Erik Engquist

Columnist and former senior managing editor at The Real Deal. Reporter and editor at Crain's New York Business, 2005-19. Journalist since 1991.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@VitalCityNYC “If we misunderstand distressed housing only as a product of landlord neglect or malice, we won’t succeed in solving the problems tenants face, and are likely to make them worse.”
—Howard Slatkin

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@WilliardSimkin @NYCMayor I mean, it’s middle school math. Not PhD-level economics!

But this quote comes to mind:

“It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

I'm getting positive and negative feedback on this column. I tried to address the mayor's rhetoric on landlords with an analogy that would resonate with him. https://t.co/wWG3rjqGBN

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@EliNorthrup @MarkRuffalo Rescue this church — from its rescuers https://t.co/uIxQXozDAC

I am still waiting for Gale Brewer to raise the money she promised for this years ago. Not holding my breath!

[Steven Gallo @Captain_Gallo]

@EliNorthrup @MarkRuffalo Absolutely not. As a politician the smartest thing you can do is ask @MarkRuffalo what he would do about something and then do the exact opposite. His heart is in the right place, but his hit rate is about the same as Jim Cramer’s

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@hashtag_whiskey @jaymart222 @3wordpoets @KennyBurgosNY Rent control was an emergency measure that was supposed to be temporary. But as a permanent program, it relies on the premise that rents should rise with expenses to deliver a modest, steady return for owners. Not at all like the stock market.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@jkitsallgood @jaymart222 $66K per unit. Not a "fake listing." A recorded sale.

> three Bronx buildings totaling 252 units sold for $16.7 million: 3572 and 3576 Dekalb Avenue and 3224 Grand Concourse. The sellers were entities linked to Chaim Eli Bleeman. Bronx GS Properties LLC was the buyer.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@dudelydudeson @resetbasis I just got a press release celebrating an affordable housing project in NYC that costs $917,000 per unit. That’s only a little higher than usual. This is why simply building social housing cannot solve the supply crisis.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@LendCRE @resetbasis It’s not greed. It’s regulation. It’s having six or seven funding sources. And other factors:

Why units that rent for less cost more to build https://t.co/Y4iRf9jdYv

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@PhilSustainable In general this is true but how does the map calculate tax rates? The denominator is key. How does it determine market value? NYC has no uniform measure of market value.

Sales-based market value is the best metric: https://t.co/GyyTen4RTb

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@PhillyJoeD @PhilSustainable There’s a huge difference between Upper Manhattan and the rest of the borough.

In general property taxes account for 30% of the rent. They are much higher for renters in low income areas than for homeowners in gentrified neighborhoods.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

remember “drain the swamp”?

> during an Oval Office appearance, Trump denounced past enforcement actions against crypto shenanigans and bragged: “Every time I see a crypto guy where they dropped an investigation I said, You’re lucky I’m president.”

https://t.co/J6eaNqvmET

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@LennyLongShoes Indeed, DHCR's position is laughable. Just laughable. Every lawyer who's dealt with holdouts can tell you stories about tenants living in horrible conditions who just don't want to move, while others in nice apartments want a buyout so they can retire to Florida.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@cayimby Impact fees on projects are prevalent across the country. I suppose they make current residents more tolerant of development. But I question the premise of impact fees. The cost of services should be shared. That's the purpose of government.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@jon_salero Yes, and I'd add that even before the rent freeze, RGB increases were below inflation for a full decade. Which means they were effectively decreases. https://t.co/DlduYspjfR

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

With the tally of vacant rent-stabilized apartments up to 57,000, I thought it a good time to recirculate this piece: https://t.co/7GqzsZqKru

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

It's appropriate for the @NYCCouncil to look into a response to the buckling columns at the Pfizer building. But it's wrong to presume that more regulation is needed. This was an exceedingly rare incident in a city where lots of work happens. @trdny https://t.co/SpXi6atOt7

[The Real Deal @trdny]

A former top New York housing official alleges the state quietly changed rent-stabilization policy behind closed doors — then applied it retroactively. The court filing could have implications for 11,000 deregulated buildings.

Read more from @erik_engquist:

https://t.co/wy8I7gT4Vo

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@sparklenaloha @BadaBingManager I wrote a story about it. The feedback I got is that it's rare because it's not a viable business model long-term and not repeatable. Lenders will shun you. https://t.co/RWzBzLxiN3

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@sethhaberman Indeed, NOI doesn't include mortgage payments or major capital expenses like roof and boiler replacement. NOI is *not* profit. And using NOI for buildings with 1 rent-stabilized unit to imply that fully rent-stabilized buildings are very profitable is absurd. @NYCMayor does this.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

“What did you do with $96 million that you couldn’t fix our building thoroughly?” a Rutland Plaza tenant demanded.
It turns out that $76 million of that taxpayer money went to keep tenants in their units at below-market rents. https://t.co/xsyWBdHQ5z

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

@BKleinbaum The underwriting in 2016 likely underestimated the future operating costs (which is up more than expected) and overestimated rent collection (which is down more than expected). The rent can't be raised to re-pipe the building and install new elevators. True for many buildings.

[Erik Engquist @erik_engquist]

Indeed, in 2016 Governor Cuomo and other NY politicians cheered the decision to use tax dollars to preserve low rents at this one complex. Ten years later, tenants have forgotten about that but say the building's in bad shape. Crappy housing is NY's main affordability strategy.

[Jay Martin 🏠 🏢🏚️🌇 @jaymart222]

And this my friends is also what happens when rents don’t cover costs in rent stabilization which is why when renters pay rent they don’t feel improvement. They are likely paying to cover the below market rents which don’t cover the costs of their neighbors housing in the same building.

This is why transferring ownership does not fix the problem but it does create a permanent vacuum for tax payer money.