Remember those probes into city office leases?
In November, City Hall paused plans to move the Department of Aging to 14 Wall Street, following reports that the Department of Citywide Administrative Services’ Jesse Hamilton pushed for the building, owned by a donor to Mayor Eric Adams, to be selected. At the time, then-First Deputy Mayor Maria Torres-Springer indicated that she was reviewing that and other city office leases.
But much has changed since then — the mayor is poised to escape federal corruption charges and his administration has lost several leaders. Torres-Springer left last week, and there’s been no word on that lease nor various investigations into city office leases.
During a budget hearing on Friday, Council member Lincoln Restler asked DCAS Commissioner Louis Molina about the status of the City Hall probe. Molina said that the Mayor’s Office of Risk Management reviewed the lease at 14 Wall Street and indicated that a decision on that lease is expected soon. As for the broader City Hall review, he directed Restler to City Hall. (A spokesperson told me that they didn’t have an update.)
Molina also said that DCAS is doing an internal review of asset management overall.
The commissioner said that his agency is still preparing a request for proposals to hire five commercial brokerages to represent the city on its office leases. That’s up from the two, Cushman & Wakefield and CBRE, that the city currently works with.
He said the process is taking longer than initially anticipated because there were aspects of the leasing process, illustrated in part by the experience with 14 Wall Street, that Molina wants to strengthen. He said the RFP is under legal review.
Then the conversation turned to broker Diana Boutross, the broker whose phone was reportedly seized by the Manhattan district attorney’s office as part of an investigation into city leases.
Restler asked if Boutross was still the lead on Cushman & Wakefield’s contract with the city and if DCAS had looked into her work on city leases, citing her “glaring lack of qualifications” related to office leasing. Molina confirmed that she is still on the team but noted that there are other brokers who also work on the city’s contract. He said DCAS has not scrutinized her work on city leases but also disagreed with Restler’s comment about her qualifications.
Hamilton has stayed out of the limelight. He wasn’t at the Friday hearing (Molina said Hamilton had a medical issue).
What we’re thinking about: During the budget hearing, Molina said the city is on track to cut building emissions 40 percent by fiscal year 2027 (after missing its initial target) and then 50 percent by 2030. Restler expressed concern that the city may not reach those goals, given that the city has only reduced emissions by 26 percent so far. He said the city needs to lead by example as private building owners face a May deadline to submit reports showing that their buildings’ emissions comply with Local Law 97. Will the city meet its own emission targets? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Richard Levinson and William Link, the creators of the television series “Columbo,” based their deceptively bumbling detective on Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Porfiry Petrovich in “Crime and Punishment.” They also found inspiration in G.K. Chesterton’s Catholic priest-turned-amateur detective, Father Brown, Levinson and Link wrote in their book, “Stay Tuned: An Inside Look at the Making of Prime Time Television.” Thank you to my husband, who is reading “Crime and Punishment” for the first time and somehow made this connection before I did. As someone with great love for “Columbo” and “Crime and Punishment,” I found his discovery delightful and infuriating.
Elsewhere in New York…
— A federal judge on Thursday dealt another blow to the nonprofit fighting to hold onto the Elizabeth Street Garden. The judge rejected the nonprofit’s request to issue a preliminary injunction to block the city from moving forward with evicting the garden. The group, which is also called Elizabeth Street Garden, said it is filing an appeal of that decision. The city plans to build more than 100 units of senior housing on the site.
— Bottem Realty has agreed to pay $403,000 to resolve penalties for failing to register rent-stabilized units and overcharging tenants, according to the state Department of Homes and Community Renewal. The agency issued the penalties after auditing Bottem’s rent-regulated portfolio, which includes 266 apartments across seven buildings in Brooklyn and the Bronx.
— Amy Schumer is selling the “Moonstruck” house. Two years after buying 19 Cranberry Street in Brooklyn Heights, the townhouse featured in the 1987 film starring Cher and Nicholas Cage, Schumer has listed it for $14 million, Curbed reports.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Friday was for a condo unit for $10 million at 108 Leonard Street. The Tribeca condo is 3,700 square feet and is a new development. Douglas Elliman’s Elena Sarkissian, Raphael De Niro, Christopher Salierno, Matthew Mackay and Jane Powers have the listing.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $5 million for 204-06 East 58th Street. The Midtown East, mixed-use building is four stories and has 9,800 square feet of floor area.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $30 million for a condo unit at 823 Park Avenue. The penthouse is 7,200 square feet and last sold on the market in 2008 for $30.5 million. Compass’ Maria Manuche, Clare Cukier and Michelle Flikerski have the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 195,636-square-foot, eight-story affordable housing building with a community facility at 570 Eldert Lane in Brooklyn. Martin Kapell of Think! Architecture + Design is the applicant of record.
— Joseph Jungermann
