| If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free! |
|
Dear New Yorkers,
Signature Bank’s collapse last month could spell trouble for New York City’s tenants.
A new investigation by THE CITY documents how Signature repeatedly awarded loans to property owners notorious for long histories of violations and lawsuits.
What’s more, prior to a new rent-stabilization law in 2019, Signature often based mortgages not on a building’s current rent roll, but on an estimate of what it could rise to if apartments were emptied, renovated and removed from stabilization.
Landlords whose mortgages were set on anticipated rents often attempted to negotiate buyouts of longtime tenants. Sometimes, they neglected the properties they owned or engaged in move-inducing harassment, say tenants.
Who would buy such assets? We’ll soon find out.
Today, mortgages containing nearly 3,000 buildings with more than 80,000 apartments — 80% of them containing units covered by the state’s rent-stabilization law — are up for sale.
“We don’t want the portfolio to end up in the hands of people who are not invested in maintaining affordable and habitable homes,” said Barika Williams, the executive director of the nonprofit Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development.
Read more here.
Some other items of note: - In a preliminary vote last night, the Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase rent hikes by 2-5% for one-year leases and 4-7% for two-year leases. The final vote is set for June, and rate increases potentially would take effect in October. (We won’t lie to you: historically, rent board preliminary votes end up aligning with the final ones.)
The Taxi and Limousine Commission is planning to phase out the green taxis serving the outer boroughs — since, thanks to competition from ride-sharing apps, there are just 891 of them left on the road. But the TLC has a proposal to offer 2,500 unused permits for new cabs to take their place in The Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island, and Upper Manhattan. Those cars can be any color (except taxi yellow or green), and will offer flat-rate fares. On Thursday, May 11, join THE CITY at an Open Newsroom session addressing mental health resources in New York City public schools, and how to get appropriate support for kids. The event will take place at the Central Library in Brooklyn at 6 p.m. in partnership with Chalkbeat, ProPublica and the Brooklyn Public Library. The event is free with an RSVP. May 31 is the last day to see the MISSING THEM photo exhibitions in The Bronx and Queens honoring those who appear in THE CITY’s COVID-19 memorial project. Shout-out to readers who noticed something off about our economic recovery tracker: It had reported subway ridership at 40% of pre-pandemic levels, while the MTA’s own data cited a 70% recovery rate. We looked into the issue and confirmed that the turnstile data we’d gotten from the MTA included only Metrocard swipes, but left out taps from OMNY. That means our tracker was off due to incomplete data. Now, we’ve fixed it to include both swipes and taps — and the updated chart shows a 69% recovery as of May 1. Unfortunately this change means we had to remove the station lookup tool, which we hope to revive if a reliable source of individual station-level data becomes available. For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 hospitalizations, positivity rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker.
|
|
Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather
Wednesday's Weather Rating: 4/10. Another day of mostly cloudy, cooler than normal weather. An upper-level low is still spinning overhead — so, once again, afternoon showers and a blustery wind are likely. The vibes are, you guessed it, unsettled. |
|
|
THE KICKER: Showers aside, spring is here. If you’ve been curious about the city’s social-media-famous falcons and hot ducks, NYC Audubon (pending a name change) is hosting birding tours all over the city — from Bryant Park to Jamaica Bay. There are nearly a dozen options this weekend alone.
Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Wednesday.
Love,
THE CITY |
|
P.S. If you liked something about today's newsletter, or didn't, let us know at zshah@thecity.nyc |
|
|
 | | THE CITY's work is made possible, in part, through the support of our sponsors. Interested in becoming a sponsor of THE CITY? Contact us here. | |
|
|
|
Geen opmerkingen:
Een reactie posten