TheVoiceOfJoyce NYC developers owe New Yorkers open Public Spaces on the sites of 392 buildings. These public areas were contingent on allowing Developers to add extra residential or commercial space. The developers gained $10 Billion extra in valuation, New Yorkers, nothing. Cure this inequity by back taxing developers, based on their property assessments today. New Yorkers are also losing revenue from 450 apartments assessed at $25 million +, pre pandemic. The assessment would have added $1 Billion in revenue, they pay nothing. If developers were taxed appropriately, NYC would have more revenue for services. #PoliticsAffectsUS

Posted on by jaslvr

www.nytimes.com/interactive/2023/07/21/nyregion/nyc-developers-private-owned-public-spaces.html

The plaza at 325 Fifth Avenue is just one example of a privately owned public space, commonly known as a POPS, that has not been maintained according to the developer’s agreement with the city. These agreements allow developers to build larger towers and earn more revenue in exchange for providing public spaces.

In December, the Department of Buildings completed its three-year inspection cycle and found that about one in five of the properties violated the terms of their agreements.

The lack of compliance with the law has been a problem for years. The city’s inspectors have issued violations to half of the 392 buildings with such spaces since 2011, according to a Department of Buildings dataset.

The standard penalty for a violation is $5,000, which is a fraction of the value of the bonus space developers receive from the agreements. For example, the owners of 325 Fifth Avenue have been assessed a total of $54,000 in penalties since 2015. By contrast, the bonus floor area that the developers gained could be worth approximately $80 million if used for residential space, based on 2022 sales prices provided by Jonathan J. Miller, a New York City real estate appraiser.

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