Garvies Point Law

NY Times cites “Risky Waterfront Building in Flood Zones”

A new article in the New York Times talks about New York developers heedlessly building large developments in designated flood zones.

Rather than retreating from flood-prone neighborhoods after Hurricane Sandy, some developers are wading deeper into waterfront markets

The development at Garvies Point is a prime example. Many “luxury” condo buyers do not even know that much of the land at Garvies Point is also a designated flood zone, as we’ve mentioned before on this blog! Prospects who visit the new “Garvies Point Welcome Center” are promised all the amenities (which the developer in an unethical about-face has made residents pay for via a shaky bond), such as kayakers happily rowing about in clean waters, mothers happily pushing strollers, and so on.

No one is warned about the high potential of the land and its residences flooding. RXR obfuscates this important point (as they do with toxic runoff, vapor barriers, traffic & congestion, the shaky Glen Cove bond and so much more) all in the name of profit for themselves and their billionaire Chinese investors.

Will Garvies Point condo owners be able to secure flood insurance at a reasonable cost after the first flood? Highly doubtful.

So go ahead and invest in a Garvies Point condo – but don’t say you weren’t warned!

Garvies Point Flood

Garvies Point after Hurricane Donna

Shaky Financing at Garvies Point development

By GarviesPoint3

Many North Shore residents found RXR’s complete reversal of their years-old promise to finance all of the amenities promised at Garvies Point rather appalling. I know I did. Worse, yet, was how rushed the new $100 million in debt G;len Cove residents were forced to take on to allow the project to move forward.

Most Nassau County Legislators voted ‘yes’ on the bond under political pressure – not really understanding what this bond was or what is at stake for New York State’s “most fiscally stressed city” [NYS Comptroller diNapoli]. In fact, the Nassau LEG – including current County Executive Laura Curran – was quite derelict in their responsibilities with such a quick, blind ‘yes’ vote.

It’s interesting to note: after voting yes, Ms. Curran then went on to select two RXR executives to serve on her “transition team,” which makes one wonder just who she is working for.

But anyway, want an example of how rushed this financing was? When the City of Glen Cove held a quick public hearing on this enormous bond, the development’s lead counsel, Michael Zarin, wasn’t even able to adequately answer the question: “who is responsible in the event of default on this bond?” wow. (Read more on this here)

So unlike Glen Cove, former GC Mayor Spinello or the entire Nassau County Legislature, we took the bond to our own outside expert for an opinion. Here is what she had to say:

This seems to be a very shaky project based on the Plan of Finance on p.44. All the funding to complete all phases of the project is not yet in place. The structure of the bonds shows that Phase I is even a stretch – only a small portion of the deal is structured as current interest bonds. The rest is capital appreciation bonds. Typically capital appreciation bonds are used when you don’t have enough debt service coverage to pay for current interest bonds. It is a way to squeeze more initial bond proceeds out of the deal.

Payback of the bonds depends totally on the real-estate market around the time the units are ready for sale. You can’t assess best and worst case repayment scenarios unless you know how good the underlying assumptions are for the sale of units. A big risk here is that they will never come up with the money needed to complete all phases of the project and that could lower the value of units in the first phase of the project. This would throw off all the repayment projections.

Now I don’t know much bout real estate development bonds, but it doesn’t take a financial wizard to see that this $100 million now on the backs of Glen Cove residents – was rushed through with little transparency and barely any meaningful deliberation. County Executive Curran will be held accountable if this doesn’t pan out (trust us), but what about condo buyers?? Are you willing to take so much risk and purchase a condo at Gravies Point?

RXR’s Scott Rechler implicated in Gov. Cuomo Corruption

By GarviesPoint3

An article in the NY Times included the illustrious RXR leader Scott Rechler as one of several state oligarchs making hefty donations to Gov. Andrew Cuomo in exchange for (or as thanks for?) powerful appointments on state-operated organizations like the Port Authority.

Of course Rechler’s appointment to chair the PA was something we questioned over a year and a half ago. It seemed Scott’s wife, Barbara Rechler, sure liked to make political contributions. lol.

The larger question now is why does Governor Cuomo turn such a blind eye to how toxic Garvies Point is – and all of the toxins RXR is funneling into Hempstead Harbor as we speak, thanks to the installation of their “French drain.” (not really a vote of confidence for this project… one simple drain is exceeding the DEP’s limit on numerous toxic waste, including radioactive waste).

Governor Cuomo has paid a lot of lip service towards improving the Long Island Sound – announcing a “$10.4 million effort to improve Long Island’s water quality and bolster the economies and resiliency of coastal communities by restoring native shellfish populations.”

But certified experts have warned that RXR’s development at Garvies Point will be a significant setback to the health of our shellfish. We guess when it comes to his largest political donor, Gov. Cuomo isn’t really too interested in restoring our waterways and saving Hempstead Harbor?

Why does Scott Rechler (and his wife) make such lavish political contributions to state and county elected officials? Could it be that maybe – just maybe – RXR is building developments the public doesn’t want?

RXR skips the promised affordable housing at Garvies Point

By GarviesPoint3

Now I’m know real estate tycoon like Scott Rechler, but I am able to read and understand development plans… The development plan RXR and the Glen Cove IDA presented to Glen Cove and the public consisted of phases. Phase I of Garvies Point included the much-needed rental units and affordable housing (not to be confused with low income housing, of which Garvies Point offers none). Phase II was to encompass a luxury condominium complex.

This was the plan presented to all of residents, and which the Glen Cove Planning Board and various other local and regional officials approved.

But now that RXR Realty has received some of the necessary approvals, what’s happened? Well, apparently the developer has decided to skip on past Phase I and go right to – surprise, surprise – the luxury condominiums.

