NYC Council Will Investigate Report That Kushner Filed False Housing Permits
Jared Kushner speaks on his cellphone before a meeting between President Donald Trump and British Prime Minister Theresa May at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, on January 25, 2018. Image by NICHOLAS KAMM/AFP/Getty Images
By Aiden Pink March 19, 2018
The New York City Council will investigate a recent report that Jared Kushner’s family real estate business filed dozens of false construction permits, New York 1 reported Monday.
The permits, uncovered by the Associated Press, falsely stated that there were no rent-controlled units in their buildings in order to expedite construction approval. Housing advocates accused the Kushner Companies of using their construction to drive out rent-controlled tenants and then lease out their units at a higher price.
Rent-controlled tenants said that they believed that the construction was an effort to remove them.
“All of a sudden, there was drilling, drilling. … You heard the drilling in the middle of night,” Mary Ann Siwek told the AP. “There were rats coming in from the abandoned building next door. The hallways were always filled with lumber and sawdust and plaster.”
More than 80 false forms were discovered in a period from 2013 to 2016, when the company was run by Jared Kushner, now a White House senior advisor.
Kushner Companies said in a statement that it outsources its paperwork to third parties, and if mistakes are discovered, “corrective action is taken immediately.”
Contact Aiden Pink at pink@forward.com or on Twitter, @aidenpink
I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.
Now more than ever, American Jews need independent news they can trust, with reporting driven by truth, not ideology. We serve you, not any ideological agenda.
At a time when other newsrooms are closing or cutting back, the Forward has removed its paywall and invested additional resources to report on the ground from Israel and around the U.S. on the impact of the war, rising antisemitism and the protests on college campuses.
Readers like you make it all possible. Support our work by becoming a Forward Member and connect with our journalism and your community.
Make a gift of any size and become a Forward member today. You’ll support our mission to tell the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
— Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO
Join our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
