Another old trick of democrat Mayors in the city. When the press gets on city govt for dangerous decrepit housing thats hurting the poor, the city BUYS the property at inflated prices from the BIG DONOR SLUMLORDS to bail them out so they can make another donation or pass an envelope on the side.


Just when you think Mayor de Blasio’s sleaze can’t get sleazier, it does. His latest real-estate scandal involves the city’s purchase of substandard housing from politically connected slumlords at well above market value. Corruption aside, this deal is terrible policy, ensuring that New York will spend even more money than the billions it forks over each year on its homeless problem.

Lest you think Hizzoner didn’t learn his lesson from previous scandals, he has. In his first term, he didn’t pay a price for his massive giveaway to a downtown condo developer, or for trying to kill the horse-carriage industry at the behest of property owners.


So in his lame-duck phase, he’s ratcheting up: City Hall is handing over $174 million to companies controlled by brothers Jay and Stuart Podolsky to purchase 729 apartments in 21 buildings across Brooklyn and The Bronx.

The buildings mostly serve as “cluster sites” for homeless families; the city wants to convert them into long-term affordable housing, run by nonprofits, for formerly homeless New Yorkers. Blas donor Frank Carone represents the sellers.

And a good deal Carone helped make: The purchase price is $30 million over the appraised value.

The city insists the price is “consistent with the current median price for a rent-stabilized apartment.” But many of these buildings are in disrepair, having been subject to neglect and hard use for years. They require tens of millions in gut reconstruction — to be financed by taxpayers.
Because the deal is a purchase and not a contract, it underwent no checks and balances from the city comptroller. Scott Stringer has subpoenaed documents, noting that “the explanations provided . . . raise more questions than answers.”


https://nypost.com/2019/04/14/de-bla...ted-landlords/