Too taxing in Battery Park City

The 5,000-plus condo owners in Battery Park City pay the highest taxes per square foot in New York City. And an unelected government agency wants to raise their payments further still. All this when an apparently homeless man can die on a park bench and sit unnoticed for 16 hours.

When the city assesses property to set the amount of real estate taxes, they look at the beautiful public spaces in Battery Park City, the Hudson River promenade and the parks, and set a high assessment.

The mayor and City Council rarely change the tax rate, so they can claim they did not raise taxes. But the city raises the assessed value of a property, so homeowners almost always pay more. In Battery Park City, “more” can mean annual taxes of $20,000 or more for a two-bedroom apartment.

On top of that, Battery Park City homeowners pay ground rent to the Battery Park City Authority (BPCA), up to $20,000 for that two-bedroom apartment, on top of the $20,000 in taxes.

In Battery Park City, the state owns the land. Homeowners in the 18 residential condos, plus landlords in rental buildings and owners of commercial properties, pay ground rent to the BPCA, ground rent set by long-term leases between the BPCA and the building owners.

That ground rent pays BPCA operating costs, debt service on long-term bonds and generates a surplus which goes to New York City to pay for affordable housing.

Those parks and waterfront promenade, perhaps the most beautiful public spaces in the city, are paid for by the ground rents of Battery Park City property owners, not New York City taxpayers. Homeowners here obviously enjoy this public space. But there are no gates or curfews. Everyone can and does enjoy this space. It is our gift to the city. You’re welcome.

And because we pay to create and maintain this beautiful space, the city increases the assessment, and thus the taxes, on our homes.

Ground rents, not city taxes, also are paying $700 million to $1 billion for flood protection along the Battery Park City waterfront, walls designed to keep the Hudson River from flooding our community. This project will protect our homes, and also protect Tribeca and the Financial District, on our dime.

Homeowners know they have a commitment to pay these ground rents, $5,000 to $20,000 per year on top of city property taxes, and are willing to pay more. We agree to pay for the surplus which goes to New York City, as much as $50 million a year.

But the BPCA wants to push this surplus payment even higher, by holding the homeowners to onerous leases which were forced upon us years ago. If the BPCA has its way, this community will become increasingly unaffordable for middle class families.

And as buyers and mortgage lenders look at the uncertainty of soaring ground rents, they will be reluctant to step in. Already, the owner of a parking garage here, losing money because of high taxes and ground rents and unable to find a buyer willing to take on this burden, just shut down and walked away.

The threat of widespread property abandonment is real.

The BPCA, the agency which can fix these problems, is a seven-member board with one seat vacant for two years and six seats held by people appointed by former Gov. Andrew Cuomo, six people whose terms expired years ago but who haven’t been replaced by Gov. Hochul.

This board collects taxes and ground rents and provides services. One example of these services is the $1 million plus security contract with Allied Universal, whose security guards are supposed to patrol this community.

Yet an apparently homeless man was seen sitting on a bench at the western edge of Rector Park at 3:20 p.m. on Jan. 3. This same man, in the exact same position, was found dead at 7 a.m. on Jan. 4. Sixteen hours in a public park, an area dark and secluded, but publicly accessible.

There are several such areas in the 32 acres of open space in Battery Park City. The homeowners, who pay the Allied Security contract through their ground rents, expect that security guards are patrolling those areas on a reasonable rotation.

Out of compassion and out of concern for their families’ safety, they do not expect someone to sit dead or dying for 16 hours.

Gov. Hochul must assign staff to look into this and to recommend new appointments — Hochul appointments — to the Battery Park City Authority Board. It’s been two years. This is no longer a Cuomo problem. It’s a Hochul problem.

Smith is a Battery Park City homeowner.