The Durst Organization gave $100,000 to a super PAC tied to former Gov. Andrew Cuomo late last week.
Was it Cuomo’s recent comments about the 2019 rent law that inspired the donation? Another element of his platform?
“It is what it is,” Douglas Durst said of the donation in an email.
Probably not the kind of endorsement we’ll see in Cuomo campaign ads, but to the point.
One of the reasons I asked about the donation was that the Real Estate Board of New York’s executive committee met with the former governor on March 20. Politico New York was the first to report the REBNY meeting, in which Cuomo expressed regret about some aspects of the 2019 rent law, especially the changes to individual apartment improvements and major capital improvements.
Durst was among the real estate executives — and long-time Cuomo donors — who reportedly called up the governor to plead with him in the eleventh hour to veto the 2019 law. It doesn’t seem like the March 20 meeting was what moved Durst, however; He told me he wasn’t there.
But in the days following the meeting with the trade group, members donated thousands of dollars to a super PAC tied to Cuomo.
Suffolk Construction’s John Fish contributed $250,000. RFR Holding threw in $100,000, and Related Companies’ Stephen Ross donated $50,000. Other donors include Arbor Realty Trust, RD Management, Olmstead Properties’ Samuel Rosenblatt and Tri-State Construction’s Jack Irushalmi. And those are just the members of the executive committee who donated after the meeting.
Before the meeting, Empire State Development’s Anthony Malkin gave $100,000, as did Lightstone Real Estate Partners. RXR Realty’s Scott Rechler donated $250,000.
As mayor, Cuomo would have limited ability to do much about statewide rent regulations. He missed that chance. He could, however, try to influence the Rent Guidelines Board on annual rent increases permitted for stabilized apartments. The mayor can’t outright order higher increases or a rent freeze (though previous mayors have publicly called for freezes, and mayoral candidates have pledged to freeze the rent if elected).
Durst didn’t elaborate on his comments, but his bluntness echoes what I’ve been hearing from others in real estate: While some are still mad at Cuomo about the rent laws, they see him as their best bet.
What we’re thinking about: You are probably inundated with news about the Trump administration, but what kind of coverage, related specifically to real estate, would you like to see more of? What do you think is missing from daily coverage? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
A thing we’ve learned: A piece of old Penn Station has landed at 34th Street and Eighth Avenue. One of the original 22 granite eagles that once adorned the original station’s cornice is on display in a plaza outside Penn 1. I’ve decided to call him Björn, mostly because I now have the ABBA song “Eagle” in my head. This particular eagle was too heavy to “climb higher and higher” to the roof of Vornado Realty Trust’s Penn 2, which is home to a replica (which I also named, with no authority to do so).
Elsewhere in New York…
— A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed corruption charges against Mayor Eric Adams while ensuring that the case could not be revived after the November mayoral election. “This case should have never been brought, and I did nothing wrong,” Adams said during a press conference after the decision was released.
— What’s old is new. Geographic detail is out, pretty colors are in. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority on Wednesday revealed a new subway map that is reminiscent of a map from the 1970s, the New York Times reports. This is the first major change to the subway map in nearly 50 years.
— Most New York City Housing Authority residents have no way to comply with the city’s new composting rules, Gothamist reports. NYCHA officials say they are working to resolve the issue by next year, but in the meantime, the city’s sanitation department can’t issue violations because there isn’t a legal path for one city agency to issue a summons to another.
Closing Time
Residential: The priciest residential sale Wednesday was $5.7 million for a 1,644-square-foot condominium unit at 160 Leroy Street in the West Village.
Commercial: The most expensive commercial closing of the day was $13.5 million for four parcels in Chelsea. The addresses included 201-203, 205 West 20th Street, and 172-174 7th Avenue. Kinsey Equities sold the combined 25,777 square feet of space to Aetna Realty Company.
New to the Market: The highest price for a residential property hitting the market was $15 million for a 4,380-square-foot, sponsor-sale condo unit at 15 West 96th Street on the Upper West Side. Shane Boyle of Compass has the listing.
Breaking Ground: The largest new building application filed was for a 44,928-square-foot six-story, 57-unit residential project at 1794 Clinton Avenue in Crotona Park East. Jakov Saric of Node Engineering & Consulting filed the permit on behalf of Franc Gjini of Paramount Homes Management.
— Matthew Elo
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