Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 14th, 2013 Today is indeed a day of ironies and contradictions: We learned that Desmond Tutu was snubbed from the Mandela funeral for being possibly the only true un-biased, genuinely honest critic of all things bad, including both the disgraceful Apartheid regime as well as the equally corrupted ANC… [Read More]
TALE-OF-2-REAL-ESTATE-TAX-CITIES: DE BLASIO TO GRACIE MANSION
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on December 12th, 2013 Some are chattering with disdain at the recent announcement that Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio will be moving into Gracie Mansion from his home in Park Slope: While the mansion is certainly beautiful, 12 years ago its possible that some would have thought Mike Bloomberg chose not to… [Read More]
MORE 421-A TAX ABATEMENT LIES
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 18th, 2013 Life in real estate land involves many liars and lies. It is especially bad when these lies are summarized and printed as truth by a major newspaper. THE NEW YORK POST just reported how the millionaires will pay NO real estate taxes for 10 years in super-luxury… [Read More]
DE BLASIO LUXURY CONDOMINIUM TAX REVENUE WINDFALL
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 13th, 2013 Mayor-elect Bill de Blasio may be thanking the creators and buyers of luxury condominiums soon: Over the next 24 months, the City and State of New York stands to collect close to a half a billion dollars in taxes from the construction and delivery of roughly… [Read More]
NEW YORK REAL ESTATE TAX MESS EXAMPLES
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on November 4th, 2013 This week’s Olshan Report showcases 23 properties that went to contract in the past week over $ 4million….including a 2013 record for the penthouse at 212 West 18th Street. While the pricing of these properties may be impressive, what is even more so is the huge disparity… [Read More]
KISS THE RING: DE BLASIO SPEAKS
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 24th, 2013 I went to a fundraiser for New York mayoral candidate Bill de Blasio last night in a very fancy Upper East Side townhouse full of (mostly)Republican real estate big-wigs….wow, what a crowd! Hearing de Blasio speak was heartening in some ways as he seems to geniuniely care… [Read More]
DEAR MR. DE BLASIO: WHY ARE BROOKLYN’S REAL ESTATE TAXES SO MUCH LOWER THAN MANHATTAN’S?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on September 26th, 2013 With Brooklyn pricing on the rise (Dumbo and Brooklyn heights are now two of the costliest New york neighborhoods), and Brooklyn’s infrastructure looking awfully similar to Manhattan’s (and in many areas much better), why are their real estate taxes so much lower than Manhattan’s? Is Bill de… [Read More]
HEALTH CARE ROBBERY – THE MASS FRAUD/CORRUPTION THATS SIMILAR TO OUR REAL ESTATE TAX PROBLEM?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on May 8th, 2013 I have repeatedly griped about the huge (un-constitutional)disparity in the way real estate taxes are assessed in New York: the range is often so large between very simlar properties that it would be laughable if it were not that sad. The system is driven politically, and this… [Read More]
HALF-BILLION IN FRIVOLOUS LAWSUITS: WHY NYC TAXES ARE SO HIGH?
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on March 4th, 2013 $ 506,000,000.00 per year wasted: I often wonder why New York real estate taxes are so high? Do we really get that much in the way of services from our government? We all know the unions abuse the system religiously to pay some workers excessively with excessive benefits… [Read More]
AT LAST A SUPER-PAC TO PROMOTE CENTRIST VIEWS: INDEPENDENCE USA PAC.
Posted by Leonard Steinberg on October 20th, 2012 “You cannot balance the budget without raising revenue and cutting expenses. There is no reputable economist that remotely thinks you could do this without doing those two things — one of which is anathema to the Republicans, and one of which is anathema to the Democrats.” No,… [Read More]