The Daily Dirt: Have a HART?

The Adams administration has a HART.

That’s the Housing At Risk Task Force, whose acronym should actually be HARTF, but the administration shaved off the F for obvious reasons.

The task force will help 421a projects meet the June 2026 construction deadline. To qualify, an apartment project must have 100 or more units. It also needs to have met the initial June 2022 footings deadline to get the property tax break.

The task force is the spiritual cousin of another with an excellent acronym that also dropped some letters, the Building and Land Use Approval Streamlining Task Force. Like BLAST, the agency reps assembled to form HART will figure out ways to cut red tape.

Adams’ predecessor, Bill de Blasio, was criticized for tossing thorny problems to many a task force. The goals of this one seem fairly straightforward: HART will create a schedule for milestones and clear away regulatory snags that might prevent projects from meeting those marks.

Of course, projects face other challenges such as getting a loan, finding enough construction workers and filling supply needs. It remains to be seen if HART’s involvement could help with financing by giving banks confidence that a project will meet the critical 2026 deadline.

I asked ChatGPT to come up with alternative names for the task force, but the robots did not seem to understand that this group is not trying to protect existing housing stock. When I was more explicit about the task force’s responsibilities, it gave me: “DevelopmentShield 421a Unit.”

Here are some suggestions I mostly ripped off from a television show: 421a rescue squad. Tax Break Hunger Force. The Housing Unit Patrol Squad. 

What we’re thinking about: Who will take over for Greenland USA at Pacific Park? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com. 

A thing we’ve learned: Penguins take thousands of naps per day, the New York Times reports. If you are thinking “those lucky ducks!” you are mistaken: The fragmented sleep patterns are likely the result of a harsh habitat, full of loud neighbors and predators keen to eat eggs and chicks.

Elsewhere in New York…

— State Democrats picked former House member Tom Suozzi to run for former Rep. George Santos’ seat, Gothamist reports. Republicans have not yet named their candidate.

— Wait, don’t forget to tip! In NYC, DoorDash and UberEats have done away with their tipping prompts during checkout, instead adding a service fee and giving consumers the option to tip once the food delivery is completed, ABC News reports. The companies say the change is a direct result of the city requiring them to pay delivery workers the minimum pay rate of at least $17.96 per hour.

— Mayor Eric Adams traveled to Washington, D.C., Thursday to meet with Biden administration officials and congressional leaders about the migrant crisis, NBC News reports. The mayor is seeking more federal assistance to provide shelter and services to asylum seekers, which his administration estimates will cost $12 billion over the next three years.

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest residential closing Thursday was $3.3 million for a condo at 200 East 62nd Street in Lenox Hill.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $10.5 million for a 20-unit, five-story rental building at 422 East 81st Street in Yorkville.

New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Thursday was a condo at 15 Central Park West in Lincoln Square asking $48 million. Broker Tyler Whitman has the listing. — Jay Young