Two years ago, City Limits reportedthat families in the lowest income brackets are the most rent burdened—contrary to the common claim that it’s middle class families, unprotected by social safety nets, who are hurting. At the time, some readers questioned whether our analysis, based on census data from the American Community Survey (ACS), adequately accounted for families that receive Section 8 rental assistance. It was a fair question, since the census survey is conducted in a manner that makes it unclear whether renters are entering the rent on their lease or what they actually pay.

But a recent report by Sean Campion of the Citizens Budget Commission confirms that, even if you take into account Section 8 and other forms of rental assistance, the rate and number of people with “severe rent burdening”—defined as a household spending more than half its income on rent—grows significantly as one moves down the income spectrum

The man New Yorkers elect to be governor will be charged with overseeing a $168 billion budget that impacts everything from their taxes to how long it will take to get to work on the subway.

Here’s where Democratic Gov. Cuomo and Republican challenger Marc Molinaro stand on key issues:

FRACKING:

New York state has spent $28 billion on economic-development programs and incentives since 2012, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

Much of that money has flowed to communities in Western and upstate New York, which were badly hurt by deindustrialization and have been losing jobs and population for years.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo and his Republican rival, Marc Molinaro, argued about the condition of New York state’s finances during their only one-on-one debate of the campaign. Molinaro pushed back against Cuomo’s claim that he has increased spending by only 2 percent per year, lower than it has been in modern political history.

The independent Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan, nonprofit research organization, analyzes state budgets and found that the 2018-19 budget, which began April 1, calls for increased spending of 4.5 percent. The commission found that, despite state leaders’ proclamations that spending growth had stayed at 2 percent, "after adjusting for shifts of certain types of spending out of state operating funds or across fiscal years, the budget actually increases 4.5 percent from fiscal year 2018."

I have over 20 years of experience in the real estate business, heading investment sales for global firm Avison Young. In addition to my being a member of the Real Estate Board of New York, I am a board member of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce and the Citizens Budget Commission. Like every other New Yorker, I care deeply about this city and its current retail state.

First, the City Council deserves credit for its great work exempting more employers from the commercial rent tax. That reform has protected small businesses and allowed them to grow since it took effect earlier this year.

With the transit system in New York City in constant crisis over a sustained period of time, from delayed trains underground to ever-dropping bus speeds on the streets, the question of how exactly to fix mass transit has been on the minds of elected and appointed officials, advocates and analysts, and, of course, frustrated commuters. In the aftermath of the short-term Subway Action Plan, the effectiveness of which was somewhat difficult to quantify and apparently underwhelming, officials are trying to focus on how to provide more long-term physical and fiscal stability for the beleaguered Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA).

There’s also an upcoming opportunity for the MTA and the Transportation Workers Union to find savings in staffing rules when they negotiate a contract in 2019, according to Jamison Dague, the director of infrastructure studies at the Citizens Budget Commission.

“What you'd like to see is some coordination between management and labor to improve productivity,” Dague said. “Whether looking at some of the work rules and the staffing as far as how flexibly you can deploy certain workers for different types of tasks, or even when it comes to hiring, can you can be less specific in the types of job requirements.”

After weeks of delays and posturing that had cast their debate into doubt, Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo and Marcus J. Molinaro wasted little time before going into attack mode on Tuesday.

Mr. Cuomo, a Democrat running for a third term, and Mr. Molinaro, the Republican challenger, sparred during an hourlong debate that featured more theatrics and bickering than substantive policy discussions. Still, the candidates practiced some revisionist history. Here’s a review of some of their statements where the truth may have been stretched.

Mr. Cuomo spoke of his economic achievements early in the debate. He said state spending under his watch has not exceeded 2 percent growth.

“Our increases are now down to 2 percent,” he said. “That is lower than any governor in modern history.”

It is true that Mr. Cuomo has reined in state spending, but he has not met the 2 percent benchmark he highlighted. The Citizens Budget Commission, a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, found that the budget for fiscal year 2019 increased 4.5 percent. The budget also surpassed 2 percent growth the year before.

