Listen you screwheads, Robert de Niro and son building huge film studio in Astoria

The Real Deal

 Actor Robert De Niro, alongside his Douglas Elliman broker son Raphael De Niro, development firm Wildflower, and film producer Jane Rosenthal, are in-contract to buy a large development site in Astoria, Queens, for $73 million.

The development team plans to build a 500,000-square-foot film studio, 5.25-acre site located at 87 19th Avenue, according to Commercial Observer. Piano manufacturer Steinway is selling the site. 

The deal is expected to close by the end of 2019.

Newmark Knight Frank’s Dustin Stolly and Jordan Roeschlaub have been tapped to raise $425 million for the project — $150 million in equity and $275 million in debt. The film studio will likely help meet growing demand for original content from streaming services offered by the likes of Amazon, Netflix, HBO and Netflix.

Robert de Niro's waiting...to milk his cash cow.

Rikers closure a land grab: union head

From the NY Post:

The union head who represents Rikers Island corrections officers slammed plans to close the jail complex as nothing more than a “political con game” and a “land grab” that would enrich well-connected real estate developers.

Elias Husamudeen, president of the Correction Officers’ Benevolent Association, said Sunday the closure plan has nothing to do with helping blacks and Latinos as some have argued, but “everything to do with business.”

The union big honed in on a report overseen by former New York State Chief Judge Jonathan Lippman that called for the closing of Rikers within ten years — noting its claim that the city and state stand to gain $17 billion if the island is repurposed for use by LaGuardia Airport.

“It has everything to do with business,” Husamudeen said Sunday during an interview on John Catsimatidis’ 970 AM radio show. “There’s so much wrong with this. This is such a political con game.”\

Husamudeen pointed to the make-up of the Lippman commission, charging that only two people on it have experience with jails.

“The majority of the people on your committee are real estate developers,” he said, referring to Lippman’s commission. “This is really a sham, it really is. It’s a land grab.”

Husmudeen argued that politicians should be more focused on the safety of corrections officers, citing more than 2,000 assaults against union members since de Blasio became mayor.

“My thing is: take your island, take your jail, take the island. We don’t care. Make the jails safe,” he said.