A Manhattan City Councilman has been quietly violating city ethics law by not reporting tens of thousands of dollars in rental income he’s collected on a Washington Heights condo since taking office nearly six years ago — all while cashing in on tax breaks he doesn’t deserve, The Post has learned.
Councilman Mark Levine, a Democratic frontrunner in the 2021 borough president’s race, failed to report to the city’s Conflicts of Interest Board rent payments he and his wife, Ivelisse Suarez, collect on a two-bedroom condominium they own on Cabrini Boulevard, records show.
Although Levine regularly documented co-owning the condo — and valuing its worth between $250,000 and $500,000 — he never reported how much rent he collected, according to a review of his COIB filings since 2014.
While it’s unclear how much Levine charged, listings on streeteasy.com show monthly rents of $2,750 in October 2014 and $2,350 when it went back on the market in February 2017.
Like other top city officials, Levine is required by law to report annual income of $1,000 or more to the COIB.
Those who intentionally report incorrect information face a misdemeanor charge punishable by up to a year in jail, COIB fines of up to $10,000 and other disciplinary action.
The councilman’s filings are under review, according to COIB Assistant Counsel Chad Gholizadeh, who added that penalties are only imposed “when incorrect information is intentionally reported.”
Levine spokesman Winthrop Roosevelt said the omission wasn’t done intentionally and that “the issue was resolved,” because the documents are now being amended.
He declined to specify how much rent Levine collected since 2014, except to say the councilman’s COIB filings would be updated to include a range of between $5,000 and $48,000 in yearly rental income.
It’s not the first controversy regarding Levine and his condo.
Not only has he failed to report the income, Levine has also managed to save nearly $11,000 on condo property taxes over the past six years — by taking advantage of a tax break he’s not entitled to, records show.
Condo and co-op owners are only eligible for the tax abatement if they’re the property’s primary resident, but Levine and his wife left the condo for a Fort Washington Avenue apartment a mile away in 2013, so he could so he could run for City Council in that district.
The councilman’s staff has blamed the misstep on the condo’s management company — which is responsible for reporting residency changes to the city Department of Finance — and promised he’d rectify the clerical error when the issue was first reported in November 2017.
But that never happened.
Since then, the tax break has saved Levine another $4,280 on his tax payments — which are paid in full through the end of June, records reviewed by The Post show.
Douglas Kellogg, state projects director for the conservative anti-tax group Americans for Tax Reform, accused Levine of “flaunting the law, and lying to the faces of New Yorkers.”
“It’s a nauseating double standard: the guy in power skirts the rules, while working stiffs follow them and pay some of the highest taxes and rent in the nation,” Kellogg said. “There should be consequences for this unethical behavior.”
DOF said Levine is only getting the exemption because his building manager still hasn’t updated his residency information. The agency added it’s “working with the councilman to resolve this issue” but declined to elaborate further.
Roosevelt, however, blamed the DOF and building management, saying “unfortunately” they “continue to incorrectly list [Levine] as a resident in their applications for a building-wide tax credit despite repeated attempts by the council member to correct this.
“Hopefully, they will correct this immediately, and [Levine] will gladly pay any adjustments to past tax filings,” he added.
Blue Woods Management, which oversees the Cabrini Boulevard condo building, did not return messages.
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