Expected next Mayor Adams embracing business, but what exactly does that mean

:Eric Adams Vows to ‘Welcome Business,’ Calling New York ‘Dysfunctional’, the New York Times reported 9/14/21, quoting the expected next mayor: “This is going to be a place where we welcome business and not turn into the dysfunctional city that we have been for so many years.”

What that means beyhond tone and a tougher posture on crime is unclear, especially since, as the Times put it, "Mr. de Blasio has, at times, fostered close ties to the real estate sector, but he based his first mayoral campaign on addressing the city’s widening inequity."

Reading the tea leaves:

Mr. Adams’s advisers and allies see a shift in tone as a matter of policy at some levels: If he builds stronger relationships with business leaders, it might pave the way for more public-private partnerships. If he engages wary business leaders in discussions about what is needed to make the environment more hospitable to growth, they may then be more inclined to stay in the city, or to expand.

What that means regarding real estate--say, special assistance for an expensive deck over the Vanderbilt Yard, crucial to completing Atlantic Yards/Pacific Park--is unclear.

On real estate

The Commercial Observer 9/13/221 published Eric Adams’ Approach to Real Estate as Mayor? See His Borough Presidency:

Development and neighborhood rezonings — one of the few areas within a borough president’s purview — continued at a brisk pace on Adams’ watch. But he took more of an ad hoc approach to proposals compared with Markowitz’s carte blanche approvals.

“His questions are, ‘How will these projects help the underserved residents of the borough?’ said David Lombino, Brooklyn-based Two Trees Management’s external affairs director and a supporter of, and donor to, Adams. “They want to maximize affordable housing. They’re aware it makes a lot of sense to do density in high-opportunity neighborhoods, and there’s more skepticism for market-rate development in actively gentrifying neighborhoods.”

That, actually, has been somewhat inconsistent, given Adams's opposition, for example, to the 840 Atlantic project as proposed.

As I noted, Adams, in his campaigns and private fund-raising, has drawn significant real-estate cash, and in his mayoral campaign has been broadly pro-development, including calls for upzoning wealthier areas, as City Limits reported in April, but he doesn't automatically back each project, with one housing advocate calling him "an enigma."

That said, though the CO wrote that "Adams doesn’t have a signature project that he can claim to have supported like the Barclays Center," the BP has very much supported it over the years.

The article closes with a support-cementing quote from a real estate backer:

“Eric Adams is a thoughtful leader, and has shown a rare talent to truly always lead from the heart, and has the best interest of all of his constituencies at heart,” said Ofer Cohen, founder and president of TerraCRG, a commercial real estate firm in Brooklyn, and an Adams mayoral campaign fundraiser. “He had prioritized and fought for the most burning issues Brooklyn had faced during his tenure, and I know he will continue to do so as a mayor.”