The Independent View: Kushner Case Touches off Probe Into NYC Buildings Department

A Report that Jared Kushner’s Company Falsified Construction Permit Applications has triggered a New York City Council probe into the City’s beleaguered Department of Buildings (DOB).

Bronx Councilman Ritchie Torres (D-15th District), Chairman of the Committee on Oversight and Investigation, announced the inquiry Monday. Joining him was the Activist Housing Rights Initiative, which will Partner with Torres’s Committee to Conduct the Review, having determined that the Landlord had Falsely claimed to have No Rent-Regulated Units in 34 of its Buildings on 80 Documents submitted to the City over the course of Four years.

“It is deception and dysfunction hidden in plain sight,” complained Torres, noting the DOB could have checked Kushner Cos.’ Applications against Publicly Available Records from the City Department of Finance, which Logs Regulated Units in Tax Documents. “It’s a failure of common sense, coordination and communication between the Department of Buildings and the Department of Finance.” The Councilman deemed City Government “an enabler” of the Alleged Violations.

The Incidents took place between 2013 and 2016. The Mayor signed Legislation in 2017 to crack down on Spurious and Disruptive Construction Projects intended to Harass Tenants. Kushner Cos., which has Blamed the Faulty Filings on Clerical Errors, is likely not the First or Last Organization to Fail to Properly notify the DOB of the Legal Status of its Units.

Torres’s Office confirmed that Housing Rights Initiative and the Committee would Not Limit the Investigation to the Family Business of President Trump’s Son-in-Law, but would Examine the Entirety of the City’s Permit-Approval Process. “Part of the purpose of the investigation is to determine just how widespread this practice is,” said Torres.

Yet the Councilman and Housing Rights Initiative Executive Director Aaron Carr tore into Kushner Cos. during the Press Conference, insisting it had deliberately Misled the City to avoid additional Scrutiny that would have attended Work at a Rent-Regulated Building. “When does an accident turn into a systematic business model?” said Carr, noting that the Organization sold several of the Locations Identified in the Report at a Substantial Profit. “This is not a clerical error, this is a window into Kushner Cos.’ business model.” But he Failed to List other such instances that would indicate a Pattern of Pushing Out Tenants in order to Deregulate Apartments and then Rent them at Market Rates, using State Laws on Vacancy Decontrol and Major Capital Improvements.

Torres, for his part, linked the Allegations of Tenant Harassment to the City’s Record-shattering Homeless Population. “It’s a humanitarian crisis. And it’s an outrage that we have developers and billionaires like Kushner Cos. profiting from the destruction of affordable housing at the very moment that we need it most,” the Councilman said. “It is clear to us that falsified permits as a means to illegal construction is an attempt to profiteer from the loss of affordable-housing units.”

The Councilman raised several possible Outcomes of the Investigation, including Legislation to Tighten Oversight of the Permitting Process and even the Referral of the Case to Prosecutors. He Dismissed, however, any notion that the DOB lacks sufficient Funding and Staff to keep up with the City’s Growth. “At what point does funding cease to be an explanation and becomes an excuse? Aaron is one advocate, I’m one elected official, and we managed to do more to shine a spotlight than the Department of Buildings, which has thousands of employees,” he said.

The DOB has said it Commented on the False Filings for Two Astoria Buildings mentioned in the AP story, and in July 2016 Penalized the Architect who Filed for the Permits for making False Statements. Both Buildings are now being Investigated by a City and State Task Force on Tenant Harassment.

Kushner Officially Resigned from his Duties at the Family Business upon Joining the White House in 2017, but Retains a Stake in a Number of the Companies Assets and Ventures.