Broker fees begone!

 
NY Post

Tenants will no longer be forced to pay a broker’s fee when renting an apartment in New York City, a report said Wednesday.

The ruling — which was made on Friday and went into effect Wednesday — came as a welcome reprieve for city residents who have been forced to plunk down broker costs in addition to a security deposit and first month’s rent, according to the Wall Street Journal.

New York is one of a few cities in the US where residents are charged a fee to rent an apartment. The move is the latest push to create more favorable rules for tenants.

The apartment listing site StreetEasy said about 45 percent of New York City rental listings last year included a broker’s fee.

Renters may still, however, choose to hire a broker to help them rent an apartment and then pay a fee.

Landlord groups said the change would force them to raise rents on their apartments.

Cuomo to introduce modified congestion pricing

From AM-NY:

Congestion pricing was killed the way many policy proposals die in Albany: behind closed doors.

In 2008, Assembly Democrats revolted against the inititive championed by Mayor Michael Bloomberg because it included East River tolls, which critics said would disproptionately affect residents of Brooklyn and Queens.

"It's really, really difficult for people in Brooklyn and Queens at this point to consider something like this. And I think we just need to start from the ground up all over again," Assemblywoman Cathy Nolan of Queens said at the time.

But with the subways in crisis and searching for a dedicated funding source, congestion pricing could be resurrected. Sources say Governor Andrew Cuomo is considering supporting a plan that would charge fees on for-hire vehicles like Uber and Lyft.

But lawmakers outside of Manhattan are still wary.

"Residents in New York want mass transit options. They don't want a financial burden. And they don't want to keep reaching into their pockets," said Assemblywoman Nily Rozic of Queens.

This is not a new building, Bushwick edition

Apologies for the poor photography on this one (I was a passenger in a moving vehicle at the time).

Before

So the Department of Buildings has decided to okay this obvious new building project at 399 Knickerbocker Avenue as an alteration. There's nothing left here but partial walls.

Now

Remember this as you get nickeled and dimed to death by the city with fines, fees and taxes for everything under the sun.

Alteration permits cost A WHOLE LOT LESS than new building permits. The city is throwing millions upon millions of dollars in revenue down the drain on a yearly basis in order to unofficially subsidize development.

Tell your elected official to stop using you as a piggy bank when there's so much wasted opportunity to collect real money to pay for needed services.

Fewer people playing tennis

From New York Magazine:

The number of tennis players that pay fees to play on the city’s tennis courts has dropped by nearly 30 percent in recent years, city records show, a decrease so severe and unexpected that city officials are struggling to find a way to get all the lost players back.

According to Parks Department financial records, obtained by New York, the most significant drop in participation has been among players who purchase seasonal permits. Over the past four years the number of adults who purchase these passes has decreased by 43 percent. The primary reason for the drop, officials believe, is a controversial price increase in 2010. Back then, city officials felt that $100 for seasonal permits was too low. Instead of raising prices incrementally, they doubled the cost of a seasonal permit to $200. The next year, the number of seasonal permits sold dropped from 12,416 to 7,411, and since then the number has hovered around 7,000.

The second biggest drop was among those purchasing single-play tickets, which are good for an hour’s worth of tennis. In 2010, the price for single-play tickets was $7, a bargain that inspired thousands to stock up on their passes. But after the price of single-play passes increased to $15, there was a 32 percent drop, from roughly 40,778 single passes sold in 2010 to about 27,831 in 2014.

Still scammin', now more than ever

From the Queens Chronicle:

There is an apparent rash of scams targeted at unsuspecting apartment hunters in parts of Western Queens.

According to the office of state Sen. Jose Peralta (D-East Elmhurst), several constituents have filed complaints that victims have given money in advance to agencies that promise to find an apartment to rent, describing themselves as “multi-service agencies,” and acting like a broker.

Many of those targeted are native Spanish speakers.

But, in some cases, said Peralta, the apartment promised as an option to a prospective tenant is not even on the market — with some landlords not even aware that an apartment would be shown as a rental possibility — and would-be tenants are left with their fees lost.

In one case, a constituent said that he gave an agency $3,000, according to Peralta’s office.

