The New York Apartment Association is targeting six City Council races.
The landlord group’s super PAC, Housing for All, plans to spend $550,000 in support of five candidates and another $125,000 on ads against Council member Chris Marte.
The group is paying for ads in support of Tyrell Hankerson, chief of staff to City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams, who is looking to fill her Queens seat. It is spending $150,000 in support of Rachel Storch, who is vying for Council member Keith Powers’ Upper East Side seat (Powers is term-limited and running for Manhattan Borough President). NYAA is also supporting incumbent Council members Crystal Hudson, Julie Menin and Kevin Riley.
The group is spending $125,000 on ads against Council member Chris Marte, who is also the subject of attack ads paid for by the Real Estate Board of New York’s super PAC Jobs for New York.
NYAA CEO Kenny Burgos said the PAC is backing candidates that support the construction of more housing, believing that boosting the housing stock will help make conversations about the state of rent-stabilized housing less toxic. He said the group is targeting Marte because of his vote against the City of Yes for Housing Opportunity and against other housing projects in his district.
The PAC is also spending $2.5 million on advertising supporting Andrew Cuomo’s mayoral bid. I asked Burgos about the spending, given the passage of the 2019 rent law while Cuomo was governor. Burgos’ members are rent-stabilized owners who have blamed the law for making it impossible to raise rents enough to cover rising operating costs. He acknowledged that there are “worrying parts of that past,” but that the mayoral race has become a two-way race between Cuomo and Assembly member Zohran Mamdani.
“We are at a crossroads here,” he said.
“One would completely decimate the housing stock,” he said. “The other would, should not.”
Meanwhile, real estate executives and construction unions continue to pour money into Fix the City, a super PAC tied to Cuomo. The latest donations include $83,000 from the laborers’ union Local 79, $84,000 from the Mason Tenders District Council, $250,000 from an entity tied to Rudin Management and $25,000 from Ditmas Management.
What we’re thinking about: We’re in the final days of the state legislative session. What real estate-related bills will be approved in the final stretch? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: Of the nearly 1,500 suburbs with populations higher than 10,000 outside the 20 largest metro areas, 203 are renter-majority, according to a new report by Point2Homes. In the past five years, 15 suburbs have seen the number of renter households more than double, and in a reversal, outnumber owner households.
Elsewhere in New York…
— The state spent more than $100 million on lighting and design costs as part of former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s plans to light up New York’s bridges, Politico New York reports. The plan, dubbed “Harbor of Lights,” never came to fruition, but the New York Power Authority already spent $106 million on equipment and at least $2.1 million to store the lights. Now the state is auctioning the lights, with a minimum bid set at $25.
— Police arrested at least 24 people on Monday who were protesting ICE raids inside the lobby of Trump Tower, the New York Daily News reports. The protestors face trespassing charges. More protests have been held outside 26 Federal Plaza, where ICE detainees are being held.
— The Fairness in Apartment Rental Expenses Act is set to go into effect Wednesday. As of Monday evening, a federal court judge had not yet ruled on a motion by the Real Estate Board of New York seeking to temporarily halt the law, nor a separate motion filed by the city, asking the court to dismiss the lawsuit.
Closing Time
Residential: The top residential deal recorded Monday was $8.5 million for a condominium unit at 524 West 19th Street. The new construction unit in Chelsea is 4,600 square feet. Douglas Elliman’s Marcos Cohen has the listing.
Commercial: The top commercial deal recorded was $9.3 million for 1472 Boston Road. The Bronx corner storefront is two stories and 17,300 square feet.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $20.5 million for a condo unit at 111 West 57th Street. The Midtown condo is new construction and 4,500 square feet. Sotheby’s International Realty’s Nikki Field Team has the listing.
— Joseph Jungermann
