You know what rich people like? Staying rich! While it's unclear why exactly super-rich Yankees slugger and serial house hunter Alex Rodriguez finally decided to buy a $6 million place at the Rushmore condo, here's one factor that probably didn't hurt: The 421a tax break that will turn what could have been an annual $60,000+ tax bill into one that's just $1200 a year.
Daily News columnist Juan Gonzalez blasts the tax abatement program, "It grants as much as a 98% percent tax abatement for up to 25 years to condo owners in newly built housing. The bulk of the 421A benefit has gone to luxury housing in Manhattan, though a few reforms by City Hall and the Legislature in 2007 at least required developers to build 20% affordable housing to qualify for the tax abatement. This year alone, the 421A program will cost our city more than $900 million in lost revenues, the Independent Budget Office says. That's money that could prevent layoffs of firefighters and teachers. That could fund senior citizen centers and pay for after-school programs."
The 421a program was created in 1971, to spur real estate development at a low point in the city's real estate market (the NYU student website, PlaNYC.org, has a thorough history of the program), but it ended last December. Naturally, the real estate industry wants it reinstated (PDF).
In the meantime, it's unclear when the baseball fields, slated for public use, will be turned over by the Rushmore's developer.
