| | | | |  | | By Janaki Chadha | | | | | 
Dan Garodnick, the New York City planning director, said new rules are coming out that will try to boost economic development growth. | Slaven Vlasic/Getty Images | Mayor Eric Adams has focused much of his housing and economic development policy on nixing outdated and bureaucratic rules he sees as inhibiting growth. His planning department is poised this week to advance a key initiative in that vein, the second of three “City of Yes” zoning proposals. The plan, which is slated to begin the roughly seven-month public review process on Monday, aims to boost economic growth by creating clearer, more up-to-date rules for where businesses can locate and how they can grow. The proposal is “designed to make it easier for businesses to open and thrive and to lead to vibrant neighborhoods and an even more prosperous city,” City Planning Director Dan Garodnick said Friday. Officials are hoping to address at-times puzzling zoning rules governing the types of businesses permitted along neighborhood retail corridors. Current rules, for example, permit bike retail shops but not bike repair shops, aerobic classes but not dance studios, and restaurants but not catering businesses. The proposal would also make way for corner stores in residential neighborhoods, modernize how the zoning code treats laboratories to help boost the city’s life sciences sector, and allow small-scale, clean manufacturing in commercial areas. It will go before the city’s 59 community boards, five borough presidents, and ultimately come up for a City Council vote. The plan constitutes a significant reenvisioning of how the zoning treats businesses and commercial corridors, but it likely won’t be as controversial as another citywide zoning proposal Adams is pushing to boost housing production across the city. That plan, which would create a new density bonus for affordable housing, among other changes, will start public review sometime next year. Welcome to POLITICO New York Real Estate and Infrastructure. Please send tips, ideas, releases and corrections to jchadha@politico.com.
| | |  FILE - A subway approaches an above ground station in the Brooklyn borough of New York with the New York City skyline in the background, June 21, 2017. The transit authority that runs subways, commuter trains and buses in New York City is giving up on a system that sent automated alerts about service disruptions through Twitter. The Metropolitan Transportation Authority decided to stop using Twitter for service alerts Thursday, April 27, 2023. (AP Photo/Bebeto Matthews, File) | Bebeto Matthews/AP Photo | NEW SUBWAY CARS ALREADY OUT OF SERVICE — New York Post’s Chris Nesi and Nolan Hicks: “The MTA’s rollout of its multibillion-dollar fleet of new subway cars has gone off-track. The agency confirmed this week it was pulling six of the seven ballyhooed R211 rail cars out of service due to equipment problems — just months after the high-tech trains were unveiled. “The shiny new subway cars — which feature wider doors, security cameras and digital displays — had issues including leaky gearboxes that can cause a train’s wheels to lock up and drag along the rails. A video posted online shows one of the new trains apparently affected by the mechanical issue loudly clanging its way through the Nostrand Avenue station on Oct. 21.” MIGRANTS STEERED TOWARDS NEW YORK — New York Times’ Jay Root: “...New York, home to the nation’s largest number of immigrants, has long attracted migrants who come here with connections to jobs, relatives or friends — avoiding the city’s shelter intake centers and public scrutiny. But many migrants now cross the border without friends or family to take them in, said Muzaffar Chishti, a senior fellow at the Migration Policy Institute and co-author of a recent study about the rising costs of providing shelter and other services to recent arrivals. “That is especially true in New York, which has recently drawn thousands of migrants with no connection to the city. Immigrant experts — as well as many migrants interviewed by The New York Times — said that an underlying reason is the city’s obligation to provide shelter to anyone who needs it.” BIG DATA TO BLAME FOR HIGH RENTS? — Wall Street Journal’s Will Parker: “If you want to know why apartment rents got so high, some people say look to big data. Many landlords outsourced their pricing decisions to software that told them what rents to charge. These algorithmic pricing systems analyze giant troves of information about the rental market. Then they direct landlords on how much to increase rent for each lease renewal, or what to ask for newly vacated apartments. “Algorithms and other big data have changed the way many landlords do business. In the past, landlords would often make deep cuts to rents when the market started to head south, but algorithms showed them that wasn’t always necessary. Many building owners also once believed keeping their apartment buildings as full as possible was the best way to maximize profits.” TIP ME: You can always send tips, ideas, releases, promotions, criticisms and corrections to jchadha@politico.com. SHARE ME: Like this newsletter? Please tell a friend to sign up. Just give them this link.
| | |  A new residential apartment building is pictured. | Spencer Platt/Getty Images | LOW-INCOME CO-OPS DO WITHOUT GAS — THE CITY’s Samantha Maldonado: “...Fernandez’s co-op is one of more than a dozen dealing with the fallout of aging buildings whose gas systems are not up to snuff. Some buildings find themselves caught in the lurch since 2016 legislation ramped up inspections on gas pipes — leading to shutoffs for safety reasons — without providing funding for buildings to pay for repairs or transition to full electricity.” SLOWDOWN IN LIFE SCIENCES LEASING — Crain’s Mario Marroquin: “Although the availability rate and average asking rent for life science space in the city remained largely flat in the third quarter, David Stockel, a senior vice president at real estate firm CBRE, says the sector may be starting to turn a corner.” NEW LEADERSHIP AT SILVERSTEIN — Bisnow’s Ciara Long: “Silverstein Properties, the New York-centric developer and owner best known for its redevelopment of Manhattan’s World Trade Center, is shaking up its leadership. After nearly a decade as CEO, Marty Burger has been relieved of his duties and replaced in the top job by Lisa Silverstein, daughter of the company’s chairman and founder, Larry Silverstein.” UES WALKUP ENCASED BY HIGH-RISES — Gothamist’s David Brand: “...The arrangement — juxtaposing an old New York residence directly beneath a shiny behemoth — stands out as an extreme example of a fairly common deal, where developers purchase the space above a neighboring lot because it allows them to make their own projects taller or bulkier, while still complying with zoning rules that restrict size. The old building will remain a time-capsule, with few options for future redevelopment.”
| | — The state certified changes that cap rents on “Frankenstein” apartments. — A new life sciences center is coming to Hell’s Kitchen. — The office market might be in crisis, but developers are plowing ahead on major new commercial towers.
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