Good morning. It’s Monday. We look at an architect who has lent his license to a developer in New York City to approve buildings he says he didn’t design. We will also look at whether we can expect an advantageous reward from casinos.
Warren Schiffman says he retired as an architect in 2016.
Since then, his professional seal and signature have been used on the designs of three large-scale construction projects in New York City. One is a 642-foot-tall hotel in the Hudson Yards development that is under construction.
Schiffman says he has not played an active role in the three projects. My colleague Matthew Haag writes that his claim raises questions about whether the plans were approved without a registered architect, as required by New York State.
[The Hotel Is 642 Feet Tall. Its ‘Architect’ Says He Never Saw the Plans.]
A document obtained by DailyExpertNews indicated that Schiffman’s credentials were used to falsify his approval of building designs he did not review.
The document was a contract that contained an eight-point agreement outlining how DSM Design Group, the design firm of the Marx Development Group, could continue to use its professional seal after he retired. Schiffman would receive quarterly payments from the developer that were significantly lower than the norm – $175,000 over 10 years.
The contract, signed just before the Marx Development Group began work on the three projects, called on Schiffman to “provide your architectural stamp and signature to the DSM Design Group upon request” and “make an effort to respond to any request within 48 hours.” to such maintenance.” Schiffman says he was never asked to revise plans.
Construction professionals in New York City said the allegations involving Schiffman and the Marx Development Group were unusual.
“Oh my god, that’s a new one,” said Steven Zirinsky, the co-chair of the Building Codes Committee at the New York branch of the American Institute of Architects.
Officials with the city’s Department of Buildings said they found no structural flaws in the plans for the Hudson Yards hotel. The department’s records show that it reviewed the plans five times between 2018 and 2020, when they were approved. One of the other projects was for a 126-room hotel near La Guardia Airport which was completed in 2019 and is now being converted into a homeless shelter. Plans for the third project, a pair of high rise condominiums in Queens, have not been approved.
Schiffman lost his license to practice architecture last month. As part of an investigation by the state’s Ministry of Education, which oversees professional licensing, he admitted to practicing architecture when he was not authorized to do so. Under state law, the “unlicensed practice” of architecture may include practicing without a license or assisting an unlicensed person, for example, by “allowing, assisting, or inducing an unlicensed person to perform activities for which a license is required”.
Schiffman said in an interview that he gave up his driver’s license because of his age — he’s in his mid-80s. He denied admitting to state investigators that he practiced when he wasn’t authorized to do so. He said he renewed his driver’s license after he retired. But he also said he never took 36 hours of courses, a requirement for renewal.
He also denied having any agreement with Marx Development Group, although he later read several lines of the contract in the same interview. He also acknowledged that he was still receiving payments from the developer.
Marx did not answer numerous phone calls and emails asking for comment. In recent months, Marx Development Group has removed the Schiffman name from several of its projects and warned the city government that another licensed professional had replaced him.
Weather
Prepare for a chance of showers and thunderstorms early this morning. The rest of the day will be partly sunny with temperatures around the mid 80s. Mostly cloudy tonight in the mid-1960s.
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Valid until June 20 (June).
The latest New York news
The casino industry has coveted New York City for years, and in April state lawmakers gave the green light for three casinos in the state downstate. Analysts say a new casino in the city could transform the national gambling landscape by leveraging directly on the country’s largest market and its global appeal as a tourist destination.
But evidence from other cities suggests that casinos rarely deliver on their long-term economic promises. I asked Nicole Hong, who writes about the New York City economy, what to expect.
The premise of casino gambling is that it would bring an economic windfall for New York City. Will it?
It’s too early to predict.
In the short term, the state will get the upfront license fees, which will be at least $500 million per casino. In terms of tax revenue, the state will take much of the gambling revenue that the casinos earn, and casinos can be taxed at a much higher rate than other types of businesses.
But the magnitude and sustainability of the windfall in the long run is an open question.
There are four casinos in New York State. Did they meet the revenue targets they set out when looking for their licenses?
Even before the pandemic, those casinos performed below expectations. The state audit office found that the casinos contributed $188 million in gambling taxes to the state in 2019, two-thirds of what they projected in their licensing applications.
Part of the problem is that the Northeast is becoming oversaturated with casinos, and they’re all competing for a comparable pool of customers.
What about jobs? Don’t Casinos Create Jobs?
Casinos come with jobs, especially during the construction and grand opening phases. A single casino can employ thousands of people. But economists told me that the jobs often pay low wages, which hinders the potential for real economic growth.
We also have yet to see how the job market will behave during the pandemic. Across the country, many casinos have reported employee shortages, similar to the challenges faced by other hospitality businesses such as restaurants.
Where are we likely to see casinos, and what is the timetable?
The favorites for two of the licenses are for the existing “racinos” – racetrack casinos – in Queens and in Yonkers, NY
The real competition seems to be for the third license. By October, the state is due to appoint a committee that will manage the application process, so we may not know the exact locations until next year. But the lobbying frenzy has already begun. The pitches include parts of the Manhattan waterfront, Times Square, Coney Island and the area around Citi Field in Queens.
METROPOLITAN diary
Metro partner
Dear Diary:
Last fall, I traveled to New York City for a writing workshop with eight women from across the country. It was hosted by a well-known author at her home in Washington Heights.
I was considering a hotel on the Upper West Side. How hard can it be to navigate the subway to the 155th, I thought as I clicked “book” for a non-refundable room.
More difficult than I expected.
Expecting a friendly foreigner to stay nearby, I emailed the group, hoping to find a subway partner, only to get several versions of “I wish I could help.”
Then a woman who lived in Chelsea replied, offering Citi Bike the 50+ blocks to my hotel and get on the subway from there.
I said I’d hold off with coffee and asked what kind she wanted.
When morning came, the weather was perfect for late September. I held the coffee, one in each hand, as I waited outside the hotel. I casually took a sip from the cup that belonged to her, then greeted her nervously with my confession.
With a slight chuckle, she raised the cup to her lips and took a sip. We stormed through the busy 72nd Street station and down the stairs to the 1.
Soon we arrived at our destination, a cozy antebellum apartment filled with the scent of warm blueberry scones, the chatter of spirited women, and the sound of a Newfoundland barking every time a boat on the Hudson passed.
And of course there was a French press for topping up our half gobbled lattes.
—Elizabeth Weiner
Illustrated by Agnes Lee. Send entries here and read more Metropolitan Diary here†