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NYC mayoral hopeful Shaun Donovan, who owns $2.3M house, slammed for not knowing median price of Brooklyn home

Donovan, who resides in Boerum Hill, Brooklyn, is currently contesting for the position of New York City Mayor

New York City mayoral candidate and former US secretary for housing and urban development, Shaun Donovan, is facing severe criticism on social media for wrongly guessing the median price of a house in Brooklyn. While the average rate is around $900,000, Donovan took a random guess at $100,000, during an endorsement interview with The New York Times. 

Meanwhile, a few users have pointed out that Donovan himself resides in a lavish home at Boerum Hill in Brooklyn. According to The Real Deal, Donovan and his wife paid a staggering $2.3M for a four-story carriage house after they sold their previous house at Bergen Street for $2.4M in 2010. The Democratic leader, who is now contesting for the position of NYC Mayor, faced controversy under the Barrack Obama administration for the foreclosure crisis. 

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Shaun Donovan's net worth and lavish life

Prior to his stint as the Housing and Urban Development Secretary under Obama from 2009 to 2014, Donovan served as commissioner for New York City's Department of Housing Preservation and Development for five years. The 55-year-old Democrat politician is a graduate of Harvard University. In 2017, he was named by Harvard as the senior strategist and advisor to its president on campus development and expansion. His wife Liza Gilbert is a landscape designer who has served on the US Commission of Fine Arts since 2014. 

Donovan's present net worth is estimated between $1M and $5M, according to BuzzLearn. His luxury carriage house at Boerum Hill was built in 1900 and comprises two bedrooms, one bathroom and four floors. The annual tax for the house is believed to be around $2,910, as reported by Corcoran. 

'How can you fix the city’s housing crisis if you’re this oblivious?'

Donovan was lambasted on social media for his lack of awareness about housing prices in his own borough. Meanwhile, another mayoral hopeful Ray McGuire guessed the median house price in Brooklyn to be between $80,000 and $90,000. Both Donovan and McGuire were trolled on social media, while Andrew Yang was the only candidate to answer correctly. 

"@RayForMayor & @ShaunDonovanNYC both think a home in Brooklyn costs $100K... How can you fix the city’s housing crisis if you’re this oblivious?" tweeted a user. "Here's the only property I could find in Brooklyn on Zillow for $100k or less. Hope McGuire and Donovan enjoy their new home, a parking space," joked CBS reporter Kathryn Watson. One said, "If anybody was wondering how out of touch the wealthy are, when Shaun Donovan, former Sec. of HUD, former Dir of the OMB and current mayoral candidate for NYC, was asked how much he thought an average home costs in Brooklyn he guessed $100,000..."

Journalist Dylan Matthews brought up another of Donovan's gaffe from the past, "Lmao Shaun Donovan bragged that he ended homelessness in 80 cities, and Brian Lehrer was like "that doesn't sound true," and Donovan clarified "well, uh, for veterans?" Washington Post's Dave Weigel tweeted, "Nobody bungled the NYT's "how much do homes cost" Qs like Donovan and McGuire. Wiley was only wrong bc she over-estimated Brooklyn prices - tbd not a bad headspace for a mayoral candidate. But only Yang nailed it."