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Winter is coming, and Durst and de Blasio are no longer allies
Developer predicts mayor will see several problems during his likely second term
Douglas Durst is not too keen on Mayor Bill de Blasio these days.
Although his family donated $20,000 to the mayor’s 2013 campaign, and Durst was then named to de Blasio’s transition committee, the developer recently outlined a host of issues he has with the mayor’s administration in an interview with Politico.
Durst helped derail Barry Diller’s plan to build his $250 million Pier 55 project, which de Blasio had supported, and also said that he had gone through tough negotiations on his massive Hallets Point project in Queens and on his unsuccessful bid for the city’s ferry contract.
And after the mayor used this failed ferry bid as evidence in an op-ed that Durst had unsuccessfully tried to buy influence with him, the company responded with a warning directly lifted from “Game of Thrones,” cryptically stating that “Winter is coming.”
Durst is also helping to fund a lawsuit that challenges the property tax system in New York City and disagrees with de Blasio’s plan for establishing new building efficiency standards at older buildings, arguing that it does not account for population density in buildings and thus rewards using space inefficiently. He also disagrees with the mayor’s support for mandating training requirements on construction labor, describing it as a union giveaway.
“I am a New Yorker, born and bred,” Durst said to Politico. “And I have the ability to speak out and follow my speech with actions, where I see things that need, uh, adjustment.” [Politico] – Eddie Small