while granting the city a share of the operation’s gambling revenues. Mayor Bloomberg had threatened to close the city’s 68 OTB branches, which would have resulted in 1,500 job cuts for the city and millions of dollars in lost revenue for the state.
Tax-exempt financing jeopardizes Nets arena
Proposed regulations for tax-exempt bonds could jeopardize plans for the $950 million Barclays Center, the centerpiece of Forest City Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project in Brooklyn, the New York Times reported. The Barclays Center’s price will increase substantially without tax-exempt financing. Ratner and state and city officials have been lobbying the Treasury Department for waivers for the project.
New York’s foreclosures fewer than elsewhere
New York is bucking the national foreclosure trend, according to a new study by the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments and Freddie Mac. The state’s numbers dropped compared to last year, and New York City was the second-least foreclosed-on city in the first quarter, just below Boston with 53 foreclosures for every 10,000 properties. The report also noted that foreclosures were more frequent in neighborhoods with large minority populations.