Evening Roundup: Bye Bye Broker Fees, NYC Leaders Plan to Replace Old Floating Jail, State Leaders Push for Medical Aid in Dying Act, and Tribeca’s Iconic Ne...

Janae Pierre: Some New Yorkers will soon say goodbye to broker fees. New York City leaders plan to replace an old floating jail in the Bronx. New York State leaders push for the Medical Aid in Dying Act. Tribeca's iconic Neon Studio prepares to move to Brooklyn. From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre.

A couple of episodes ago, we mentioned a new law banning most broker fees. That'll go into effect on Wednesday. Oftentimes, New York City tenants are forced to pay a fee to a broker before signing a lease. Those fees are usually equivalent to one month's rent or more. WNYC's housing reporter, David Brand, is covering this. David, supporters of the new measures say eliminating the fees will make it a whole lot easier for people to move. How else does this new law help New Yorkers?

David Brand: Well, this is a really big deal, Janae. It's something I think renters have been dreaming of for many years now. This is going to eliminate a really huge upfront cost for a lot of renters. Consider you're looking at a $3,000-a-month apartment. Sounds like a lot, but is actually lower than the median in New York City right now. If you were to pay a broker fee, that could range from the equivalent of one month, $3,000, to 15% of the annual rent, and that would be $5,400. That's on top of your security, your first month's rent-

Janae Pierre: Yikes.

David Brand: -your moving fees. You're looking at over $11,000 right up front. This could cut out like half of that right away. Like you said, it could make it easier for people to move. More people moving means more apartments are coming online. That's good turnover for a housing market to have more apartments become available. Then, people are just going to have more money to spend on other things, or to save.

Janae Pierre: Yes, that's the hope. David, what are opponents saying about all of this? I'm sure landlords aren't too thrilled about this since they'll be the ones paying broker fees now.

David Brand: That's right. Landlords don't want to pay this upfront cost. That's what it boils down to. By default, tenants almost always pay this cost, and now it will be the landlords on the hook for it. Brokers also aren't happy about this because while they still might get paid, they're probably going to get paid a lot less than they're currently making.

What the critics of this say, including the landlords and including the brokers, is that this could actually lead to higher rents in some cases because the landlords now, if they're forced to pay the cost, are going to factor that into the duration of the rent. Then it becomes a choice facing some tenants, like, all right, do I want to come up with this money upfront? I don't have that money upfront. I can't make it, but now my rent's going to be a little higher. you have to kind of think of that in the impact of this new law.

Still, that's pretty good for a lot of people. A lot of people just don't have that upfront money. For some landlords, could be good too. If the broker's fee is a one-time expense and you're raising rent over the entire duration of someone's tenancy, that's more money, probably in the long run for them.

Janae Pierre: Yes. I'm curious, David. How does the city enforce this law? What does enforcement look like?

David Brand: Well, we're going to see how this plays out in the early days. I think there's a lot of questions around that. First off, the City's Department of Consumer and Worker Protection is going to be the agency that's handling enforcement, DCWP, as they're known. They're going to be the agency fielding complaints, investigating claims of overcharges or illegal fees. They're going to be the ones imposing penalties against brokers and property owners who charge those fees unlawfully.

Back in April, they've released this list of penalties that they're going to enforce against brokers and landlords that they catch charging illegal fees. It's going to range from $750 for first offense, followed by fines of $1,800 for a second offense, and then everything after that, third and subsequent offenses, would be $2,000.

Then there's some other fines they're going to impose. It's $375 for failing to provide tenants with an itemized list of all fees. That's one of the things right now, brokerages and real estate groups are advising landlords and brokers to disclose all fees associated with apartments because you don't want to incur one of these penalties.

We're going to see how this plays out. I think there's going to be a lot of confusion in the early days. There might be some brokers and landlords trying to get around this law and say, "Oh, I forgot this was happening." Then we're going to see just how enforcement works. Are there enough people working for the City to handle this type of enforcement, especially when there's millions of people renting apartments in New York City?

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's David Brand. Stick around. More news headlines after the break. In other local news--

Mayor Adams: The Vernon C. Bain jail barge and all of the destruction that came with it will be removed and we will give renewed energy and life to this community.

Janae Pierre: New York City officials are planning to replace a decommissioned floating jail in the Bronx with a new marine terminal. The Vernon C. Bain jail barge closed in 2023 on the shores of Hunts Point after serving as an extension of the Rikers Island jails for more than 30 years. It's known colloquially as "the boat." City Council member Rafael Salamanca of the Bronx says the planned terminal will create a more attractive waterfront.

Rafael Salamanca: This barge has been a blight in our community, and I'm just happy to see that we finally are getting rid of it.

Janae Pierre: Officials say the project will create hundreds of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity. City officials say it's part of their efforts to build a blue highway where last-mile cargo deliveries happen by water or electric vehicles instead of polluting trucks.

New York State senators are expected to pass the Medical Aid in Dying Act this week. It's a bill that would grant terminally ill patients the right to request medication to end their life. The assembly passed it in Albany, but it's unclear if Governor Hochul will sign it into law. State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal is the bill's sponsor. The Manhattan Democrat says the governor hasn't said whether she supports it.

State Senator Brad Hoylman-Sigal: Well, we're hoping that she signs it, but we have no indication one way or the other.

Janae Pierre: Senate leadership says there's enough votes to pass the bill. Advocates for the measure say it'll allow people to end their life without prolonging suffering. Opponents include the Catholic Church, which says the bill devalues human life and is ripe for abuse.

On to some cultural news in Manhattan. Once upon a time, Tribeca was home to a thriving textile and manufacturing industry, full of fabric shops, glass and plastic and metal workers. Now, one of the last manufacturers is leaving the area. WNYC's Ryan Kailath has more.

Ryan Kailath: In 1972, the artist and provocateur Rudi Stern founded Let There Be Neon, a shop that bends and illuminates glass. He designed light shows for psychedelics pioneer Tim Leary, and made neon art for John Lennon and Yoko Ono, and eventually, of course, neon signs.

Rudi Stern: It's color, it's light, it's fun, it's art. There's neon signs that have a bunch of pigs jumping into a meat grinder and sausages coming out the other end. There's some pretty crazy neon signs out there. They make people laugh like you're laughing right now.

Ryan Kailath: After 41 years on white street, they're moving to Sunset Park this summer. David Barnett, a sign maker at Noble Signs and the New York Sign Museum, says Let There Be Neon is a New York institution.

David Barnett: Most neon vendors don't have the extensive and deep knowledge that these guys do. They really have something very, very unique and very special, and you can see it in the work that they do.

Ryan Kailath: Their list of commercial clients ranges from SNL to Sweetgreen, but Waller says the bulk of their work appears in private, indoors, in art galleries or private commissions. Let There Be Neon storefront doubles as a gallery, which you can check out before the move. Just make an appointment first. After all, they're making stuff in there.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Ryan Kailath. Thanks for listening to NYC now from WNYC. I'm Jena Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.

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