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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
State Sen. Brad Hoylman-Sigal combined units to create his Manhattan co-op
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.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Some LGBTQ clubs boycotting Mayor Adams' Pride Month event over ‘silence' on Trump agenda
Some of New York City's politically influential LGBTQ clubs are boycotting Mayor Adams' Pride Month celebration next week due to what they call his 'silence' on President Trump's efforts to marginalize queer communities, the Daily News has learned. The Jim Owles Liberal Democratic Club, led by longtime gay rights activist Allen Roskoff, spearheaded the call for a boycott Friday, sending out a message urging LGBTQ groups and individuals to stay away from the celebration scheduled for Tuesday at Gracie Mansion. In the message, the club argued Adams is 'in bed with Donald Trump' and displaying nothing but 'silence in the face of attacks on our community' from Trump's administration. Among various other actions, Trump has sought to roll back access to gender-affirming care for transgender people, issued an executive order seeking to establish it as a 'biological truth' that there are only two genders, ousted transgender service members from the U.S. military and tried to ban trans women from participating in sports according to the gender with which they identify. 'The Trump administration's intention is to erase us … Yet not a word of criticism from Eric Adams, who dines with Trump and tells staff not to criticize the president,' the Jim Owles message says. Adams has said he is publicly refraining from criticizing Trump in order to deal with him privately instead. Roskoff, who once counted Adams as a friend but has been one of his harshest critics since 2022, told The News the mayor's also putting 'immigrants and all New Yorkers at great risk' by voicing openness to participating in Trump's 'mass deportation' agenda. 'History will remember him as a pawn to Donald Trump,' Roskoff said, a reference to the Trump Department of Justice's controversial dismissal of Adams' federal corruption indictment. 'Mayor Adams is not our ally. He is our enemy.' Adams' office didn't immediately return requests for comment. After Roskoff's missive, Equality New York, another major local LGBTQ club, announced its members will also boycott Tuesday's event at Gracie. 'Adams has failed from the beginning of his tenure as mayor to invest in the LGBT community, including appointing leaders in his administration with homophobic and transphobic histories,' Equality New York Executive Director Amanda Babine said, a reference to the mayor's controversial 2022 decision to tap a trio of pastors with histories of anti-gay rhetoric to top jobs in his administration. 'He hasn't taken feedback about that and even more recently we see him aligning with Trump, making it clear where he stands.' A third major LGBTQ group, the Lambda Independent Democrats of Brooklyn, said it doesn't consider itself part of any formal boycott. However, Lamda President Joseph Jourdan said his group will also shun Tuesday's event since Adams has 'abandoned' the Democratic Party and 'his queer constituents' amid his ties to Trump. The Stonewall Democrats, another major LGBTQ club in the city, has participated in boycotts of Adams' Pride Month events in past years. This year, Stonewall Democrats President Gabriel Lewenstein said his group won't participate in the boycott. He said he instead wants to let members make 'their own individual decisions,' though he affirmed his club remains adamantly anti-Adams. 'We've called on the mayor to resign several times, so any members going should not be construed as political support,' said Lewenstein, whose group has endorsed Council Speaker Adrienne Adams as its top pick for mayor this year.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
Bronx boy, 13, arrested for April stray bullet murder ordered to juvenile facility
A 13-year-old boy arrested for fatally shooting a 28-year-old man with a stray bullet outside a Bronx convenience store was ordered held in a juvenile facility without bail as the Bronx District Attorney's office builds a case against him, officials said Friday. Instead of being sent to Family Court, the pre-teen was arraigned on murder, manslaughter, attempted murder, and weapons possession charges as a juvenile offender at Bronx Criminal Court. A Bronx judge ordered the teen held in a juvenile facility as the case wends its way through the courts. The teen, who is not being named because of his age, surrendered on Tuesday for the April 23 killing of 28-year-old plumber Daoud 'David' Marji. Marji was walking back to Unk Candy and Grocery on University Ave. near W. Kingsbridge Road after grabbing a vape pen from his car when he was struck in the head by the stray slug about 4:55 p.m., surveillance video obtained by the Daily News shows. He collapsed in front of the store where he used to work. 'He was just walking then it looked like he turned around and that was it,' said a convenience store worker who identified himself only as Ray. 'Flash. Gone.' A second victim, Tania Tubon, 33, was also struck by a stray bullet in the hip during the same incident, cops said. The teen gunman and three accomplices, all wearing ski masks and dark-colored sweatsuits, fled north on University Ave. in a gray Honda Civic, cops said at the time. The accomplices are still on the loose. The teen was the third adolescent under 14 this month to be arrested in the Bronx for killing a bystander with a stray bullet to the head. Two weeks ago, two boys ages 13 and 14 were arrested and held without bail for the stray bullet killing of 16-year-old Evette Jeffrey just three and a half miles south of the April 23 shooting scene. So far this year, 28 kids younger than 18 have been shooting victims citywide, NYPD Commissioner Jessica Tisch said. At the same time, 17 adolescents have been arrested for pulling triggers. 'These are babies killing babies and it has to stop,' Tisch said at the time.
