All rights reserved. A study commissioned by New York City has found that the cost of residential construction in the five boroughs is the highest in the country, with pervasive corruption, outdated regulations and excessive labor and material costs continuing to make it prohibitively expensive to build new homes.
Labor is by far the largest contributor to the higher costs.
While the cost of living has long kept wages high in New York, labor costs are also inflated, the report says, because of featherbedding and inefficient work rules, such as the requirement that plumbers install toilet paper holders, or that electricians install mailboxes. The report was commissioned by the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development and the New York City Partnership and Chamber of Commerce. Currently, all buildings with 3 or more apartments require an environmental review. The report also finds that ''contrary to allegations of some members of the real estate industry, rent regulation is unlikely'' to contribute to higher building costs, except when a developer seeks to demolish an old building. In that situation, the report calls for the rewriting of the rent law to allow for the removal of holdout tenants, with fair compensation, if the new building will have 20 percent more floor space than the demolished one.