The BroadsheetDAILY ~ 3/1/21 ~ Comptroller Scott Stringer Renews Calls for BPCA to Commit Funds to NYCHA Upgrades

Great Scott

Comptroller Renews Calls for BPCA to Commit Funds to NYCHA Upgrades

City Comptroller and mayoral hopeful Scott Stringer proposes to, “reroute hundreds of millions from the Battery Park City Authority to NYCHA.”

New York City Comptroller and mayoral candidate Scott Stringer is proposing to divert more than $400 million in excess revenue from the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA) to the cash-strapped New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA).

In a 27-point policy outline, “Housing Is a Right, Not a Privilege,” released on Thursday, Mr. Stringer proposes to, “reroute hundreds of millions from the Battery Park City Authority to NYCHA,” arguing that, “NYCHA’s needs are enormous, and it will take sustained commitment at every level of government to address them. But New York can and must begin to fill that gap now—without waiting for Washington. The Battery Park City Authority, the agency created to oversee the construction and maintenance of that Lower Manhattan neighborhood, currently runs a surplus of roughly $45 million a year. If ten years of that income were packaged together, the resulting $450 million could be bonded to finance NYCHA’s emergency capital and maintenance needs, until the federal government meets its financial obligations.”

This follows a similar proposal, most recently floated in 2018, in which Mr. Stringer noted that, NYCHA, “is in crisis. People who live in NYHCA have weathered sub-zero temperatures without heat or hot water. There have been an astonishing 143,000 heat outages, impacting over 300,000 NYHCA residents. We literally have hundreds of thousands of New York City residents trapped in their own homes in the cold. And government is not solving this crisis.”

“So one of the proposals I have is to put $40 million in annual surpluses that the City receives from the Battery Park City Authority,” he continued, “and give it to NYHCA to address their capital needs and massive maintenance backlog. Let’s create a ten-year plan with $400 million. It would be the first new revenue stream that NYHCA has had, and it would send a message that the City and State are ready to take on this challenge.”

These are references to the large profits that the BPCA generates each year, after collecting many hundreds of millions of dollars from residents and businesses located within the community and deducting its own expenses, chiefly in the forms of debt service on bonds and its operating budget. The money left over now runs to tens of millions of dollars, annually.

For decades, the BPCA’s excess revenue—essentially the cash flow from ground rents, and payments in lieu of taxes (PILOT)—has theoretically been dedicated to affordable housing. Successive agreements between the Authority and various mayoral administrations have memorialized this pledge, but also left mayors with sufficient wiggle room to divert the funds to almost any other purpose, if they chose. (The loophole in these agreements requires the City to use BPCA money for affordable housing unless it was needed, “to maintain fiscal stability… or existing city services.”)

NYHCA housing on the Harlem River Drive

“I have audited NYHCA more than any Comptroller in the history of this office,” Mr. Stringer said during a 2018 radio show appearance, which was hosted by John Catsimatidis, the onetime mayoral candidate and billionaire owner of Gristede’s supermarkets. “We have found a lack of repairs, and lack of investment. NYHCA is crumbling before our eyes. We have to step up and take bold action.”

Mr. Catsimatidis observed that the Battery Park City Authority is part of the State, and asked, “has the Governor attested that he’s willing to do that?” This was a reference to the fact that Battery Park City, although physically located within the confines of New York City, is controlled by Albany, through the BPCA (a State agency), which acts as a de facto local government.

Mr. Stringer replied, “the promising news is that there are three people who could make this happen. One is the City Comptroller, that’s me. The other is the Governor, who has supported this proposal in the past.”

“I have to convince the Mayor,” Mr. Stringer continued. “He’s the third vote. The three of us have to do this unanimously.” This was a reference to the fact that much of the BPCA’s excess revenue goes into a so-called “Joint Purpose Fund,” which can be spent only with the three-way consent of the Mayor, Governor, and Comptroller.

“If we were to do this,” Mr. Stringer noted, “we would put our money where our mouth is. It’s not going to be the money that we need. We’re still short $17 billion from the federal government. But we’ve got to get in there and have a revenue stream for boilers, to fix the windows, to take care of the kids of NYHCA. We need this proposal. It’s bold, because it’s never been done before. And three elected officials can play a role in changing the lives of people in NYHCA.”

Mr. Stringer’s proposal is novel in two ways. First, he wants a legally binding agreement that would earmark BPCA funds for maintenance at NYCHA properties. Second, he hopes to create a protocol such that “funds are tracked to ensure that they supplement, not supplant, current revenue sources, and are expended in a manner that is equitable, efficient and responsive to the most pressing needs of NYCHA residents.” This is significant because there has never been a requirement that BPCA funds used for affordable housing be allocated in addition to (rather than instead of) other City spending in this area. In this way, for example, $50 million in BPCA money spent on some form of affordable housing could simply replace the same amount, subtracted from other City spending on affordable housing. Effectively, this has often meant that BPCA excess revenue nominally allocated to affordable housing could translate instead into spending on almost any other priority a mayor wished.

