Digestible Real Estate News
We’re keeping this reoccurring piece to do a bit more for those genuinely interested in New York real estate, not just food porn, and give my LinkedIn designation a little luster. Taking a note from the easy to absorb nuggets of information in MarketSnacks‘ newsletter (blanketed with this unshakable food theme), here are your RealEstateSnacks so I can make this newsletter tax deductible.
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1. With headlines of record breaking sales constantly taking precedence in real estate news, on the other side of the coin, there are many individuals being forced out of their homes by the corrupt few pushing gentrification in many neighborhoods. An example from a 2016 article in the NTY, two of the buildings from a seven building, all cash, $62 million dollar investment, are seeing the new owners do everything in their power to get residents out. The new owners are refusing the tenants’ claims of having rent stabilized leases, with the plan of forcing them out and flipping the building into a hotel, condo, or luxury rental of sorts. With Canal Street in a state of decay due to new landlords demanding insane rents, it’s a matter of time until the scale tips towards a new image for the landscape and stories like the one above become commonplace for Chinatown and the LES.
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2. Because you quite literally pay for everything in New York Real Estate, St. Patrick’s Cathedral is potentially cashing in on $7.2 million dollars with a sale of part of their air rights. In the recent Midtown East rezoning that opened the door for a new push of office space for the neighborhood, buildings near the cathedral are finding themselves limited by air right restrictions in their desires to build up. The deal with the Church would only be for 30,000 ft² of their treasure trove; the Archdiocese of New York is currently sitting on 1 million ft² in development rights.
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3. If you weren’t already aware, Central Park holds many secrets unknown to the common passerby. Well for a new one, did you know that the park’s cast iron lampposts are hiding a secret of their own? Since the start of the 20th century, each of the 1,600 lampposts serves as a navigational tool. The base of each lamppost is fitted with a set of numbers. The first two or three numbers indicates the closest cross street and the last number indicates what side of town you’re closest to. An odd number indicates you’re on the west side and even means east. Or you could just use your phone.
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4. Are you 1) nocturnal 2) enjoy the sheer, unbridled anarchy that is the Lower East Side on Santacon 3) have you been to meatpacking district after 12pm and still liked the meatpacking district the next day? If you answered yes to any of these questions, you can get paid $130,000 annually and be the Nighttime Mayor of New York City. Ariel Palitz, a fifth generation New Yorker and self proclaimed child of the night has been named New York City’s first nighttime mayor with a task of bringing peace to neighborhoods that are facing serious strain between savage partygoers and settled residents. The new role will not only include hearing all grievances but bringing practical solutions, particularly to those neighborhoods on the helm of gentrification that are seeing the most stark differentiation.
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5. In the latest development with the L train’s pending shut down, Greenwich Village residents decide to further spice things up and sue the city. Residents of Greenwich Village are in uproar over the mitigation plan, specifically the vehicle-free 14th Street with dedicated bus lanes. Residents are concerned about having traffic jams in front of their homes, the resulting air and noise pollution, and the unavoidable gridlock on surrounding streets that could prevent emergency vehicles from reaching area homes. The strong opposition to every front of this mitigation plan, which was so difficult to create in the first place, is quite the red flag if you ask me.