Good morning. Today is Friday. We’ll look at the rent increases that are trending for more than two million New Yorkers. We’re also previewing a new look for the Times Square tower, where the ball lands on New Year’s Eve.
The biggest rent in New York City in nearly a decade seems to be on the rise. The rent-regulatory panel gave preliminary support last night to increase it by 2 to 4% for one-year leases and 4 to 6% for two-year leases for properties. The apartment has a stable rental price.
My colleague Mihir Zaveri, who covers housing, said the strong Tenancy Guidelines Board’s 5 to 4 vote was the latest sign of the city’s struggles with housing affordability in the region. amid the prolonged financial pressures of the pandemic.
The proposed numbers are likely to intensify lobbying by landlord groups, which have driven larger increases, and by tenant advocates, who have warned that any increase Which will create new problems for tenants trying to regain their economic footing. Most rent-stable tenants earn much less than average household income across the city about $67,000.
[Panel Backs Rent Increases for More Than 2 Million New Yorkers]
The prospect of a rent increase poses a financial challenge for tenants and a political challenge for Mayor Eric Adams, who effectively controls the tenant board and is more friendly to the real estate industry than money. his supervisor, Bill de Blasio, who had a frosty relationship with the innkeeper. According to de Blasio, the board allows rent increases of no more than 1.5% for one-year leases and 2.75% for two-year leases. It voted to freeze some leases entirely during four of de Blasio’s eight years in office.
Following the vote, Adams released a statement saying it was good for the board to “reduce the price” from the 9% increase on the originally proposed two-year lease. The increase must be formally approved next month.
Tenant advocates expressed outrage at the vote. Sheila Garcia, a tenant representative on the rental board, joined remotely from the Bronx with a group of tenants holding signs calling for payback. “A minimum of 2% will cause damage to the people in this room,” she said.
However, homeowners say they need to raise prices to cope with inflation due to higher fuel and maintenance costs, as well as higher property taxes.
Robert Ehrlich, a landlord representative on the tenancy council, said at the meeting: “Housing comes at a cost. “We need to make sure the buildings have enough money to pay for those costs. If we don’t do it right, a large number can fall into disrepair. “
Weather
Prepare for showers during the day, with low temperatures for about 60 seconds. At night, the rain continued to rain, strong winds and low temperatures for about 50 seconds.
Parking next door
Valid until May 26 (Ascension).
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Where the ball falls, a new look and new technology
Real estate chief executive Michael Phillips said: “Times Square has had a series of lives, when it comes to opening up what he calls ‘Times Square 4.0’.
He’s describing a $500 million plan to be announced Friday for One Times Square, a trapezoidal building that serves as a stage in the sky for a New Year’s Eve ball drop. Phillips’ company, the Jamestown real estate investment and management company, is planning a head-to-toe reconstruction of the 118-year-old building.
“Augmented reality and virtual reality allowed us to take over the building in ways that weren’t as easy as it was years ago,” he says, meaning people can tour it from virtually anywhere. One Times Square – under construction when the phone number is only two or three digits – is “unique in the ability to autostart in the metaverse,” he said. “It’s also the only building in the world with an iconic physical experience tied to New Year’s Eve, with the drop ball.”
For visitors who come in person, he plans an observatory on the 19th floor, overlooking the ever-changing performance that is Times Square. Inside, Jamestown, the company behind the Chelsea Market redevelopment in Manhattan, plans a “brand experience” for companies looking for technology-driven immersive displays.
But some things won’t change. North-facing signs will remain active during the 27 months the building is under renovation, and the shadow will fall on New Year’s Eve this year and next.
Free dancing in Brooklyn
Jane’s Carousel is ready for Jane’s Carousel Day. Todd Goings, who tested the bolts, bearings and cables, says so.
Jane’s Carousel is a 100-year-old ferris wheel in Brooklyn Bridge Park that artist Jane Walentas spent over 20 years restoring. Jane’s Carousel Day, on Saturday, will celebrate her work and honor her with free rides. She died last July at the age of 76.
She and her husband, developer David Walentas, who spent years working to revive the industrial area that became Dumbo, purchased the conveyor belt for $385,000 in 1984 and shipped it to New York. It is simultaneously colorful and graceful, with the magnificence of a circus and the studied sequence of a horse show. It features 48 horses, wooden ones and two chariots – all restored in Jane’s studio and installed in a modern stall designed by architect Jean Nouvel. But the horses on Jane’s Carousel still go the way they always have.
“We’re asking it to do the same thing it did in 1922,” says Goings. doing 100 years later. If you put a million dollars in an antique car, it will be in a museum and people will look at it. This is different. It’s an interactive work of art. ”
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Dear Diary:
I’m in town for a high school reunion, and I’m looking for a shoe repair shop. A doorman on West 57th Street directed me to a place “get off the subway.”
Going down the plane stairs into the terminal, I see a tiny cafe.
“Do you know where the shoe repair guy is?” I asked the man behind the counter.
He was smiling.
“I’m here!” he say.
I held up my shoes, the laces dangling.
He looked around and made a gesture indicating that he was alone in the store.
“Oh, come on,” I said. “I’ll work behind the counter for you if you’re going to fix my shoes.”
I was just joking, but he nodded, took off his apron, held it out to me, and waved me behind the counter.
I put on my apron as he explained the operation: This is the register. Coffee and bagels are $1.75. Here is a glass of milk and coffee.
Then he walked out the door and disappeared.
I was so surprised that I could only stand and look around. There is a grill, a sign advertising special breakfast with scrambled eggs, a stall selling sweets and soft drinks.
A customer walks in.
“Please don’t let her want the specials,” I begged silently.
She said: “I was craving a Peppermint Patty. “Do you have those?”
