Schneiderman Announces Sentencing of Harassing Manhattan Landlord

Schneiderman announces one-year jail sentence and $5 million settlement with major New York City landlord who fraudulently refinanced loans and committed tax fraud. On October 3, 2017, New York State Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced the sentencing of landlord Steven Croman who owns more than 140 apartment buildings across Manhattan. In June 2017, Croman pleaded guilty to Grand Larceny in the Third, Falsifying Business Records in the First Degree and Criminal Tax Fraud in … <Read More>


A Better Path for East Midtown

Early in January 2017 the City of New York began the official public approval process for a proposal to rezone East Midtown Manhattan. The proposal was based in part on a report by the East Midtown Steering Committee co-chaired by the Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and the District 4 Council Member Daniel Garodnick.

The new 2017 proposal is the third proposal for rezoning East Midtown. In 2013 the Bloomberg Administration proposed to rezone East … <Read More>


Comptroller Audit Reveals the Improper Classification of Queens Properties

The audit report finds that the Department of Finance’s incorrect classification of Queens properties as mixed-use properties resulted in lost revenue for the City. On June 10, 2016, the Office of the City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of an audit conducted by the Department of Finance. The audit sought to determine whether the Department of Finance used procedures to ensure that properties classified as mixed-use in Queens had been properly classified.


City Developer Denied Tax Abatement

Court found that application was not filed within the statutory time period of one year. On January 27, 2016, the New York State Supreme Court denied a Brooklyn developer’s petition to reverse a Department of Finance decision to not grant a tax abatement. The Developer, 96 Wythe Acquisitions, filed the petition after the Department of Finance denied the application for the tax abatement because it was not filed within the mandatory one-year requirement. 96 Wythe … <Read More>


Comptroller Audit Finds $10 Million Wrongly Given In Tax Abatements

Audit determined the Department of Finance improperly gave abatements to condos and co-ops owned by corporations over a four-year period.  On January 28, 2016 the Office of the City Comptroller Scott Stringer released a report of an audit conducted of the Department of Finance.  In the final report, the Comptroller’s Office found the Department of Finance wrongly gave out over $10 million worth of property tax abatements to corporate-owned condominums, co-ops, indoor parking spaces, … <Read More>


Center for NYC Neighborhoods Hosts Panel on Affordable Homeownership

The keynote panel focused on the issues and challenges raised by affordable housing creation and preservation in New York City.  On September 30, 2015, the Center for NYC Neighborhoods held its conference on the Future of Affordable Homeownership in NYC.  The event was hosted at New York Law School and sponsored by NYLS, JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, the Center for Real Estate Studies, the Center for New York City Law, and several other … <Read More>