Only new buildings can benefit from tax breaks?
Manhattan: I was thrilled to read about the 165 Broome St. affordable housing project. I’m glad we enabled the creation of 196 new units when we need to build fast to support our growing population. However, I noticed a disparity that concerns me. The average rent for a one-bedroom at the Broome St. property is $1,568, with most units going for $1,845-$2,145 per month. In contrast, I can only charge $1,100-$1,400 per month for my one-bedroom units due to rent stabilization. If $2,145 is considered affordable, why am I restricted to significantly lower rents? Even the average one-unit rent of $1,568 is much higher than what I’m allowed to charge.
Moreover, I expected that higher rents would correlate with higher property taxes. However, upon reviewing the NYC Department of Finance data, I found that my property tax is 12 times higher on a per-unit basis. They pay $1,224 per year per unit, while I pay $17,500 per year per unit. Since not all units are created equal, we should look at it by cost per room: I’m paying $5,800 per year per room in property tax, while Broome St. pays $480 per year per room. That’s still an 11.6 times higher tax for my 1890s brownstone than their modern 2024 luxury complex.
How can we be expected to charge less while also paying more to the city? How can small housing providers achieve similar tax breaks? Affordable rents are impossible for regular housing providers to offer under the current system. If we want rents to come down, we need to build more new units but also fix the economics of the units we have. Ilan Rabinovitch
Kicked to the curb
Manhattan: Re “The Council’s illegal voucher law” (editorial, Aug. 3): The petitioners in our CityFHEPS rental assistance supplement lawsuit included vulnerable seniors and disabled tenants scheduled for imminent eviction. The court’s ruling cruelly slammed the door on these New Yorkers and thousands more families on the verge of homelessness. This editorial calls for more affordable housing construction — which we support, if those units are truly affordable to our clients — but that’s not an overnight solution. Given the local homelessness crisis, economic uncertainty and rising rents thanks to the Mayor Adams-appointed Rent Guidelines Board, low-income communities need relief now. This ruling, lauded by Adams, will hurt this core constituency of his, and they will not forget it. But just because the trial court got it wrong doesn’t mean the fight is over. The City Council announced their intention to appeal and that’s our intention, too. It’s regrettable that many families may lose their homes before an appellate court has a chance to rule. Adriene Holder, chief attorney, civil practice, The Legal Aid Society
State of things
Brooklyn: To Voicer Oleksandr Moroz: I am so sorry that you were assaulted, but as long as Alvin dirt-Bragg is around, things like this will be the norm. Josie Oliveri
Puzzles update
New Rochelle, N.Y.: My mornings begin with coffee and Crossword II in the Daily News (which awaits me every day at the door courtesy of our phenomenal delivery person, James). I enjoy the tactile pleasure of pencil and paper as I rouse my few remaining brain cells from their slumber. On Sunday morning, my wife beat me to the print edition — she doesn’t share well — so, digital it was. Except the crossword. Could you please enhance the crosswords and Jumble so that they may be solved in the online version? The tactile feel may be missing, but the mental stimulation remains. Richard Rodrigue
Just not true
Flushing: To Voicer Corlissa Arrick: JD Vance did not hit any “nerve.” He insulted people and claimed they have no interest in the future of this country because they have no biological children. People reacted to the insult and his faulty opinion. If he hit a “nerve,” you must think Donald Trump is doing the same thing. And just because you think he “told the truth” does not necessarily make it the truth. Bernard Caine
Unpersuasive
Nutley, N.J.: The letter from Voicer Corlissa Arrick purports to respect a person’s decisions on whether to have children or not, but then tries to restrict the opportunity of citizens without children to persuade others to agree with their political beliefs. If I can make two points: First, isn’t it everyone’s right to free speech to express their views in a way to persuade others to adopt them? Second (and more importantly), there is an inference here that the views of childless citizens will be harmful to children and families. The letter and Sen. JD Vance have made an assumption but have presented no evidence to support their position. Peter Griswold
Questionable record
White Plains, N.Y.: Donald Trump continues to falsely claim that Kamala Harris failed the California bar exam. Harris has acknowledged that she passed the exam on her second try. Trump boasts about his graduation from the Wharton School of Business. He doesn’t acknowledge that he was a freshman and sophomore at Fordham College. He was able to transfer to Wharton because his brother Freddy knew someone in the admissions office. Transcripts, please. Randi Bernstein Feigenbaum
Take him on
Brooklyn: Kamala Harris should take the bull by the horns and debate Trump even on Fox. It’s likely that Trump will expose his racism and nastiness and hurt himself more than Harris. Martin Selbst
Flexible heritage
Bronx: While Leonard Greene adamantly detailed how Kamala Harris was always Black in an effort to discredit Donald Trump (“B-L-A-C-K from Day 1,” column, Aug. 4), she has a well-documented history of using her Indian heritage for political advantage. There was nothing groundbreaking or distinguishable about being Black and elected to the Senate, which is why she touted herself as being the first Indian-American elected. When San Francisco’s Diya TV, which serves the Indian and South Asian community, interviewed Harris at the 2016 Democratic National Convention about running to become the first Indian-American U.S. senator, she smiled in agreement. There’s no record of her ever objecting or correcting the record to say that she’s really Black. There’s nothing wrong with Harris claiming the Jamaican and Indian heritage of her parents. However, there is something very wrong when journalists betray their ethics and integrity to advocate for a favored candidate and disparage the opposition. The only lie Greene exposed is his own. Charles T. Compton
As expected
Manhattan: The fallout from the attempt to assassinate Trump is sadly predictable. The FBI is praying the shooter wasn’t on its watchlist. Trump’s fist bump and bloodied face will become his campaign’s new graphic. He’ll say that turning right just before he was shot saved him and America. He made his acceptance speech at the GOP convention with an oversized bandage and wears it for weeks to come. The families of those shot/killed will become symbols of MAGA defiance. Trump will accuse the CIA of setting up the shooting. How else could a shooter get onto a secured rooftop? He will claim that surviving the assassination is a sign from heaven that he’s meant to be president. The shooting will become an argument for more guns. And the beat goes on… George Klas
Cash rules
Union, N.J.: This is not a defense of Bob Menendez. The arrogance, greed and stupidity found in most of today’s politicians caught up with him. Yet, it begs the question: How is all lobbying not bribery? It’s legal just because you launder it to yourself through a campaign chest instead of stuffing it in your closet? How is it not bribery to refuse support for sensible gun laws (not bans or confiscations) because you can’t rise from your seat with pockets so loaded with NRA money? To deny real health care or reform because of the Big Pharma money weighing you down? To blame a president (who has little real control over prices) for gas and groceries as your war chest overflows with bucks from Big Oil, Big Agra or just greedy CEOs? I’m not saying let Menendez off the hook, but put them all on the hook! Lou Alt
Good sports
Woodside: After watching the Olympics, I noticed that the losers congratulated the winners. No excuses. No whining. A pleasure. Richard Tobiassen