A landlord reached out to share his story about applying for a government program to help his rent-stabilized buildings.
The idea was to show whether the city is responsive and reasonable in its dealings with applicants. His expectations were low because it had already been eight months and he hadn’t gotten very far. Plus he had been reading articles in The Real Deal about other landlords’ experiences.
But he said he’d consider going on the record. He just needed time to think about it.
In the end, he decided against it, fearing retribution from the agency handling his application. To explain why, he shared a conversation he’d just had with a property manager of about 4,000 units.
“He had a [Tenant Protection Unit] investigation and at the end of the day, they couldn’t prove anything. They asked him to sign a letter [acknowledging] that he harassed tenants and one other [illegal practice] and he said he would not sign a letter like that because it was not true.
“It went back and forth until TPU said, ‘If you don’t sign the letter and re-stabilize the apartments, we will go to your other buildings to see what we [can] find.’
“He said he wasn’t signing a lie. They went to some of his other buildings and investigated high rents. They didn’t find anything, but it cost him [a] huge amount of time and effort to fight them.”
This reminded me of movies and TV shows like “Law and Order,” when prosecutors pressure a person to rat someone out by threatening to make his life miserable.
So I asked the Division of Homes and Community Renewal, in which the Tenant Protection Unit is housed, whether HCR considers that an appropriate tactic.
“We won’t comment on anonymous complaints or unsubstantiated claims,” a spokesperson replied. “But we can reassure New Yorkers that the TPU is a team of dedicated public servants who work tirelessly and professionally to enforce the rent laws and investigate patterns of landlord fraud and harassment of tenants through proactive audits, investigations, and legal actions.”
That didn’t really answer my question. But whether or not you think it’s fair for an agency to threaten to go on a fishing expedition across a landlord’s portfolio to get him to confess to something it cannot prove, it seems like a poor use of public resources.
What we’re thinking about: The number of existing homes sold in the Northeast last month was 8.2 percent lower than in April 2025. Midwest sales were down only 1 percent, sales in the West were flat and in the South they were up 2.7 percent. Meanwhile, the Northeast had the highest median sale price growth at 4.8 percent, versus 3.6 percent in the Midwest, 0.4 percent in the South and negative 1.4 percent in the West. What explains the Northeast’s differentials? Is the answer in the question? Send thoughts to eengquist@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: State and city officials failed to create a rational method to tax pieds-à-terre in New York City and instead will implement an interim one for two years, then switch to a permanent policy.
Initially, second-home co-op and condo units with a “market value” (in Department of Finance parlance) of at least $1 million — which the governor’s office says equates to a real-world value of roughly $5 million — will pay a surcharge of 4 percent to 6.5 percent of that lower number.
The governor’s office said a condo unit worth $18.5 million would have a market value of about $1.1 million. I checked the tax records of Unit 19A at 737 Park Avenue, a co-op, as a comparison. The unit was just listed for $18 million but the market value is $2 million. Its tax bill next fiscal year is estimated to be $106,646. If used as a pied-à-terre, its surcharge would be at least $80,000.
In the meantime, the city will determine a true market value for pied-à-terre apartments based on comparable sales, and in two years impose an annual surcharge of 0.8 percent for units worth $5 million to $15 million, 1.05 percent for units worth $15 million to $25 million and 1.3 percent above $25 million.
Under that framework, Unit 19A’s annual surcharge would more than double, to $189,000.
Early collections figure to be hampered by valuation challenges and perhaps a legal challenge to the law itself.
Elsewhere…
The City Council on Thursday responded to a spike in dog poop complaints after this winter’s blizzards with a bill to increase access to dog waste bags. But if bag access were the problem, it would be a problem all year, not just after blizzards.
Poop complaints called into 311 rose by 36 percent in January and February compared with the same period a year earlier. To my knowledge, that did not coincide with a shortage of plastic bags.
The issue appears to be behavioral, along with lack of enforcement. Two other Council bills — one creating an education campaign targeting dog owners — were introduced to address those causes.
Closing time
Residential: The most expensive residential sale recorded Thursday was $28.7 million for a 6,679-square-foot, sponsor-sale condominium unit at The Henry, 211 West 84th Street on the Upper West Side. Alexa Lambert, Alison Black and Elizabeth Goss with Compass had the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial transaction was $36 million for a 103,047-square-foot office building at 261-267 Canal Street in Soho. Developer Philip Chong sold the property to Carolwood Limited Partners, which has been active in the area.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $18 million for a 5,479-square-foot condominium unit at 737 Park Avenue in Lenox Hill. Brad Webb and Holly Parker with Compass have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building permit filed was for a proposed 90,058-square-foot, 99-unit, 26-story project at 35-43 37th Street in Astoria. Ralph Kowalczyk with Issac & Stern Architects filed the permit on behalf of Elie Pariente with EMP Capital Group.
— Matthew Elo