Since 2013, the city has looked to build affordable housing at the site of the Elizabeth Street Garden.
In 2016 the city released a request for proposals seeking a development team to build on the city-owned site, and in December 2017 it tapped Pennrose, RiseBoro Community Partnership and Habitat for Humanity NYC for the job.
The City Council approved Haven Green, a plan for 123 units of affordable housing for seniors, in June 2019. The project would include 16,000 square feet of open space.
Since then, the city has been fighting to move Haven Green forward. The city has leased the project site since the 1990s to a neighboring property owner. The nonprofit that runs the garden has appealed its eviction. This week, an appellate court judge delayed the eviction until at least Oct. 30.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development responded on social media platform X: “It’s all too easy to fight affordable housing…This is a needless delay, but let us be clear, it doesn’t change our plan or commitment to creating affordable housing for the New Yorkers who need it.”
Speaking of the city trying to build a modest amount of housing, this fight rages on as the administration tries to get the City Council to pass a policy permitting “a little more housing in every neighborhood.” Hearings slated for Monday and Tuesday should reveal some specifics on the concessions City Council members will seek to approve the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity text amendment.
City Planning projects that the text amendment could add 3,867 to 7,267 homes each year through 2039. Those projections would shrink if the Council axes accessory dwelling units or leaves parking mandates in place.
It has taken a decade (and counting!) to build 123 affordable apartments for seniors, with 40 percent of units set aside for formerly homeless seniors. Knowing that, it is hard to imagine City of Yes, which largely lacks affordability requirements, passing in its entirety. Then there’s the matter of Mayor Eric Adams’s indictment. This will be a real test of pro-housing attitudes in the City Council and of the weakened state of the administration.
What we’re thinking about: Will you be at the City of Yes hearings? Be sure to say hi, and send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: The city once had an Office of Construction Industry Relations, formed by Mayor Ed Koch to “fight discrimination and extortion” in the industry, according to a New York Times story from 1982. The office was shuttered 14 months after it was created in a round of budget cuts.
Elsewhere in New York…
— Former President Donald Trump expressed sympathy for Mayor Eric Adams while giving a keynote speech at the Alfred E. Smith Memorial Foundation dinner, Gothamist reports. Trump echoed an unfounded accusation that the mayor’s indictment was retaliation for his criticism of the Biden administration’s border policy. “I know what it’s like to be persecuted by the DOJ for speaking out against open borders,” he told Adams. “I was persecuted, and so are you, Eric.” A spokesperson for the mayor said the Al Smith dinner is a charity event where “people make jokes — and no one takes them seriously.”
— The top destination for New Yorkers who moved out of the state in 2023 was, drumroll please, Florida, the Times Union reports. The second most popular destination was, gasp, New Jersey, followed by Pennsylvania. During a speech this week, Gov. Kathy Hochul lamented that New Yorkers were leaving the state for its neighbors, which she blamed on the pace of housing construction. “This is a failure of ambition that I will no longer tolerate, and have spoken on this for my entire time as governor,” she said.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was $9.8 million for Unit 9A of 64 University Place. At the 11-story Greenwich Village condo, 23 of 28 units have sold in the past month alone at $2,500 to $3,000 per square foot.
Commercial: The largest commercial sale of the day was $5.6 million for 515 Dean Street in Brooklyn. The religious structure, called the Temple of Restoration, is 8,400 square feet.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $23 million at 334 West 20th Street. The 7,000-square-foot Chelsea townhome is listed by Compass’s Jim St. André, Trevor Stephens and Michael Maniawski.Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was 117,887 square feet at 200 East Tremont Avenue in the Bronx. The plans call for a 13-story residential building. Saky Yakas of SLCE Architects was the applicant. — Joseph Jungermann