Clockwise from top left: Stanley Chera, Sheldon Solow, Peter Hauspurg, Gerald Hines, Jerry Wolkoff, and Bianca Yankov
In a year when so many lives were lost, real estate was not spared. The industry mourned both legendary figures and those who died too soon.
But it was the death of Stanley Chera, the 77-year-old patriarch of Crown Acquisitions, that epitomized the year. The real estate titan had decamped New York City for Deal, New Jersey, early in the pandemic at the behest of his longtime friend, President Donald Trump. But on April 11, Chera died of complications from Covid-19. When Trump contracted Covid later in the year, he reportedly asked an aide, “Am I going to go out like Stan Chera?”
Mayor Bill de Blasio (Getty; iStock)
The city is forging ahead with its push to help New Yorkers find alternatives to the traditional lump-sum security deposit.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the Housing Development Corporation issued a formal request this week to identify companies that could provide other options for tenants, rather than requiring them to pay landlords hundreds, or even thousands, of dollars up front. But crucially for landlords this wouldn’t diminish the amount paid to the property owner, who would be insured against claims for damages or unpaid rent.
“This administration is committed to creating better options for renters who might have trouble paying a security deposit all at once, and we’re looking for the right partners to join us in this important goal,” HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll said in a prepared statement.
Share via Shortlink
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development will cut off applications for its Privately Financed Affordable Senior Housing program. (iStock)
The city is pulling the plug on a senior housing program over concerns that it violates fair housing laws.
The Department of Housing Preservation and Development told developers this month that it plans to stop accepting applications for its Privately Financed Affordable Senior Housing program, known by its acronym PFASH.
The program allows developers to increase the scale of a project that sets aside a certain percentage of units as affordable independent residences for seniors, or AIRS.
Share via Shortlink
Clockwise from left: Richard LeFrak, Related chairman Stephen Ross, A&E’s Douglas Eisenberg, Cammeby’s International Group founder Rubin Schron and Blackstone president Jonathan Gray (Getty, iStock)
While 2020 was a turbulent year for New York City, things have largely stayed the same for the city’s biggest rental landlords.
Policy changes in 2019 left New York’s multifamily players reeling, but the rental apartment sector experienced remarkably little distress compared to other sectors, like office or retail something that industry experts had predicted at the start of the pandemic.
“Read my lips: You are not going to see distress in multifamily,” Lightstone Group CEO David Lichtenstein said during a virtual panel in April.
Here’s Everyone Running for New York City Mayor (So Far)
Forty-plus and counting. Photo: Getty Images, Shutterstock
Are you running for mayor? No? You may be unique: More than six months before the primaries in June, the race is already brimming with candidates. Some 40 New Yorkers have filed campaign paperwork ranging from career politicians to total newcomers and several more are exploring bids for City Hall. Over the coming months, prepare yourself for a barrage of campaign speeches, debates, mailers, and ads from most, if not all, of these aspirants. The Contenders
Age: 60
Current job: City comptroller
Résumé high points: He represented the Upper West Side in the State Assembly, then served as Manhattan borough president before he was elected as the city’s fiscal watchdog in 2013.