The Week in Review
This article is from the archive of The New York Sun before the launch of its new website in 2022. The Sun has neither altered nor updated such articles but will seek to correct any errors, mis-categorizations or other problems introduced during transfer.
1. Corcoran Goes Green
The Corcoran Group has begun compiling an electronic fact sheet for buyers looking for environmentally friendly homes, the Real Deal reported. The fact sheet will be paperless, in keeping with its green mission. The brokerage also is expanding its Intranet database, ECorcoran, and shifting to electronic reference materials from paper documents.
2. Renters Spend 50% of Income on Rent
Nearly 30% of New York renters, approximately 529,000 people, spend more than half of their income on rent, Rep. Anthony Weiner, a Democrat of Brooklyn and Queens, said. “You should spend no more than a third of your income on rent,” he said. “That is seen more and more not like a rule of thumb, but a pipe dream.” Bronx renters are the hardest-hit, with 33% paying half their incomes to landlords. Of Manhattan renters, 22.6%, the lowest percentage in any borough, spend that much, The New York Sun reported. Mr. Weiner suggested that the city revise its “80/20” program, which provides for 80% market-rate housing and 20% low-income housing, and proposed a “60/20/20” plan, in which 20% of housing would go to middle-income housing and 20% to low-income housing.
3. Proposal to Combine Carnegie Hill Townhouses
A venture capitalist, Dr. Mitchell Blutt, is seeking to combine three Romanesque Revival townhouses on East 90th Street to create a 17,000-square-foot residence. Neighbors are protesting the plan, the New York Times reported. Dr. Blutt purchased the two four-story townhouses next to his current home for $12.6 million, and the estimated value of all three properties is $20 million, before renovations. The Landmarks Preservation Commission told the architect to submit redrawn plans but has yet to vote on the project.
4. Scarlet Johansson Sells Her Loft for Loss
The actress Scarlett Johansson has sold her Leonard Street duplex for $1.898 million, after purchasing it for $1.95 million in January 2006, the New York Observer reported. She originally put the TriBeCa property on the market for $2.195 million. Buyer Richard Gormley currently lives next door. Ms. Johansson’s older brother, Adrian, handled the listing.