Of course given that RXR, Mayor Spinello and the IDA have resorted to loopholes and misrepresentations throughout the entire process of Garvies Point development, I guess no one should be too surprised. Examples:

RXR forces Glen Cove to take out a $100 million dollar bond to pay for construction of amenities they were going to cover.
The mayor’s promised “thousands of jobs” is reduced to just 200 and change when it comes time to put it in writing.
Now, we see the “Mystic Seaport-like” wonderland we’ve been promised devolve into condos for the wealthy.

For RXR to coax residents, many of whom have children who cannot afford the cost of living on the North Shore and are forced to move away, with a promise of affordable housing – and then go right to luxury* condominiums – is truly sickening – even for the egomaniac Scott Rechler and his RXR mafia.

This is just another clear example of how this developer cares about one thing no matter what he says – cha-ching!!

Shame on Glen Cove and Nassau County for allowing the developer to break with the plan and build luxury condos. The developer should be made to deliver on its promises, in the order they represented to us in good faith. Will the affordable housing promised at Garvies Point ever materialize? Well, going by the track record – how this company and its patsies in Glen Cove government have twisted, misrepresented, loopholed and changed the plan so many times (after SEQR approval!), don’t submit your offer just yet.

As we saw in North Hills, with RXR’s new luxury condos straddled comfortably between two highways (which include valet services so millionaires don’t have to suffer the toil of carrying their own groceries!) this company builds for, and cares about, the rich. [You know – like the rich Chinese investors who now kinda own Glen Cove waterfront land thanks to Rechler. That’s right – by working with RXR we’ve sold our land to China.]

Despite Rechler’s ludicrous claims about caring for Glen Cove and us little guys, actions speak so much louder…

Tell Governor Cuomo today – you dont want 12 story towers on Long Island!

*Note: we don’t consider The Beacon in Glen Cove truly luxury condos as they sit on “remediated” (not to be confused with “cleaned”) toxic sites. They do, however, include ongoing toxic monitoring wells and radiological monitoring as recently required by the DEC, free of charge!

Malfeasant RXR Bootlicker/Special Counsel Zarin now attacks Sea Cliff

By Garvies Point

We got a bit of a laugh in the new issue of the Sea Cliff/Glen Head Herald, when Glen Cove’s highly paid, Westchester-based attorney Michael Zarin was quoted: “I think there may be something more internal going on with Sea Cliff.”

Sure, because the City of Glen Cove has no “internal issues” of its own to contend with, right, Michael? pot = kettle, Mr. Zarin.

It takes a lot of nerve to attack the Village of Sea Cliff now – all they ever asked for is for a legal accord that the City of Glen Cove signed to be respected. Do you respect the law, Mr. Zarin? In fact, so much of the chaos and turmoil now surrounding the project could have been avoided if Glen Cove and the developer simply honored this agreement and kept the construction to a reasonable height instead of gargantuan 11-story towers.

But what would Mr. Zarin know about honor?

After all, this is the same attorney who prostituted himself last year – arguing that the 2,500 or so vehicles added to Glen Cove at Garvies Point will have no effects and traffic or congestion, while simultaneously arguing that a much smaller project nearby should be halted due to traffic concerns. A real class act…

After all, this is the same attorney who stood up at a the bond hearing last Fall and cited two minuscule paragraphs from deep within the land sale agreement with RXR to explain a new $100+ million bond the developer was now forcing the City of Glen Cove to take on. (at the same hearing he was unable to accurately explain just who is responsible if this loans defaults – something that should trouble you no matter what you think of this project.)

After all, this is the same attorney who savagely attacked opposing counsel Amy Marion in a Nassau County courtroom, relying on personal character assassinations rather than fact or the letter of the law.

After all, this is the same attorney who cited “unforeseen construction costs” when RXR forced Glen Cove to violate the agreement they had entered into and pay for “horizontal amenities” that RXR agreed to pay for all along. We’re supposed to believe your promise of “$600 million in new revenues for the city, Mr. Zarin, when you can’t even accurately forecast select construction costs over 10 years – to the tune of being $100 million off?

After all, this is the same attorney who just worked with the Glen Cove Community Development Agency and Industrial Development Agency to terminate our Land Development Agreement – which took so many years to build some consensus around – and replace it with this new “Garvies Point Continuing Covenants Agreement” – a re-work with terms that significantly favor developer RXR over the City of Glen Cove (and has had no public input).

After all – and perhaps most importantly – this is the same attorney who has continually blurred the lines of just who he’s representing… He’s paid by the hard-working residents of Glen Cove, but so often seems to be working at RXR’s behest. In fact, when pressed at a hearing, Mr. Zarin admitted that he had indeed represented (and was compensated by) RXR / Rechler in the past. But that aside (we understand attorneys who specialize in small areas of practice may run into such conflicts of interest although this should have been made clear from the outset), when one views the videos or reads transcripts at many of the hearings, it quickly becomes apparent that Mr. Zarin is speaking for – some might conclude working for – RXR Realty, not Glen Cove!

Not only is such behavior morally bankrupt (he’s being paid by Glen Cove to fight for Glen Cove, not RXR), but it’s certainly a violation of legal ethics, and possibly illegal. The New York State Bar Association should be made aware of his “dual” representation, complete with hearing transcripts which easily back up this assertion.

Mr. Zarin – you’re paid by Glen Cove, yet you fight for RXR. You’re not so much a “Special Counsel” as a (desperate) attack dog now. All residents of Glen Cove should be ashamed to have paid this man millions of our tax dollars since 2009.

Here’s a challenge, Mr. Zarin. Respond to and explain each of these new zoning and legal questions about Garvies Point using our Contact Form. We’d be happy to publish your answers right here. If you have any.

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