Follow the Money

Why did Sottile revoke the non-profit status for the Hudson Valley Senior Residence? Why does Gallo continue to support this obviously misguided policy? Someone with deep pockets must have plans for this site, because there's otherwise no reason for the city to intentionally destroy this facility:

If managers of the Hudson Valley Senior Residence at 80 Washington Ave. are experiencing that sinking feeling these days, it’s not just from the street collapsing out front. The senior facility, next to George Washington School on the border of Uptown and Midtown, is home to about 40 elderly clients. It is in what some board members have characterized as do-or-die negotiations with the city government regarding its taxable status.

Two years ago, the city revoked the facility’s not-for-profit tax exemption, resulting in an approximate $300,000 annual tax bill. Managers say the home is barely breaking even, and they can’t afford to pay the taxes.

Hudson Valley Senior Residence had been tax-exempt since opening in 1929. A non-profit operation, it is free from federal and state taxes. Its local tax status, however, is determined by the municipal assessor.

About two years ago then-city assessor Mary Ann Bahruth revoked the senior residence’s tax-exempt status. Protests to then-mayor James Sottile fell on deaf ears. Though both the assessor and the mayor have left office, their successors, Assessor Dan Baker and Mayor Shayne Gallo, have continued that policy.

I don't know what the plan is, but someone has a set of blueprints somewhere. And this facility is blocking this plan.