The Daily Dirt: Will Hochul sign controversial rent overcharge bills?

Will she or won’t she? 

That is the question — specifically for three bills that landlords do not want Gov. Kathy Hochul to sign. 

I’m speaking, of course, about the pair of bills that change the rules around rent overcharge cases. There is also a measure that requires the names of owners behind limited liability companies to be added to a public database.

Tenant advocates have been calling on the governor to sign all three. Reinvent Albany, Housing Justice for All, the New York City District Council of Carpenters and other groups sent a letter to the governor this week urging her to sign the LLC bill. 

“Detractors seem to come from exactly one place: the real estate market for luxury condominiums in New York City, a market historically rife with money laundering facilitated by anonymous shell companies, exactly the type of illicit activity this legislation is designed to curb,” the letter states.

These bills have not yet been delivered to the governor’s desk. You could perhaps take that as a sign that the governor is not keen on these measures…or that she simply hasn’t gotten around to asking for them. As of last week, according to City & State, there were more than 400 bills that needed to be sent to the governor’s desk. 

Other, less controversial, real estate-related bills are also awaiting signature. 

That includes a replacement J-51 program and a measure to expand the Department of Housing Preservation and Development’s loan authority. Another bill would increase protections against deed theft. The governor is expected to sign these bills, and it would make sense for her to summon them together, given their pro-housing nature. It remains to be seen if these bills will be joined by the other three.

Speaking of waiting for consequential decisions, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to announce whether it will take up landlord groups’ challenge to New York’s rent law. So stayed tuned!       

What we’re thinking about: Mayor Eric Adams last week unveiled details about his Zoning for Housing Opportunity text amendment. What are the biggest questions you have about the plan? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

A thing we’ve learned: Billionaire Ken Griffin last year paid for 10,000 Citadel employees and their families to go to Disney World for three days, according to Reuters. Griffin reportedly pulled his support from Gov. Ron DeSantis, who is vying for the Republican nomination for president, due to the Florida governor’s ongoing feud with Disney.

Elsewhere in New York…

— Mayor Eric Adams has tapped Elijah Hutchinson to be the executive director of the Mayor’s Office of Climate and Environmental Justice. Hutchinson previously served as vice president for waterfronts at the city’s Economic Development Corporation.

— The mayor became a freemason over the weekend. Though it did not appear on his public schedule, Adams, along NYPD Commissioner Edward Caban and NYPD Chief of the Department Jeffrey Maddrey were “raised” as Master Masons during a ceremony at Gracie Mansion, Gothamist reports. 
— City & State took a look at where the eight members of the defunct Independent Democratic Conference have landed. None of the members currently hold public office, though former Sen. Tony Avella is vying for a Queens City Council seat.