No Sleep 'til Brooklyn
CSE and HGFA goes to Crown Heights
Matthew Stillman, Joshua Vincent and Eron Lloyd had a productive meeting last week with Hakeem Jeffries, District 57 of the New York State Assembly. Representing Crown Heights, Bed-Stuy and part of Flatbush, the Assemblyman was well aware of both the scourge of holding lots for speculative purposes, and the bane of absentee property ownership.
We responded that we know there is a lot of land value in NYC, per our report done for Scott Stringer, the Manhattan Borough President. Finding out who owns it is another issue, as the Department of Finance refuses to release the database of where the tax bill are sent, although individual parcels are available online.
The Assemblyman and his staff thought they'd like to take a crack at getting that info, so stay tuned, thoughts and suggestions on how to proceed are invited. So far, we (CSE/HGFA) have helped play a role in ending the favorable treatment given (through low assessment ratios) to vacant land in Manhattan.
We believe that if land value taxation becomes reality in New York City, Assemblyman Jeffries will have a lot to do with it.
Joshua Vincent
