CELIA YOUNG

Council Member Ben Kallos, who represents the Upper East Side, was also concerned by the fact that the nonprofit did not initially disclose that the 334-foot tower would include a Biosafety Level 3 Lab for studying agents that can cause serious, or even lethal, infections, The New York Post reported. 

“The Blood Center’s expansion plans have been opposed by every local elected official as well as thousands of residents in the community for more than a decade,” a spokesperson for Kallos told CO. “The environmental impacts of this proposed development cannot be mitigated, from shadows on the park and the Julia Richman Education Complex to the creation of new loopholes and the fact that the proposal would include the displacement of thousands of people from 500 apartments.”

A New York City Council member is trying to give the city a heads-up on vacant building sales.

Councilman Ben Kallos plans to introduce legislation on Thursday that would require real estate brokers, realtors and listing agents to notify the city 30 days before a vacant property — including empty lots and unoccupied buildings — of 20,000 square feet or more goes up for sale, Commercial Observer has learned.

Kallos said the bill will bring the city in the loop on transactions, giving it the first right of refusal on vacant properties to allow it to build more schools, firehouses and other municipal buildings. 

“In my district, which is the Upper East Side, we have three gigantic vacant spaces,” Kallos told CO. “I’m trying to build more pre-K sites, and more schools [and] firehouses … It’s clear to me that it is a bad thing that real estate isn’t getting into the hands of the government [and] public-private partnerships aren’t happening frequently.”

While New York’s multiple dwelling law makes it illegal to rent an entire apartment for fewer than 30 days in a building with three or more units, that law is largely only enforced when neighbors complain, WSJ reported. Councilman Ben Kallos introduced the bill to reduce the number of illegal short-term rentals and increase the stock of permanent housing in the city.