Did De Blasio Give “Sweetheart Deal” to Brooklyn Heights Library Developer?

By on February 24, 2016 2:15 pm in Brooklyn Heights

The New York Post reports, Mayor De Blasio is accused of giving preferential treatment to the developer awarded the Brooklyn Heights Library project.  Hudson Companies’ $52 million dollar bid was $6 million and $1 million dollars less than two of the offers.  The bids of 11 other developers have not been made public.

The Post quotes a source close to the bidding process, “This is a sweetheart deal to a politically connected supporter, directly contrary to de Blasio’s stated goals for development projects. He was not going to be the winning guy pre-de-Blasio.”

The source added Hudson’s bid placed the affordable housing units off-site — something de Blasio has spoken out against-while nearly all the other bids included affordable housing within the new residential building on Clinton Street.

Hudson’s CEO, David Kramer is a personal friend and fundraiser of the Mayor and has known de Blasio since the Mayor was a Councilman in Park Slope.  Kramer and his wife have previously donated $9,000 to the Mayor’s public advocate and mayoral campaigns since 2007.  De Blasio returned all but $400 of the funds because Kramer’s company does business with NYC.

Kramer bristled at accusations of favoritism, “There was absolutely nothing inappropriate going on. The market has spoken. There was a bid, it was competitive, and I was selected.”

The Real Deal scooped a spokesperson for The Brooklyn Public Library’s response.

“Hudson Companies offered by far the best bid for our library patrons and the community at large – including not only a very competitive purchase price, but short construction timelines, stringent contract provisions, the highest number of affordable housing units, a guaranteed interim library space, and a track record of delivering on projects of this size and complexity. We are confident that Hudson is a strong development partner that will deliver a world-class library to the Brooklyn Heights community, and we look forward to working with them.”

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  • MPierce

    And, per complaint pending with NYS Attorney General BPL
    lied about the deficit
    BPL has a surplus of 145 million.
    How sweet it is for the 1%.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    “Hudson’s bid placed the affordable housing units off-site”

    What is “off-site”? In Brownsville?

  • Fed Up!

    I have long thought that de Blasio is in the pockets of the Real Estate developers. Throw this bum out! Pronto.

  • http://selfabsorbedboomer.blogspot.com/ Claude Scales

    It was required to be in the same Community Board district (C.B. 2 in this case), and it is.

  • Concerned

    Off-site used to be Brownsville, but property values are now lower on Joralemon so it’s now there…
    Poor Joralemon… I started a GoFundMe page to pay Curtis Sliwa, Willow Street Watch, Bernie Goetz and George Zimmerman to patrol Joralemon come spring time.

  • Jeffrey Smith

    De Blaz is a pure creation of the big banks and the NGO world. He’s ALWAYS been an artificial creation taking the false appearance of a leftist type. This is why, when he went down to Cuba, DINA concluded he was some kind of Langley type. They weren’t tuned in to know who was putting this guy out. Sure, Blaz is pro real estate development. Products of the banking sector will always take the side of developers; banks need people to float loans and pay interest.

  • Reggie

    To attribute this to “a source close to the bidding process” is to almost have no source. My guess is the source is one of the other bidders and this is all sour grapes.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    That should go well with farm raised salmon.

  • Concerned

    LOL! Don’t you dare bring up farm raised salmon around these parts!!! I wouldn’t feed farm raised salmon to…farm raised salmon!!! Those poor b@stards on Joralemon. smh.

  • Jeffrey Smith

    Don’t laugh, if things get any worse on Joralemon this summer, that’s exactly what people are talking about; private armed security. This is
    like what happened on certain blocks bet 5th and Madison after the Diana Ross nightmare. A lot of those blocks quietly went to private
    really strong 24 Hr. security.

  • Concerned

    I’m one of the biggest proponents of more of a police presence on Joralemon. But I can have fun with it. That is, I can have fun with it until I get my head crushed by a tire iron (does anyone use those for muggings anymore) and my brain injury doesn’t allow me to laugh or love anymore…

  • bird

    Funny that no one is mentioning the fact that this deal gives space to Saint Anns and that Kramer’s kids go there

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I thought I read somewhere that manual transmissions are now an effective car theft deterrent. So let’s assume criminals wouldn’t know how to use a tire iron either. In the meantime we can ponder the myriad other objects you might be struck with! :)

  • Reggie

    Maybe no one mentions it because St. Ann’s dropped out of the deal months ago.

  • http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UlsiLOnWCoI Arch Stanton

    Time to bring back the village stock, better yet two of em. One for De Blasio and one for Cuomo, Lock them up in City Hall Park, let the nuggies and nose twists commence.

  • Concerned

    Respectfully, the criminal wouldn’t have to know how to change a tire in order to know that striking me with such a tool would cause me significant harm. God knows I can’t pound a nail straight into the wall, but I’m pretty sure I could hit someone with it if needed…
    That being said, I’d probably like to be brain damaged on Joralemon by someone hitting me in the head with a hoverboard. But I would want said hoverboard to be malfunctioning and on fire at the time of the assault. This way, when my doom is posted on this blog, no one can argue that “it happened the same way in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, so don’t worry about it!”

  • StudioBrooklyn

    Hah ohh boy maybe I’d better finish my thought…

    I was thinking that if crooks don’t know how to drive stick maybe they won’t know how to get to a tire iron either…

    But even a combusted hoverboard sounds painful, even if it is anachronistic when used rhetorically. I’d choose to be thwacked in the head with a couple of giggling toddlers. I’m just gonna put that out there.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I heard that in the homeless encampment on Joralemon and Court they’re forced to cook farmed salmon. And the saffron they use? Spanish.

  • Andrew Porter

    Maybe they can get that Fascist Pizza place…

  • Concerned

    A horrible sin in any venue. But I’m pretty sure the homeless encampment on Joralemon and Court only gets salmon and saffron if they knock out a poor man or woman on their way home from the grocery.

  • Jeffrey Smith

    The larger, overriding point here is SO MUCH of what goes on in these real estate deals of a critical, pivotal importance to the public interest are…HIDDEN. No joke,
    the entire intent is to structure negotions and resulting finalized deals as much as possible OUT of public view. And, as much as possible in an atmosphere of disinformation.

    And a lot of the press have been derelict in nicely keeping coverage of events in real estate circles, with very serious public interest aspects, in as superficial terms as possible.

  • marilyn

    St. Ann’s is not taking space, but it is getting millions for its air rights.

  • StudioBrooklyn

    I’m considering making a lox joke but it might be too soon.

  • Reggie

    bird wrote, “gives space,” not “infuses cash.”