New York City has one of the highest rent prices in the United States, which makes it difficult for those with lower incomes to find affordable housing. Though the Mayor Bill de Blasio administration has been working toward creating and preserving affordable housing, according to a recent study done by nonprofit group Citizens Budget Commission, the number of severely rent-burdened New Yorkers has increased slightly or remained steady, despite the efforts that have been made to help.

According to a recently released New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, 44 percent of New York households are rent-burdened, which means that these households pay more than 30 percent of income toward rent, which is accounted for after rental housing vouchers and Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits are applied.

The Citizens Budget Commission gave mixed reviews to Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s record on state spending and the economy during his two terms.

The commission analyzed fiscal, demographic and other data about the policies enacted during his tenure.

The state’s population increased to 19.9 million, a 2.3 percent increase, but that is at half the average rate of the country. Since 2010, about 1 million New York state residents have moved to other states. However, the state has more international immigration, which offsets that decrease.

No one is happy with their property taxes, it would seem.

The New York City Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform came to Brooklyn on Oct. 15 to hold a public hearing and hear first-hand from homeowners about unfairly high tax rates, inequities in the ways property values are assessed and the negative effects the system has on the quality of life in middle class neighborhoods.

Property taxes are the largest source of revenue for New York City, generating billions of dollars each year, according to the Citizens Budget Commission.

Seven years ago, the state aborted plans to rebuild a section of the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway below the Brooklyn Promenade.
The highway, the state abruptly announced, wasn't in dire need of major repairs after all.

The change of heart stunned members of the community who had been involved in plans to renovate that crumbling piece of Robert Moses' legacy.

The state gets some $1.8 billion a year in federal highway dollars, according to the Citizens Budget Commission. The state can then allocate that money to local municipalities. Whether the city will get a piece of that money for the BQE remains to be seen.

"We were completely mystified," recalled Robert Perris, who was and remains the district manager of the community board that encompasses Brooklyn Promenade.

Stanley Brezenoff, Interim Chair of the troubled Housing Authority, voiced concerns Oct. 10 about the Federal monitor who will oversee the agency having too much control over day-to-day management.

In June, Mayor de Blasio agreed to a consent decree with the Manhattan U.S. Attorney’s office that will require the city to spend $2 billion on public housing over a five-year period and places the agency under the watch of a Federal monitor in order to end the investigation of HA’s non-compliance with lead-paint laws.

The U.S. Attorney’s office has extended the deadline for the appointment of a monitor: applications will be considered “on a rolling basis” until the consent decree is approved by U.S. District Judge William Pauley, who is overseeing the case. Judge Pauley has voiced concern that the consent decree would not be enough to improve the squalid conditions.

Though Mr. Brezenoff believed the monitor should have oversight of the agency’s compliance with Federal laws, “I have some trouble with the proposed monitorship because it’s much more actively constructed where there’s more of a management role,” he said at a Citizens Budget Commission breakfast at the Yale Club in Manhattan. “I think it’s a prescription for difficulty, if not disaster.”

The one salient feature of New York City's convoluted property tax system is that everyone hates it. "The property tax is too goddamn high!" Brooklyn Councilmember Chaim Deutsch boomed in front of an appreciative crowd at Brooklyn Borough Hall on Tuesday night. Given that the room was full of property owners waiting to testify in front of the City's Advisory Commission on Property Tax Reform, Deutsch might as well have screamed, "Kittens are cuddly and their tongues are scratchy and cute!"

How messed up is the property tax system? Rental properties have an effective tax rate that is five times greater than single family homes—and guess who landlords get to foot the bill? Glass-bound condos and co-ops built for Russian plutocrats and rich tech bros are appraised as if they are rentals in tenement buildings. Thanks to caps that keep property assessments low when rapid gentrification jacks values up over a short period of time, homeowners in The Bronx and Staten Island get hosed compared to their counterparts in Queens and Brooklyn.