NYCHA operates 334 public housing developments around the five boroughs, housing more than 400,000 low-income, elderly, and disabled residents. More than three quarters of NYCHA tenants live at or below the poverty line. Among NYHCA properties, 110 developments (or roughly one-third of the total) are more than 50 years old. This has led to a spike in violations of health, fire, safety, and building regulations, such as leaking roofs, broken heating systems, missing or cracked windows, mold, buckling walls, and collapsing ceilings. In 2011, more than 75 percent of NYHCA apartments had at least one “deficiency.”

Mr. Stringer’s policy does not explicitly call for any increased cost to Battery Park City residents. Their financial obligations to the BPCA are specified in the ground lease that governs property ownership in the community, and the terms of this contract cannot be modified without the consent of all parties to the agreement. Instead, Mr. Stringer’s proposal would create a new process for distributing the money that Battery Park City property owners have always paid to the Authority.

That noted, Battery Park City residents are increasingly restive about the ever-bleaker prospects for affordability within their own community. Rental tenants are regularly being priced out of the neighborhood, and condominium owners are facing relentlessly spiraling common charges. Both of these funding streams contribute to the tens of millions of dollars in excess revenue that the BPCA collects each year. And any plan that earmarks such funds for affordability outside of Battery Park City would, in all probability, prejudice the interests of residents whose hopes of remaining within the community are predicated on the hope of persuading the BPCA to collect less revenue in the years to come.

Matthew Fenton

A Guide To Lower Manhattan’s 2021 Light Installations

Winter is a little brighter in Lower Manhattan, where you can bask in a whole bunch of colorful light installations this season.

There are two Downtown Alliance-sponsored public art projects on loan from Amsterdam’s Light Art Collection at the public plaza adjacent to 85 Broad.

The sculpture “C/C,” designed by Singapore-based artist Angela Chong, is a bench for seating that transforms into a colorful LED light show at night.

“Talking Heads,” designed by Hungarian artist Viktor Vicsek, is made up of two massive heads dotted with 4,000 LED lights that change to reveal different facial expressions in conversation.

Another Alliance sponsored installation is Ziggy. At the public plaza at 200 Water Street, this interactive piece by design studio Hou de Sous uses cords tied to a steel structure illuminated by colorful lights to create exciting views of the surrounding landscape. You can enter the installation from all angles, and sit on the several “gateways” that serve as benches. At night, Ziggy’s lights add an inviting extra pop of brightness.

Head up Water Street to the Seaport and find “Electric Dandelions,” created by artist Abram Santa Cruz and LA-based art collective Liquid PXL and presented by The Howard Hughes Corporation. In daylight, the ten 28-foot steel-and-acrylic structures look like dandelion flowers; at night, LED lights turn the structures into colorful, rhythmic animations.

(sponsored content)

Wall Street’s Secret Santa:

“It was love right away”

Rest in Peace, Arturo Di Modica

Charging Bull, the monumental bronze sculpture secretly fabricated by artist Arturo Di Modica with $360,000 of his own money, and then plunked down on Broad Street in front of the New York Stock Exchange in the middle of the night.

Arturo Di Modica’s Charging Bull stands poised at the foot of Broadway, seemingly sizing up the Canyon of Heroes as a potential urban Pamplona. He feels so perfectly sited, it’s surprising to learn that he began his New York life somewhere else. The Bull holds a few other surprises too.

   On December 15, 1989, downtown New York woke up to find an 18-foot, 7,000-pound present below the 60-foot Christmas tree in front of the New York Stock Exchange. Unwrapped and without a card, no one knew who sent it—or how it got there. To read more

The Gangs That Couldn’t Shoot Straight

Crips and Bloods Exchange Gunfire at FiDi Hotel, But Hit Nobody

The Artezen Hotel, at 24 John Street, was recently the scene of a shootout between two rival youth gangs, who fired multiple rounds at each other, all of which missed their targets. The February 7 incident resulted in the arrests of nine individuals and the confiscation of eight guns by officers of the NYPD’s First Precinct.

These details were relayed by Captain Thomas P. Smith, the newly assigned commanding officer of the First Precinct, during a February 18 meeting of the Quality of Life Committee of Community Board 1 (CB1). To read more…

9/11 Victim Compensation Fund Report

More Survivors than Responders Now are Submitting Claims

The September 11th Victim Compensation Fund (VCF) has released its annual report for 2020, which documents some significant developments.

Over the course of its ten years of operation thus far, the VCF has awarded $7.76 billion to more than 34,400 individuals who have suffered death or personal injury as a result of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001 and their aftermath. The vast majority of these injuries take the form of illness caused by exposure to toxic materials that were released by the destruction of the World Trade Center.

