City Council Sues NYCHA | Changes In Lower Manhattan | City Buys Sandy-Damaged Home

One Chase Manhattan Plaza (credit: Michael Rubenstein for the NYT)

1. Sale of a landmark building reflects the changing needs of lower manhattan.   Some urban planners, civic leaders and real estate executives say that turning this monument to financial capital into plush apartments or a chic hotel would indicate that the city’s second-largest business district, after Midtown, was losing cachet. Chase moved its headquarters to 270 Park Avenue in 1996. [The New York Times – 10/13/13]
2. Did the recession convince Americans to move to more productive cities? People aren’t moving to the places that are generating jobs. Indeed, the mobility of Americans, which hit new lows during the great crash, has yet to rebound substantially.” [The Atlantic Cities – 10/11/13]
3. City council sues to stop NYCHA land leasing plan. In an effort to stall the Bloomberg administration’s plan to lease public housing land to developers who would build market-rate apartments, City Council and a group of tenants have filed a lawsuit in State Supreme Court in Manhattan calling for the city to rescind its request for proposals. [Curbed NY – 10/11/13]
4. Neighborhood’s draw spurs home prices. The borough’s Gravesend section is primarily known as a diverse, middle-class neighborhood, and the median home price there is slightly below the median for all of Brooklyn. But in the part of Gravesend where the Sephardic Jewish community lives, some large, single-family homes are selling for several million dollars [The Wall Street Journal – 10/11/13]
5. Airbnb fights back against New York state’s ‘fishing expedition.’ Airbnb is formally resisting a subpoena by New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman for details on which New Yorkers rented out what rooms for how much over the last three years. [Next City – 10/11/13]
6. Report: Lack of affordable housing in greater Boston could undermine recovery. The improving housing market in Greater Boston may signal sustained growth for the months ahead, according to a new report from Northeastern University’s Dukakis Center for Urban and Regional Policy. But, the report also finds, stagnant incomes and the lack of affordable housing could undermine the region’s economic recovery. [WBUR – 10/13/13]
7. Looser rules on illegal housing sought. New York City’s Department of Buildings issues more than 4,400 violations a year for illegally converted basements, cellars and attics that cannot be occupied because of health and safety hazards, like poor ventilation or a lack of multiple exits. But with the scarcity of affordable housing in the city and with many New Yorkers already living in makeshift apartments, some housing advocates are calling for a new approach. [The New York Times – 10/13/13]
8. City buys 1st Sandy-damaged home.  The Staten Island site where Patricia Dresch’s home once stood, and two family members died, is the city’s first purchase under a federally-funded, city-administered program. A new, storm-resistant home will be built and then sold, with profits going to aid other victims. [Crain’s New York – 10/11/13]
9. Bruce Ratner to sell majority stake in Brooklyn megaproject to state-owned Chinese developer. The project carries significant risk at this point. Ratner’s on the hook for a large amount of money-losing affordable housing, a very expensive deck over the rail yards, and a relatively untested modular building technique. The fact that the company sought an investor midway through construction suggested that he was in dire straits. [Next City – 10/11/13]
10. How would NYC’s great urban planners design for the future? Olmsted would love how the city has started to incorporate waterfront parks as protective infrastructure. Washburn believes he would support the construction of ‘soft-infrastructure’ like oyster beds and wetlands, as well as rigid things like seawalls planted with greenery. [Curbed NY – 10/11/13]