Ex-real estate exec vies for City Council seat in failed Amazon HQ2 district

Developer donations

Most of the 16 candidates applying for the seat have vowed not to accept real estate donations, but Young welcomes the money.

“I take money from everyone,” she said, “because my table includes everyone.”

She said the donations would not tarnish her judgment: “My influence is not for sale.”

Eric Benaim, founder of real estate company Modern Spaces, and his wife Stephanie are among Young’s largest donors, each donating a maximum of $ 1,000 to their campaign.

“She has what it takes to move LIC forward,” said Benaim. “She’s business friendly.”

Other property names on her list of donors include Jeffrey Feil from the Feil organization, Lloyd Goldman from BLDG Management, the brothers Thomas, Alexander and Daniel Brodsky from the Brodsky organization, an employee of MAG Partners and at least 13 employees from TF Cornerstone.

This support could put them at a disadvantage. The anti-real estate platform has produced successful candidates for years, said Evan Stavisky, political strategist at Parkside Group.

“It’s unlikely that will change overnight,” said Stavisky.

“People are more likely to vote against something than to vote for something,” he added. “Voting against change in the neighborhood is a good organizing tool for progressives in the district, and there is a robust and well-organized progressive community in this district.”

New Yorkers tend to haunt real estate developers, Young said, because there has been a history of damage from some real estate firms.

“There are irresponsible developers and there are responsible developers just as there are irresponsible and responsible nonprofit leaders,” she said. “Real estate is now simply the taste of the month. If you don’t blame Amazon for the gentrification, you go back to the builders. “

When asked about their attitude towards developers, Young came across as lukewarm and pointed out the need for greater community involvement in the development process. That was her job at TF Cornerstone, she noted.

“I’m for responsible development,” she said, “I encourage every developer in town to have a VP of Social Responsibility on their team so they can make better decisions.”

One of her opponents, Julie Won, called campaign donations from real estate “dirty money”.

Won recently got into an argument with Benaim on Twitter after Benaim posted a comment on the Daily News criticizing Won’s campaign for refusing to accept donations from people involved in real estate while he was still alive asked for their votes.

“Sorry guys, unlike your luxury condos, I’m not for sale,” she tweeted.

Won’s campaign finances actually show multiple contributions from people in the industry, including a leasing employee at the Durst organization, the economic development manager of the Meatpacking Business Improvement District, an employee of Turner Construction, a real estate agent, and the executive director of Eunhasu Real estate development company.

Her campaign has returned 75% of the Eunhasu manager’s donation and is working to return the rest, as well as the money from the other real estate donors who slipped through the cracks, Won said.

“It is critical that the next city council be free of politicians who put the needs of property developers and other stakeholders above the needs of their constituents,” she said. “Our campaign dwarfed all of our opponents while rejecting donations from real estate developers, lobbyists, corporate PACs, police unions and fossil fuel executives.”

In total, she raised nearly $ 72,000. Opponent Amit Bagga raised just over $ 56,000. Brent O’Leary raised nearly $ 55,000 and Young’s campaign raised just over $ 47,000.

Seven of the candidates running in District 26 – all progressives – were recently endorsed by the Courage to Change Political Action Committee of MPs Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, including Won, Bagga, O’Leary, Jonathan Bailey, Jesse Laymon, Julia Forman and Hailie Kim, who identifies himself as a democratic socialist.

Goodbye, Amazon

For the city’s real estate and business communities, the wounds of Amazon’s decision to abandon its HQ project are still fresh.

The development, which was expected to create more than 25,000 jobs, received $ 3 billion in government incentives to sweeten the deal. But it met with strong resistance from local residents and community groups.

“Amazon should have happened, but it should have been done differently,” said Young, adding that more community input and transparency from Amazon could have helped the process.

“I want LIC to be more than a high-rise suburb,” she said.

Benaim, also a Long Island City resident, was a staunch supporter of the project. Like most real estate companies, he was devastated when it failed, he said.

“The council is now rejecting all these different projects that are generating income and jobs for the city,” he said, also referring to Industry City.

In the last local council elections, he voted for Jimmy Van Bramer, the incumbent councilor who was a staunch opponent of the Amazon project.

“You never know what someone is going to do, to be honest,” said Benaim. He said he and Van Bramer were “no longer in line”.

While criticizing Amazon’s refusal to unionize its workers, the city council expressed concern that HQ Queens would “bring gentrification to steroids,” it said in a comment in the Gotham Gazette.

After Amazon gave up, a group of four developers – TF Cornerstone, Simon Baron Development, L&L MAG, and Plaxall – suggested building a 12 million square foot mixed-use complex on the Anable Basin site. In order to advance the development, the area would have to be rezoned.

Van Bramer has also spoken out against this project for reasons of gentrification. The town planning commission never certified it, and Mayor Bill de Blasio washed his hands.

The pandemic has stalled plans for the site as well. Now the developers are waiting for a new administration to take over and hopefully bring their ideas forward.

TF Cornerstone was “disappointed with the outcome of the waterfront process last year,” said Jon McMillan, director of planning and senior vice president of the company. He added that “as always, the company will work with everyone elected in this district to pursue this vision.”

TF Cornerstone declined to endorse any candidate.

Is 421-a here to stay?

Young’s other concerns include the affordable housing crisis and the 421-a program – a tax break that encourages developers to offer below-market apartments in new builds. To qualify for the tax credit, new homes must have 25% affordable units.

The trend among progressive Democrats is to get rid of the 421-a program. Several candidates for mayor, including Maya Wiley and Scott Stringer, claim the program is insufficient to build affordable housing, a giveaway for builders and glorifying neighborhoods.

Stringer pursues the idea that 25% of the units must be affordable for every new development. But ending the 421-a program could halt much of the construction of new rental homes.

“It’s not a philanthropic business. It’s a construction business, ”said MaryAnne Gilmartin, founder of MAG Partners, during the Crain Real Estate Summit. “There has to be an incentive, an incentive to create affordable housing.”

Young said the 421-a program, slated to expire next year, should stay.

“Yes, there has to be a sequel,” she said, although she said it wasn’t perfect: “We have to rethink how we do it.”

For them, it starts with rethinking the area’s median income. The AMI sets rental prices for affordable units. Housing is considered affordable if it costs about a third or less of the income of an area’s residents.

Currently, all of New York City is represented by an AMI, but Young says she believes that each zip code should have its own threshold, “so we don’t give affordable units to people who are good.”

Ranking voting will likely work against Young, Stavisky said.

“Without the leaderboard vote, your chances of winning would be higher,” he said, as there are more than a dozen progressive candidates applying for the same vote.

“There used to be a perception that [District 26] was an exclusively working-class, right-wing, moderate district, ”he said. “Of course that is no longer true, because now there are lots of young, progressive voters.”