The Daily Dirt Breaks Down Construction Policy – The Real Deal

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That conversation lasted a little more than two months before it was shelved along with statewide housing targets and several other housing policies.
As The Real Deal has expanded into other markets, and my colleagues there have covered policies aimed at making construction faster and easier, I have found myself wondering, “Would that ever fly in New York?” The answer is almost always: No way.
That was more or less my reaction to Texas’ House Bill 14, which requires local development agencies to approve or reject building applications within 15 days of their review deadlines. Otherwise, a licensed engineer or even a different local agency can sign off on the application.
New York does have a program that allows architects and engineers to speed up projects. These professionals can self-certify that the work adheres to city regulations, bypassing a review by a Department of Buildings plan examiner.
Last fiscal year, 114,779 jobs in the city were self-certified, according to the mayor’s management report. The Department of Buildings audited 24 percent of those applications, and found issues with 3.6 percent of those audited. The agency periodically cracks down on professionals who abuse the program, and those architects and engineers can lose their self-certification privileges.
In Texas, localities are still trying to figure out how to implement HB 14, Joe Lovinger reports. Many developers do not even know it’s an option. Not every application in New York is self-certified and I suspect buy-in in Texas will similarly depend on oversight of the workaround and how much liability third-party reviewers are willing to take on.
What we’re thinking about: Who bought the $53 million penthouse at 111 West 57th Street? Send a note to kathryn@therealdeal.com.
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A thing we’ve learned: “The Castle of Otranto” by Horace Walpole is widely considered to be the first gothic novel. In the first edition of the book, published in 1764, Walpole claimed to be a mere translator of a text that was printed in Naples and discovered in a library in England, according to the British Library. Apparently being a fiction writer wasn’t considered very cool at the time. But the deceit was itself a sort of meta gothic trope, given the genre’s use of found documents and unreliable narrators.
Elsewhere in New York…
— A pro-Palestine rally held in Times Square on Sunday underscored the division between moderate and far-left Democrats in New York, Politico New York reports. Gov. Kathy Hochul called the rally, which was endorsed by the Democratic Socialists of America, “abhorrent and morally repugnant.”
— The city has stopped providing updates on the number of New Yorkers who have received the Covid vaccine, Gothamist reports. Since the formal end of the federal public health emergency, pharmacies are no longer required to report new doses to the citywide immunization registry.
— The state Senate’s Committee on Investigations and Government Operations is probing Competitive Power Ventures, which operates Valley Energy Center in Orange County, the Times Union reports. The committee has requested documents detailing communications between the company, the state Department of Environmental Conservation and former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s administration.
New to the Market: The priciest residence to hit the market Monday was a townhouse at 135 East 19th Street in Gramercy Park asking $14 million. Compass has the listing.
No deeds or permits were filed Monday because of the federal holiday. — Jay Young
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