Wendell Fisher

Peter Cooper Village and Stuyvesant Town

Last week, the city announced a deal to preserve middle-class housing at the massive Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village complex in exchange for giving the new owners cheap financing and a tax break. But the property also comes with development rights, because the complex is not built as high as zoning rules permit. In theory, that could give the owner the right to create very large buildings elsewhere in the city, although such a transfer would be subject to public review. As a candidate, Mayor de Blasio’s housing plan included a call to make it easier for developers to transfer air rights.

On Monday, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, Comptroller Scott Stringer, State Sen. Brad Hoylman and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh wrote to Blackstone, the company positioned to buy the property, with questions about the deal:

Letter from Comp. Scott Stringer, Rep. Carolyn Maloney, Sen. Brady Hoylman and Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh r… by City Limits (New York)