Business leaders blame de Blasio for lack of partnership

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— City business leaders still feel Mayor Bill de Blasio is failing to engage the private sector in efforts to help rebuild New York’s economy.

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— De Blasio announced plans on Sunday to shut down non-essential businesses and schools in nine neighborhoods that have seen growing outbreaks of the coronavirus.

— The city’s tax lien sale is slated to take place this week, unless officials move to postpone it once again. Gov. Andrew Cuomo signed an executive order last month suspending the sale until Oct. 4.

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SLOW RECOVERY — “Business Leaders Feel Sidelined in New York City’s Recovery,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Katie Honan and Jimmy Vielkind: “New York City’s business leaders have looked for ways to help the city during its looming financial crisis, as they have done previously in tough times, but some say they haven’t found much of a partner in Mayor Bill de Blasio. The new coronavirus pandemic has devastated the city’s economy and erased billions of dollars in tax revenue. Nearly 650,000 people were unemployed as of August and thousands of small businesses have closed since March. Executives across major industries have offered their assistance, as they did in the 1970s and after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. ‘I don’t feel like we have a plan as it relates to the city emerging better and stronger,’ said Scott Rechler, chief executive of RXR Realty, a developer and property manager whose portfolio includes several midtown buildings. Mr. Rechler was one of more than 160 business leaders who signed an open letter last month warning of deteriorating conditions in the city and growing anxiety over public safety, cleanliness and other quality-of-life issues.”

SHUTTING DOWN — “NYC business owners up in arms over threat of new lockdown,” by New York Post’s Kevin Sheehan, Rachel Green and Kate Sheehy: “Business owners in COVID-wracked city neighborhoods targeted for a new lockdown ripped Mayor Bill de Blasio over the move Sunday. ‘My plan?! What’s my plan?! Start drinking?!’ said Queens restaurant owner Syed Hossain when told of the mayor’s proposal to shut down indoor and outdoor dining again, as well as public and private schools and all non-essential businesses, in his and eight other neighborhoods starting Wednesday. Hossain, 24, is the owner of Tikka Indian Grill at 119-30 Metropolitan Ave., Kew Gardens — in zip code 11415, which had an average positive-test rate of 3.81 percent for the coronavirus for the past two weeks. The city has set its threshold at 3 percent. ‘I gotta call my parents!’ said Hossain, who also owns three other city restaurants — including one in the 11211 zip code in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which is on a city ‘watch list’ and under threat of lockdown, too.”

HOUSEKEEPING — “NYC’s tax lien sale is slated to resume soon. Will Cuomo stop it again?” by The Real Deal’s Kathryn Brenzel: “The state’s suspension of tax lien sales expires this weekend, and thousands of properties could soon hit the auction block. New York City’s tax lien sale has been delayed three times during the pandemic, most recently through an executive order from Gov. Andrew Cuomo that suspended the sale until Oct. 4. It is unclear if the city intends to move forward with the sale, or if the state will extend the suspension further. Representatives for the state and city didn’t immediately provide additional information. The city’s lien sale on overdue property taxes, water and sewer bills was originally slated for May, but Mayor Bill de Blasio postponed it until August and then again to September. Just before the sale was scheduled to resume, Cuomo signed an order delaying it once again.”

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GHOST TOWN — “How Covid Broke Times Square, the Heart of New York’s Economy,” by The Wall Street Journal’s Konrad Putzier and Will Parker: “A young man walked into a jewelry store near Times Square in July and asked to see the shop’s most expensive earrings. Then he grabbed them and ran off. In years past, crowds of tourists or nearby police officers might have slowed his escape, said Jack Tobias, who runs the jewelry store with his father and his brother. But this year, the neighborhood’s streets are empty and the thief got away. The family has owned a jewelry store near Times Square since 1963, Mr. Tobias said. His business survived the district turning seedy in the 1970s, the drop in tourism after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks and the economic downturn during the 2007-09 recession. Of them all, he says, Covid-19 is the biggest blow to the neighborhood, the embodiment of the city that never sleeps. Times Square has never been so listless for so long….

“New York City’s real-estate market is suffering its most severe crisis in decades. At the city’s hotels, as many as 25,000 rooms, or 20% of the total, might never reopen, analysts and hotel owners have said, as business travel and tourism remain subdued. Much retail business has dried up, and September’s reopening of city malls failed to generate much enthusiasm. Manhattan’s office market is trying to fend off a potential disaster after leasing fell to a 25-year low in the second quarter, as many companies extend work-from-home policies or explore satellite offices outside the city. Even with some offices reopening this summer, only around 10% of Manhattan’s office workers were back in the office as of Sep. 18, according to CBRE Group Inc. Most every corner of New York City is feeling some ill effects of the property market downturn. Times Square is experiencing the full force of every one.”

NOT MUCH IMPROVEMENT — “Real Estate Sales Continue to Stagnate in Manhattan,” by The New York Times’ Sydney Franklin: “Despite hopes that New York’s real estate market would spring back to life over the summer after the coronavirus lockdown was lifted in June, the number of closed sales in Manhattan was down by 46 percent in the third quarter compared to the same period in 2019, according to new sales data. Inventory was up by 27 percent — the highest gain since 2009, according to a new report from the brokerage Douglas Elliman — and demand remains soft. The median sales price for apartments, $1.1 million, was 7 percent higher than at the same time last year. ‘The Manhattan market is crawling out of lockdown and has clearly been the outlier in the region in terms of coming back,’ said Jonathan Miller, a New York appraiser and the author of the report.”

MARKET WATCH — “Want to buy a home with a big potential return? Consider East New York, study says,” by Crain’s Eddie Small: “New York is famously home to some of the most expensive properties in the world, but owners aiming to see the value of their asset grow the most should look far away from the glamour of Billionaires Row or Park Avenue. East Brooklyn—including Crown Heights, Bedford-Stuyvesant, East New York and Bushwick—is the New York City submarket where homes have appreciated the most in recent years, according to a new study from StreetEasy. The analysis, which looked at homes purchased before last year and sold between 2017 and 2019, found that owners who held onto their properties for five to 10 years doubled their investments, with a median return of 99%, or about $414,000.”

RESTAURANT WOES — Virus resurgence could deal catastrophic blow to restaurant industry, by POLITICO’s Janaki Chadha: A resurgence of the coronavirus in New York could deal a catastrophic blow to the restaurant industry, which has already been devastated by the crisis so far, according to a new report commissioned by the Ford Foundation. The report, based on an analysis conducted by McKinsey, painted a bleak picture of the pandemic’s effect on New York restaurants and their workers. The industry has experienced substantial job losses since the beginning of the crisis, restaurants continue to struggle with rent and other costs and consumer spending on eating out has remained well below pre-pandemic levels. The restaurant industry’s losses could stretch even further and spell even more devastation under a “virus resurgence scenario,” the report predicted, where only partially effective public health and economic interventions fail to contain the virus and bring on a prolonged economic downturn.

— “Heat Lamps Needed for NYC Outdoor Dining Are Tough to Find,” by Bloomberg’s Natalie Wong and Nic Querolo

— “Alice & Olivia on the hook for $321K in future rent and other expenses,” by Crain’s Natalie Sachmechi

— “Real estate stocks close higher on jobs report, despite Trump’s Covid diagnosis,” by The Real Deal’s Orion Jones