State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal combined units to create his Manhattan co-op

Yahoo

2 days ago

State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal has long spoken out about the need for more units to address New York City's affordable housing crisis — but has consolidated multiple homes in a pricey co-op to create a multi-million dollar apartment for himself.
Between 2006 and 2016, Hoylman-Sigal and his husband combined three Greenwich Village apartments to form their 2,000-square-foot pad. There is no market value listed for the apartment, though with three bedrooms and three baths, the sale price would likely be in the millions.
Hoylman-Sigal is an advocate for tenants' rights, slamming rent increases for rent-stabilized tenants and speaking out about the city's low vacancy rate. He is currently running for Manhattan borough president against Keith Powers, a current city councilmember.
On a 2019 podcast, Hoylman-Sigal, who represents much of the west side of Manhattan, talked to host Jason Haber, a real estate entrepreneur, about the city's affordable housing problem. Haber said that consolidating units chips away at the city's housing stock and brought up an example of a wealthy New Yorker who combined nine apartments to form a single huge luxury home.
Hoylman-Sigal agreed, explaining it makes financial sense for ultra-wealthy Manhattanites to buy multiple occupied units and merge them into mansions. He lamented this practice would force more rent-stabilized tenants out of their homes.
'On my block alone, on 10th Street, there's a software entrepreneur who's combining not one, not two, but three townhouses,' Hoylman-Sigal said, in an apparent reference to Sean Parker, a Facebook co-founder.
'It may be one of the largest townhouses in the Village by the time he's through with it. And I can't imagine to think how many families were pushed out of that residence over the years when he assembled this massive property. So it's a sad reality.'
Parker's combination of the three mansions made headlines in 2016, although it does not appear he pushed any tenants out with his purchases.
Hoylman-Sigal told the Daily News this week he had been referring to so-called 'Frankensteining,' or loopholes in rent stabilization laws that allowed landlords to combine or change apartments in order to hike rents up or push tenants out. That loophole was closed at the end of 2023 with the passage of legislation in Albany.
Caroline Crowell, Hoylman-Sigal's campaign manager, cited his record on housing.
'In 2024, he helped secure more than 500 additional units of supportive and affordable housing in his senate district — in that same period, his opponent secured a paltry nine units in his council district,' Crowell said. 'The idea that the apartment he and his husband own in the Village has anything to do with Brad's record on increasing affordable housing is an absurd political hit.'
The state senator also said he does not currently reside in the apartment, as he moved last year due to redistricting that shifted the bounds of the 47th District, which he represents.