When the victim and his family moved into the unit, they discovered a gas leak and bed bugs.

One woman, who remained anonymous, said she was cheated out of $6,000 by someone she thought to be a real estate agent when trying to secure an apartment in Woodside at the beginning of June.

Trump's $269M taxpayer funded golf course now open

From A Walk in the Park:

Trump Golf Links At Ferry Point Park, located on the former Ferry Point Park landfill surrounded by housing projects near the Whitestone Bridge in the Bronx, is now open for business - for the rich.

It's April Fools Day every day for the city's tax payers as billionaire Michael Bloomberg's gift to billionaire Donald Trump finally opens today but not before sticking the taxpayers with a reported $269 million dollar bill.

In one of the most fiscally irresponsible deals made during Bloomberg administration the city paid to build the country's most expensive municipal golf course for the billionaire real estate developer.

The project, one of the Parks Department's most scandal-plagued developments, was originally supposed to open in 2001 and cost the tax payers only a few million dollars.

But the city's cost to build the luxury course isn't the only thing that has skyrocketed since Trump signed the deal in 2013: Prices to play at the exclusive course have also continued to go through the roof.

Green Fees. In a further bilking of taxpayers, the city is allowing Trump to charge the public more than three times what is paid to play at other Parks Department golf courses.

The original contract signed by Donald Trump's Ferry Point Partners for green fees in 2013 listed $100 for a round of golf (Monday-Thursday), and $125 on weekends and holidays. He was also allowed to charge non-residents $25 more on weekends without the approval of Parks or the city.

Since then the sky-high green fees have dramatically increased even further.

The green fees are now $141.00 during the week and $169.00 on weekends. For non-residents prices are now $190.00 during the week and $ 215 dollars on weekends.

Trump is also permitted to increase green fees annually according to his agreement.

Trump is required pay the city nothing through the first four years of his 20-year contract. Years 1-4: No Fee. Year 5: $300,000 or 7% of Gross Receipts plus 3% of sublicense gross receipts. By the 10th year, he is required to pay $360,000 or 7% of Gross Receipts plus 3% of sublicense gross receipts. By year 20, he is required to pay the city $470,000 or 10% of Gross Receipts plus 3% of sublicense gross receipts.

The DOB Commissioner has a plan

From Crains:

Extended inspection hours and an upgraded electronic-filing system are among the ideas under consideration at the New York City Department of Buildings, Commissioner Rick Chandler said at a Crain's breakfast forum Tuesday at the Yale Club.

The agency's online scheduling portal, dubbed Hub Inspection Ready, is slated to go live early next year. It will allow people to file inspection requests and eventually to view inspection results through the hub. Mr. Chandler acknowledged that gaps in the online system have dampened users' enthusiasm for it since the department rolled it out in 2011 and said the new hub is intended to address those inefficiencies.

The commissioner, who took office July 17, also floated an idea of charging a fee to answer requests about conceptual projects and for the department to conduct inspections after normal business hours on weekdays and even on weekends.

The department currently has 1,100 staffers in the wake of a number of departures that occurred in the gap between the Bloomberg administration leaving office in January and Mayor Bill de Blasio appointing a new buildings commissioner seven months later. The delay was costly. Complaints rose about growing backlogs in the department as a number of key people left the agency, including former Assistant Commissioner James Colgate, who joined law firm Bryan Cave. Staff levels are again rising, however, and are budgeted to hit 1,200 in 2015, in the midst of an ongoing surge in permit applications this year.

"We are very much aware of the backlog issue and of certain staffers who think their job is to stop development, which is not acceptable," Mr. Chandler said.

Another cause of delays in processing permit applications is that many of them land in the department's in-box incomplete. The commissioner called the process by which developers deliberately submit incomplete applications "design by objection," in which proposals are honed over the course of "six, seven or eight" rejections.

"Folks giving us a plan with just a few lines on it goes over the line," Mr. Chandler said. He also proposed charging a fee for owners to consult with the department to see if their ideas are potentially viable, so that they have "some sense of security about whether they can move forward with a project." Such a program "is in the exploratory phase right now," he said. The agency currently performs that service for free.

