The Daily Dirt: Rough road for housing deal

These are the one-house budget resolutions, where everything’s made up and the points don’t matter. 

Ok, not exactly. These resolutions show where the Senate and Assembly stand on key policies, marking the start of negotiations with the governor, or as Senate Majority Leader Andrea Stewart-Cousins put it: The legislature is “close to the end of the beginning.”

Since the chambers released their resolutions for last year’s budgets, Senate Democrats have budged on 421a. In their measure, released very late Monday, they indicated that they were discussing a replacement program with “deeper affordability requirements, strong transparency and compliance provisions, and living wages for construction and building service workers.”

But it is not ready for prime time. The Senate resolution states that a new program would need to be part of a “comprehensive housing package that includes tenant protections,” which would need to include “the core principles of good cause eviction.”

Based on this language, it seems negotiations are in a similar place as they were when the Senate and Assembly leaders announced that they had a housing deal, but the governor wouldn’t sign onto it. So, it is not clear how a comprehensive housing package will come together before April 1.

The Senate’s resolution includes lifting the city’s floor-area ratio cap on residential space and a tax incentive for office-to-residential conversions. Carlo Scissura, president and CEO of the Building Congress, commended the Senate for including these provisions, but criticized the exclusion of 421a.

“The building industry has been clear that we are ready to roll up our sleeves and get down to the nitty-gritty details on these policies with our elected partners, and we stand by that,” Scissura said in a statement. “Let’s get to yes and take this ‘comprehensive housing package’ from theory to action.”

What we’re thinking about: Will a state budget including a “comprehensive housing package” be approved by April 1? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.

A thing we’ve learned: The word “jaywalker” sprung from the word “jay driver,” which first appeared in 1905 in the Kansas City Star to refer to drivers who fail to stay in their lane or otherwise abide by traffic laws, according to Merriam Webster.

Elsewhere in New York…

 — State and city officials announced the launch of a task force to target “ghost cars,” which have forged or altered license plates that can’t be traced by traffic cameras and toll readers. Its first operation yesterday impounded 73 cars, issued 282 summonses and arrested eight people. Gov. Kathy Hochul is seeking to ramp up penalties for driving with altered plates and other violations.

— Speaking of the new task force, Hochul and Eric Adams announced the enforcement efforts at a joint press conference to show that their partnership is going strong, Politico New York reports. The presser followed reports of a possible rift after Adams did not attend the governor’s press conference announcing she was deploying National Guard officers in subway stations. “There’s just so much of y’all trying to pull us apart. It’s just not going to happen,” Adams said Tuesday.

— ICYMI, the MTA sued Westfield for trying to leave the Fulton Transit Center 10 years into its 20-year lease. Westfield says retail tenants have left because of “break-ins, theft and vandalism, assault and harassment,” Gothamist reports. Westfield says the MTA “has not properly maintained public safety and security.”

Closing Time

Residential: The priciest sale Tuesday was $9.2 million for a 5,800-square-foot home at 403 Avenue T in Gravesend, Brooklyn. The seller and buyer were members of the Chehebar real estate family.

Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $79.2 million for the 233,000-square-foot Crowne Plaza JFK hotel at 138 135th Avenue in Queens.

New to the Market: The priciest residential property to hit the market was $27 million for a co-op at 2 East 88th Street on the Upper East Side. Nikki Field of Sotheby’s International Realty has the listing.