DeB feud eyed as city pulls housing-deal $$
The City Council is investigating why the de Blasio administration suddenly yanked $43.5 million in financing from an affordable-housing project in Queens that would have provided money for repairs at an adjacent NYCHA complex.
Funding for the 163-unit building was pulled in November — two months after the developer, the Durst Organization, got into a public spat with Mayor de Blasio — and the project is now delayed indefinitely.
“I have concerns about the withdrawal of bond financing from the project and the impact on the boilers at Astoria Houses,” said Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-Bronx), chair of the Investigations Committee.
Under a deal with the New York City Housing Authority, the Durst Organization deposited $4.2 million to buy land in Hallets Point and agreed to retrofit four boilers for the nearby Astoria Houses.
In September, in an op-ed piece de- fending his dealings with campaign donors, de Blasio singled out Durst’s failure to get a city ferry contract as proof big contributors don’t always get what they want from City Hall.
Members of the Durst family reportedly donated nearly $40,000 to de Blasio’s 2013 campaign for mayor.
Durst spokesman Jordan Barowitz responded at the time that “winter is coming,” a “Game of Thrones” reference.
Yanking the funding is “inexplicable, since the project will generate nearly 500 units of affordable housing, thousands of jobs and upgraded boilers for the Astoria Houses,” Barowitz told The Post.
Boiler improvements intended for the Astoria Houses are outlined in a Nov. 29, 2017, contract signed by Deborah Goddard, NYCHA’s vice president for capital projects. The contract refers to “the four existing boilers in NYCHA’s central boiler plant.”
Goddard testified at a council hearing that the upgrades were “all about” addressing emissions issues.
“I have concerns about the accuracy of the testimony,” Torres said.
Torres has already excoriated NYCHA head Shola Olatoye for providing false testimony about workers being certified to conduct lead inspections when they weren’t.
A city official backed up Goddard, saying that because the project would be taller than a NYCHA smokestack, boilers had to be retrofitted to pass environmental review.
“The work proposed by the Durst Corporation was to support a new project the developer planned, not to improve heat at Astoria Houses,” said de Blasio spokeswoman Melissa Grace. “We’ve allocated $20 million in federal and city funds to deliver the heating upgrades.”
A city Housing Development Corp. official said that while its board initially approved financing for Durst, there wasn’t enough money available within the annual cap to immediately fund the project.
It was the only bonding approved and then pulled from the last round of financing at the HDC.
I have concerns about the withdrawal of bond financing . . . and the impact on the boilers at Astoria Houses. Councilman Ritchie Torres (right)