John Liu's questionable filings

"I was looking at John Liu's filings and I noticed something weird with regard to Chuck Apelian. Chuck's occupation is listed as a Sales Executive at Irene Hermann Incorporated/Prestone Printing.

If you notice, the corporation and Chuck have the same address. The biggest question is why is the corporation getting $5K for consulting twice when it's a printing company?

Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting on July 21st and the address is 145-30 29 Road which is Chuck's address.

On August 11th, "Irene Hermann Incorporated" was reimbursed $420 for buttons and it's Chuck's home address again.

Then 7 days later, Chuck gets reimbursed over a thousand dollars for office supplies at the same address.

On August 21st, Irene Hermann Incorporated got $5,000 for consulting fees.

I am confused who exists at 145-30 29th Road, Chuck or the corporation or both? This is a single family home." - Sad about the state of Queens

(Ha! And the Vice Chair of Queens CB7 running a political campaign isn't a conflict-of-interest or anything.)

But wait, that's not all! Let's see who else Johnny has on his payroll:

Sharon Lee, who agreed to turn state's evidence against Jenny Hou and Oliver Pan in return for immunity.

Chung Seto, who ran his shady campaign - and his office as an unpaid staffer - a conflict of interest.

Mei Hua Ru, a former aide to John, who likes using mafia terms.

But I'm sure John Liu would bring a breath of fresh air to Albany if elected...

CitiBike to become more elitist

From the Daily News:

The cost of Citi Bike annual memberships could rise by more than 50% under a new deal to save the cash-strapped program.

The city has discussed raising the annual membership fee for the popular bikeshare system from $95 to $140 or even $155, according to a source with knowledge of the discussions.

The price hike would be part of a deal to save Citi Bike, which has been on a pathway to bankruptcy and plagued with operational problems.

REQX Ventures — an investment firm formed by Equinox gyms and its parent, the Related Companies — is currently in negotiations with the city to purchase 51% of Alta Bike Share, which oversees Citi Bike through a subsidiary.

“It’s well understood that fees will go up,” the source said.

While the cost of annual membership would soar, 24-hour access passes would probably remain at $9.95.

Donald got a real sweetheart deal

From the Daily News:

Former Mayor Michael Bloomberg apparently wasn’t satisfied with simply handing Donald Trump control over one of the most expensive public golf courses ever built in this country – the new $236 million, 18-hole Parks Department course scheduled to open next spring at Ferry Point Park in the Bronx.

Bloomberg’s aides quietly added a slew of financial giveaways in the 2012 deal with The Donald that no other city golf course concessionaire enjoys, a Daily News review of Parks Department golf contracts has found.

Those giveaways include: no concession fees for four years; then decades of extraordinarily low revenue-sharing with the city; tens of millions of gallons of free water annually; even a five-year delay for Trump to build a $10 million clubhouse, his only major capital investment in the project.

Start with the greens fees, the basic charge for a round of golf; virtually all of the city’s existing 13 public golf courses charge $48 per person during weekend peak hours, higher for non-city residents.

But the new Trump National Golf Course at Ferry Point plans to charge nearly three times as much — $125 per person.

Trump’s split of revenues with the city, however, will be far less than all other courses.

Bag tax revisited

From CBS New York:

It gives new meaning to the four letter word “tote.” New Yorkers will have to shoulder the burden of bringing their own bags to a vast array of supermarkets and department stores — or pay a 10-cent fee for each and every bag — paper or plastic — under sweeping recycling legislation being considered by the city council.

“We could save approximately $10 million a year if we could significantly reduce the amount of plastic shopping bags we use on an annual basis,” Deputy Sanitation Commissioner Ron Gonen said.

Though the $10 million savings means a lot in these tough budget times, the legislation is meant to decrease the burden on landfills and the sanitation system.

Asked to charge consumers the carryout bag fee would be markets and bodegas; street vendors selling fruit, vegetables and general merchandise, and retail stores, including clothing, drug and department stores.

Exempt are restaurants, bags for medication at pharmacies, and liquor stores, Kramer reported.

The exemptions really make no sense. A package of meat bought at a supermarket is likely to leak. A pair of pants purchased at a department store is not.