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
2 NYPD detectives, including member of Mayor Adams' detail, placed on desk duty for working private security for crypto torture case suspect, sources say
NEW YORK — Two veteran NYPD detectives — including a member of Mayor Eric Adams' security detail — were placed on desk duty Thursday for allegedly working private security without approval for one of the suspects arrested in the crypto torture case, police sources said. One of the cops was identified by sources as Roberto Cordero, a detective first grade with the NYPD since 2005, who was assigned to the Executive Protection Unit, which handles Adams' security. The second was identified by sources and an NYPD personnel order obtained by the Daily News as Raymond Low, a detective second grade with Manhattan North Narcotics who also joined the NYPD in 2005. He was placed on desk duty about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cordero and Low officially were sworn in as cops on the same day, Jan. 10, 2005, records show. Investigators looking into the circumstances of the crypto torture case which has led to the arrests of two investors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, learned that Cordero and Low were employed by one of the two men, the sources said. On Friday, an Italian national, 28, escaped from a multimillion-dollar Soho townhouse and went to police. Investigators established he had been held for 17 days and tortured repeatedly, authorities said. Woeltz was arrested last Friday. Duplessie was arrested Wednesday. It was unclear Thursday which of the two suspects the detectives were working for or how much they were being paid. The sources said a retired cop helped get the two detectives the job. Investigators have not determined whether either Cordero or Low had any knowledge or involvement in the kidnapping and torture of the victim, the sources said. Cordero's assignment to the mayor's detail in 2021 predated Adams' tenure as mayor, department records show. In a brief statement, an NYPD spokesperson said, 'Members of the service were modified yesterday. The matter is under internal review.' 'Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing,' said Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Mayor Adams. _____
Yahoo
3 days ago
- General
- Yahoo
2 NYPD detectives, including member of Mayor Adams' detail, placed on desk duty for working private security for crypto torture case suspect, sources say
NEW YORK — Two veteran NYPD detectives — including a member of Mayor Eric Adams' security detail — were placed on desk duty Thursday for allegedly working private security without approval for one of the suspects arrested in the crypto torture case, police sources said. One of the cops was identified by sources as Roberto Cordero, a detective first grade with the NYPD since 2005, who was assigned to the Executive Protection Unit, which handles Adams' security. The second was identified by sources and an NYPD personnel order obtained by the Daily News as Raymond Low, a detective second grade with Manhattan North Narcotics who also joined the NYPD in 2005. He was placed on desk duty about 9:30 p.m. Wednesday. Cordero and Low officially were sworn in as cops on the same day, Jan. 10, 2005, records show. Investigators looking into the circumstances of the crypto torture case which has led to the arrests of two investors, John Woeltz and William Duplessie, learned that Cordero and Low were employed by one of the two men, the sources said. On Friday, an Italian national, 28, escaped from a multimillion-dollar Soho townhouse and went to police. Investigators established he had been held for 17 days and tortured repeatedly, authorities said. Woeltz was arrested last Friday. Duplessie was arrested Wednesday. It was unclear Thursday which of the two suspects the detectives were working for or how much they were being paid. The sources said a retired cop helped get the two detectives the job. Investigators have not determined whether either Cordero or Low had any knowledge or involvement in the kidnapping and torture of the victim, the sources said. Cordero's assignment to the mayor's detail in 2021 predated Adams' tenure as mayor, department records show. In a brief statement, an NYPD spokesperson said, 'Members of the service were modified yesterday. The matter is under internal review.' 'Every city employee is expected to follow the law, including our officers, both on and off duty. We are disturbed by these allegations, and as soon as it came to our attention, the officers were placed on modified duty. The investigation is ongoing,' said Kayla Mamelak, a spokeswoman for Mayor Adams. _____
