Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 10th, 2014

PLEASE can someone explain to me why two beautifully finished out apartments in A-grade buildings in a prize location in Greenwich Village about 1 block apart from one another ON THE SAME STREET are being billed more than DOUBLE the other for real estate taxes? No, I am not kidding. New buildings are being grossly discriminated against by New York City Government and its time to do something about it.

The one apartment (about 1,465sf, priced at $ 3,85million) is located in The Greenwich Lane at 150 West 12th Street, the gorgeous new Rudin-developed, Thomas O’Brien-designed cluster of buildings, and the other is a few doors away at 59 West 12th Street (about 1,500sf, priced at $ 3,7m), one of the toniest pre-war Bing & Bing condominium buildings, both with full services. Granted, 150 West 12th Street has more amenities, but those are shared by a larger group of owners…..150 West 12th Street has just 1 bedroom, 59 West 12th has two…

150 West 12th Street is billed for $30,732/year in real estate taxes, yet 59 West 12th Street….just a few doors away, almost identical in size, and priced almost the same…..is billed at $ 14,726/year….less than HALF!

The City tax officials explain that their valuations are based on potential rental values, but with buildings so incredibly close to one another, their source of rental data has to be virtually identical surely?

This outrageous abuse of new buildings assessment values has to be addressed as urgently as the assessment of rental properties. The disparities are glaringly obvious even to the untrained eye.