Tennis fees cause drop in permits

From A Walk in the Park:

As expected the Bloomberg Administration's dramatic fee increases implemented last year saw a precipitous drop in tennis permit purchases and memberships to recreation centers while projected revenue increases fell far below expectations.

Tennis permits declined 43 percent, single-play permits fell 46 percent and revenue fell $1.3 million short of the projected increase. The number of recreation center memberships sold in 2012 declined by 52 percent with the doubling of membership fees for adults and seniors while revenue came in about $4.0 million below the Bloomberg Administration’s expectations.

"The failure to achieve the expected revenue gains was the result of a greater-than-projected fall-off in the number of permits sold for tennis and memberships for recreation centers following the price rise," according to the City Independent Budget Office.

Council pushing disposable bag fee

From the Politicker:

City Councilmembers and advocates announced a plan today to slap a 10 cent charge on all plastic and paper carry-out bags at grocery and retail stores across New York City.

Customers would be required to bring their own bags or pay the fee, which stores would get to pocket, according to the proposed legislation, unveiled this afternoon at City Hall.

The legislation, which will be formally introduced at a Council meeting Thursday, is aimed at reigning in “wasteful” plastic bag use in the city, where it’s not uncommon for grocery stores to double-bag single quarts of milk.

According to the bill’s proponents, New Yorkers use approximately 5.2 billion plastic bags per year–the vast majority of which are not recycled. The city also spends an estimated $10 million a year to transport those 100,000 tons of plastic bags to landfills each year, they said.

“Many agree that it is time to move forward on addressing this environmentally-harmful problem,” the group said in a release.

The legislation would also force the city to begin widespread distribution of free, reusable bags. Restaurants would be exempt from the rule, Stores that break the rules twice would be slapped with $250 fines.

A spokesman for City Council Speaker Christine Quinn, whose support is likely necessary for the bills to pass, declined to say whether or not she supports the bills.

A spokesman for the mayor said the office is reviewing the legislation.

Taxpayers may be on the hook for EDC folly

From the Daily News:

Lawyers representing more than a dozen business owners of the gritty Iron Triangle are awaiting a judge’s decision on whether the city will be required to pay their legal expenses, which have surpassed more than $1 million.

Michael Rikon and Michael Gerrard both told the Daily News on Monday that once the city dropped its eminent domain bid last May in favor of a different development, it became obligated to reimburse their fees.

“The statute is very clear,” said Gerrard, who is seeking over $609,000 for work that his firm Arnold & Porter performed. “If the city abandons the condemnation, the parties whose lands were being condemned are entitled to their legal fees.”

The city decided to not proceed with its eminent domain bid. Instead, it announced in June a 23-acre development to be built by the Queens Development Group, a joint venture between Sterling Equities and the Related Cos.

Both sides submitted their arguments in Queens Supreme Court last year. Rikon, who is seeking more than $281,000, said he expects a ruling within the next few weeks.

The statute that Rikon and Gerrard are basing their case on is Section 702 of New York State’s eminent domain law, which states if the “procedure to acquire such property is abandoned by the condemnor ... the condemnor shall be obligated to reimburse the condemnee.”

The tax man cometh

From the NY Post:

New York’s a tax hell — according to Gov. Cuomo’s own budget proposal.

The state and localities took $14.71 of every $100 New Yorkers earned in 2010 — second most in the nation after Alaska and 42 percent above the $10.38 national average, according to Cuomo’s budget division and census data.

Budgeteers suggest taxes paid by high-earning out-of-state commuters and tourists inflate New York’s numbers.

And Cuomo aides noted that since he took office in 2011, he limited property-tax growth to 2 percent a year, cut middle-class income-tax rates and approved a state takeover of future local Medicaid cost increases.

But critics faulted him for increasing income-tax rates for high earners, extending some taxes and fees and failing to provide enough relief to localities from unfunded state mandates.

Sandy victims hit with DMV charges

From the Daily News:

John Quintana’s three cars parked in front of his Coney Island home were destroyed by Superstorm Sandy.

But like thousands of other New Yorkers the veteran sanitation worker was hit with hundreds in extra registration fees by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicle's office to complete the paperwork for his new vehicles.

