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De Blasio Tells Real Estate Lobby He Wants "Aggressive Building"
By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 20, 2014
Modified Feb 20, 2014
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By
Christopher Robbins
Published Feb 20, 2014
Modified Feb 20, 2014
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Mayor de Blasio has appointed a longtime real estate lobbyist to lead the City Planning Commission and the former head of urban investment at Goldman Sachs as his deputy mayor for housing. But in his closed-press speech to the members of the Real Estate Board of New York yesterday he went even further in assuaging developers' concerns that he might overturn the tables of the money changers. Assuring the members of the real estate lobby that he "prized the practicality" and supported "building aggressively," he also vowed to revive Mayor Bloomberg's Midtown East rezoning plan, which was killed after it received almost no support from taxpayers and the community.
“As we get to know each other…I hope people hear me loud and clear that the only way I can achieve my goals is if we are building and building aggressively,” the mayor said, according to accounts from the Daily News.
“I’m deadly serious about 200,000 units of affordable housing," he stressed, even if it means building high and huge. The mayor stated his “willingness to use height and density to the maximum feasible extent. This is something I've said in our previous meetings I don't have a hangup about."
It seems that the catch for developers is twofold:
The mayor used the phrase "mandatory inclusionary zoning" in his speech. This policy legally compels developers to reserve a certain percentage of their structures for affordable housing (or in other cases, pay a hefty price [PDF]). The complex legal mechanisms that are used to enforce these laws aren't "constitutionally bulletproof" [PDF], but de Blasio can point to the 50/50 split of market-rate and affordable housing at the new Essex Crossing development in the Lower East Side as progress.
The mayor is also engaged in a struggle to enact a certain campaign pledge and needs deep-pocketed individuals to wage war on the governor. "I'll state the obvious," de Blasio reportedly told the audience in regards to his Pre-K fight. "We need your help to do it."
What say you, developers who stand to immensely gain from this progressive pragmatist who has said the right things and appointed the right people and resurrected a plan for huge tracts of real estate that on its face would benefit a tiny amount of rich people?
A RBNY source tells the paper, "Nobody wants to get into a pissing match with the governor."
Tagged
affordable housing
mayor bill de blasio
real estate lobby
Christopher Robbins
Christopher Robbins is a New York City reporter covering transportation, affordable housing, local politics, and criminal justice. His work has also appeared in New York Magazine, The Village Voice and The New York Times. Chris is a graduate of Patrick Henry High School in Roanoke, Virginia, and enjoys biking to Fort Tilden in the summertime.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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