PHOTO: Sept. 11, 2001. Residents began to make their way out of Lower Manhattan. photo: Robert Simko

The Downtown Calendar

Community Board Committee Meetings This Week

Tuesday March 2

6PM

Transportation & Street Activity Permits Committee

Live Remote Meeting – https://live.mcb1.nyc

AGENDA

1) City Administrative Policy Act (CAPA) Department of Transportation Regulatory Agenda for Fiscal Year 2021 – Discussion

2) Street Use Priorities – Discussion

3) Congestion Pricing Working Group – Discussion

Wednesday March 3

6PM

Battery Park City Committee – 6:00 PM

Live Remote Meeting – https://live.mcb1.nyc

AGENDA

1) Battery Park; Park Operations – Update by Bruno Pomponio, Vice President, Parks Operations, BPCA and Ryan Torres, Assistant Vice President of Parks Operations, BPCA

2) Brookdale Updates – Presentation by Maureen Murphy, Director of Sales & Marketing at Brookdale Battery Park City

3) BPCA Report – Nicholas Sbordone, Vice President of Communications & Public Affairs, Battery Park City Authority

4) BPC Security Update – Patrick Murphy, Director of Security, Allied Universal

Uncivil Servants

CB1 Decries Expanded Free Parking for Scofflaws with Badges

Community Board 1 (CB1) is urging that the administration of Mayor Bill de Blasio remove what appears to be an unauthorized (and possibly illegal) parking sign on River Terrace, which has been used to broaden the already rampant problem of illegal parking by government employees whose cars display official credentials.

In a resolution enacted at its January 26 meeting, CB1 noted that the River & Warren condominium (located on River Terrace, at 212 Warren Street) had for years used “for safe drop-offs and pickups” a length of curb in front of the building, which was designed “No Standing Anytime.” To read more…

Eyes to the Sky

February 22 – March 7, 2021

Sun’s return north, Lion springs tonight

It seems that we are born knowing that we can tell the time of day by the position of the Sun in the sky. The time of year is evident when we observe the changing location of the rising and setting Sun along the horizon, the trajectory of the Sun’s arc on the sky dome, and the length of day. In the illustration, February is represented by the third line. The whole image reflects our experience of the Sun’s northerly movement on the horizon from winter to summer solstice. We observe our star, the Sun, climb higher in the sky each day. On the vernal equinox, March 20, the sunrise point is due east on the skyline. To read more…

CLASSIFIEDS & PERSONALS

Swaps & Trades, Respectable Employment, Lost and Found

To place a listing, contact editor@ebroadsheet.com

TODAY IN HISTORY

March 1

1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration

of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.

1562 – Sixty-three Huguenots are massacred in Wassy, France, marking the start of the French Wars of Religion.

1565 – The city of Rio de Janeiro is founded.

1628 – Writs issued in February by Charles I of England mandate that every county in England (not just seaport towns) pay ship tax by this date.

1642 – Georgeana, Massachusetts (now known as York, Maine), becomes the first incorporated city in the United States.

1692 – Sarah Good, Sarah Osborne and Tituba are brought before local magistrates in Salem Village, Massachusetts, beginning what would become known as the Salem witch trials.

1790 – The first United States census is authorized.

1815 – Napoleon returns to France from his banishment on Elba, start of the Hundred Days.

1845 – President John Tyler signs a bill authorizing the United States to annex the Republic of Texas.

1872 – Yellowstone National Park is established as the world’s first national park.

1893 – Electrical engineer Nikola Tesla gives the first public demonstration of radio in St. Louis, Missouri.

1917 – The Zimmermann Telegram is reprinted in newspapers across the United States after the U.S. government releases its unencrypted text.

1932 – Charles Lindbergh’s son is reportedly kidnapped.

1936 – The Hoover Dam is completed.

1953 – Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin suffers a stroke and collapses; he dies four days later.

1954 – Nuclear weapons testing: The Castle Bravo, a 15-megaton hydrogen bomb, is detonated on Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean, resulting in the worst radioactive contamination ever caused by the United States.

1966 – Venera 3 Soviet space probe crashes on Venus becoming the first spacecraft to land on another planet’s surface.

Births

1611 – John Pell, English mathematician and linguist (d. 1685)

1810 – Fredric Chopin, Polish pianist and composer (d. 1849)

1904 – Glenn Miller, American trombonist, composer, and bandleader (d. 1944)

1914 – Ralph Ellison, American novelist and literary critic (d. 1994)

1917 – Robert Lowell, American poet (d. 1977)

1927 – Harry Belafonte, American singer-songwriter and actor

Deaths

1643 – Girolamo Frescobaldi, Italian pianist and composer (b. 1583)

1991 – Edwin H. Land, American scientist and businessman, co-founded the Polaroid Corporation (b. 1909)

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