Now, a local state pol is urging the Cuomo administration to waive those added costs for Sandy victims.

“The state has an obligation to do everything we can to help these families who have suffered so much,” said state Assemblyman William Colton (D- Bensonhurst).

An estimated 200,000 vehicles citywide were ruined by Sandy's salt water surge, Colton said.

As a result, Cuomo announced a plan to eliminate dozens of bureaucratic charges for various state services, including waiving the $28 DMV fee for replacement registration documents.

But that did little to help Quintana, 59, who was forced to fork over nearly $800 in registration fees and to cover costs to transfer his old license plates to his three new cars.

More budget cuts are coming

From the NY Times:

With his plan to sell 2,000 new yellow-taxi medallions still in doubt, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg has proposed slashing money for libraries and after-school programs and increasing fees on school lunches and parking meters to compensate for more than $600 million in lost medallion revenue.

Mr. Bloomberg’s budget proposal does not reflect additional costs related to Hurricane Sandy, disaster relief or the storm’s effect on the local economy. Yet the storm will no doubt loom large when the mayor releases his budget plan in January or February for the 2014 fiscal year.

Instead, the new proposal — which, in an unusual move, was posted to the city’s Web site late Friday night but not announced until Sunday — represents a contingency plan to cope with a budget shortfall that must be addressed before the end of the fiscal year, on June 30.

Among other proposals, the Bloomberg administration plans to increase school-lunch fees to $2.50 from $1.50, bringing in $4.4 million. The administration plans to establish new parking meter areas in Lower Manhattan, while installing 428 new multi-space parking meters, to gain an extra $2.2 million.

But libraries across the city are slated to lose $8.3 million.

Closing costs more in NY

From the Daily News:

HERE’S ONE more reason why it’s so ridiculously expensive to live in New York: We have the highest mortgage closing costs in the country.

For the third year in a row, New York State leads the way in fees associated with getting a home loan, according to a new survey from Bankrate.com.

The average closing cost here is a whopping $5,435 for a $200,000 mortgage on a single-family home purchased with a 20% down payment.

Compare that with Missouri, the state with the lowest closing costs, where they pay an average of $3,006. The national average is $3,754.

In doing its analysis, Bankrate looked at fees charged by lenders, as well as third-party fees for services such as appraisals and title insurance. All of those things cost more in New York, Bankrate said.

The news wasn’t all bad. Closing costs fell 12% in New York as banks competed to snare business.

Melissa Cohn, president of Manhattan Mortgage Co., noted that New York homebuyers are also saddled with a mortgage recording tax. In New York City, that amounts to about 2% of the loan amount, she said.

New York State also requires that banks use attorneys when closing on a loan. That raises your closing costs, too.

MTA surcharge hits Queens hardest

From the Daily News:

The new “green” MetroCard surcharge is making one northeast Queens lawmaker red in the face.

Assemblyman Edward Braunstein blasted the MTA on Tuesday, saying the $1 surcharge to encourage riders to re-use the cards is unfair to bus riders in his district.

Many riders buy their MetroCards at Long Island Rail Road station vending machines where cards can’t be refilled, he said, forcing them to buy a new card.

“Their whole justification is the environment and I get that,” said Braunstein (D-Bayside). “But if you can’t refill the card, it’s just unfair.”

The surcharge has been on the table in Metropolitan Transportation Authority budget discussions since 2010. When the charge was announced in July 2011 as likely to go into effect in 2013, Braunstein wrote a letter to New York City Transit President Thomas Prendergast explaining that it placed an unfair burden on an area where there are no subway stations.

Prendergast wrote back that riders had the option of avoiding the surcharge if they bought the cards at off-site vendors or if they bought a combination commuter-railroad card.

Hold onto that MetroCard!

From NY Magazine:

In part to reduce the volume of MetroCards printed and strewn about subways stations, but mostly to generate an estimated $20 million in annual revenue, the MTA has proposed to tack on a $1 "green fee" for the purchase of new MetroCards. If the thing passes, frugal riders would just need to save their cards, which remain valid until their expiration, and then replenish them.