His top aide, Deputy Mayor Randy Mastro, was tasked with preventing follies like the Elizabeth Street Garden tragedy that marred Adams’ last day on the job. Instead, Mastro orchestrated it.
Remember when the city council refused to appoint Mastro as corporate attorney because he was too conservative? Adams’ argument was that he was competent. Don’t think so!
Two days ago, Adams and Mastro publicly announced that Pennrose would be named developer of a city project at 22 Suffolk Street. The press release then noted that Pennrose had not actually agreed to that.
I started reporting on city government in 1992. Never have I seen the city announce a deal before it was reached.
Pennrose had two days to agree to the city’s offer. In return, the developer would have to drop its lawsuit against the city for designating the Elizabeth Street Garden as a park, blocking Pennrose’s project to build affordable housing for seniors there.
I doubt I can process all the ways Adams and Mastro bungled this in one column. Here’s the Cliff Notes version:
Adams was enthusiastic to clear the sculpture garden and let Pennrose build the homes, preserving some open space for the community. His lawyers won the lawsuit, ending a decade-long battle with statue man Allan Reiver, his son Joseph Reiver and privileged Nolita residents who opposed the project.
Then Adams appointed Mastro and suddenly everything changed. The city reversed its position and sided with the Reivers and against Pennrose. It was the political equivalent of Aaron Judge moving from the Yankees to the Mets in the middle of a World Series between them.
Mastro then struck a deal with local councilman, real estate hater Chris Marte, who promised to approve three future housing projects if the sculpture garden was allowed to stay. Mastro continues to maintain that no homes can be built without Marte’s approval. That’s not true.
In November, voters approved revisions to the City Charter, removing much of Marte’s influence to halt projects. The new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, should be able to realize the affordable housing without Marte’s cooperation.
When Mamdani won the election and promised to revive the housing plan, Adams and Mastro had to act before Mamdani closed the doors of City Hall behind him and changed the locks. Their brilliant idea was to designate the site as a park area, so that no homes could be built there.
Pennrose sued, saying the city did not follow any process in designating the land. That’s the lawsuit Adams and Mastro wanted the developer (who partnered with RiseBoro Community Partnership and Habitat for Humanity on the project) to drop.
There’s no way Pennrose, RiseBoro and Habitat would do that. They will likely win the lawsuit, and if not, Mamdani can get Albany to revoke the park designation.
Furthermore, if they had accepted Adams’ offer, there is no guarantee it would have held if Adams and Mastro had come out of power. And the developers would have had to start from scratch on the Suffolk Street site and wasted ten years of effort on Elizabeth Street.
The kicker in the city’s press release Monday was that the sculpture garden, which would have a 10-year lease, is behind on rent on the city-owned land. It owes $10,000.
Rewarding a bad tenant is bad optics. But the optics in Elizabeth Street and the Adams administration went out the window long ago.
Read more
Developers of Elizabeth Street Garden reject Adam’s deal for an alternative city site
This Manhattan Council member has pretty much everything wrong about real estate
Nearly 10% of Noho, Nolita storefronts are vacant
#Adams #ends #mayoralty #final #mistake