Commitments and Contingencies

Legal Proceedings

As of December 31, 2016, the Company and the Operating Partnership were not involved in any material litigation nor, to management's knowledge, was any material litigation threatened against us or our portfolio which if adversely determined could have a material adverse impact on us.

Environmental Matters

Our management believes that the properties are in compliance in all material respects with applicable Federal, state and local ordinances and regulations regarding environmental issues. Management is not aware of any environmental liability that it believes would have a materially adverse impact on our financial position, results of operations or cash flows. Management is unaware of any instances in which it would incur significant environmental cost if any of our properties were sold.

Employment Agreements

We have entered into employment agreements with certain executives, which expire between December 2017 and January 2020. The minimum cash-based compensation, including base salary and guaranteed bonus payments, associated with these employment agreements total $5.2 million for 2017. In addition these employment agreements provide for deferred compensation awards based on our stock price and which were valued at $1.6 million on the grant date. The value of these awards may change based on fluctuations in our stock price.

Insurance

We maintain “all-risk” property and rental value coverage (including coverage regarding the perils of flood, earthquake and terrorism, excluding nuclear, biological, chemical, and radiological terrorism ("NBCR")), within three property insurance programs and liability insurance. Management believes the policy specifications and insured limits are appropriate given the relative risk of loss, the cost of the coverage, and industry practice. Separate property and liability coverage may be purchased on a stand-alone basis for certain assets, such as the development of One Vanderbilt.

On January 12, 2015, the Terrorism Risk Insurance Program Reauthorization and Extension Act of 2007 ("TRIPRA") (formerly the Terrorism Risk Insurance Act) was reauthorized until December 31, 2020 pursuant to the Terrorism Insurance Program Reauthorization and Extension Act of 2015. The TRIPRA extends the federal Terrorism Insurance Program that requires insurance companies to offer terrorism coverage and provides for compensation for insured losses resulting from acts of certified terrorism, subject to the current program trigger of $120.0 million, which will increase by $20.0 million per annum, commencing December 31, 2015 (Trigger). Coinsurance under TRIPRA is 16%, increasing 1% per annum, as of December 31, 2015 (Coinsurance). There are no assurances TRIPRA will be further extended.

Our wholly-owned taxable REIT subsidiary, Belmont Insurance Company, or Belmont, acts as a captive insurance company and as one of the elements of our overall insurance program. Belmont was formed in an effort, among other reasons, to stabilize to some extent the impact of insurance market fluctuations. Belmont is licensed by New York State as a direct insurer of Terrorism and NBCR Terrorism, and a reinsurer with respect to portions of our General Liability, Environmental Liability, Flood, Professional Liability, Employment Practices Liability and D&O coverage. Belmont purchases reinsurance for its Coinsurance and is backstopped by the Federal government for the balance of its terrorism limit for certified acts of terrorism above the Trigger. We purchase direct, third party terrorism insurance up to the Trigger for certified acts of terrorism. Belmont is backstopped by the Federal government for certified acts of NBCR terrorism above the Trigger and subject to its Coinsurance, however does not reinsure its NBCR Coinsurance requirement. There is no coverage for a NBCR terrorism act if covered industry losses are below the Trigger. As long as we own Belmont, we are responsible for its liquidity and capital resources, and the accounts of Belmont are part of our consolidated financial statements. If we experience a loss and Belmont is required to pay a claim under our insurance policies, we would ultimately record the loss to the extent of Belmont's required payment. Therefore, certain insurance coverage provided by Belmont should not be considered as the equivalent of third-party insurance, but rather as a modified form of self-insurance.

Our debt instruments, consisting of mortgage loans secured by our properties (which are generally non-recourse to us), mezzanine loans, ground leases, our 2012 credit facility, senior unsecured notes and other corporate obligations, contain customary covenants requiring us to maintain insurance. Although we believe that we currently maintain sufficient insurance coverage to satisfy these obligations, there is no assurance that in the future we will be able to procure coverage at a reasonable cost. In such instances, there can be no assurance that the lenders or ground lessors under these instruments will not take the position that a total or partial exclusion from “all-risk” insurance coverage for losses due to, for example, terrorist acts is a breach of these debt and ground lease instruments allowing the lenders or ground lessors to declare an event of default and accelerate repayment of debt or recapture of ground lease positions. In addition, if lenders require greater coverage that we are unable to obtain at commercially reasonable rates, we may incur substantially higher insurance premiums or our ability to finance our properties and expand our portfolio may be adversely impacted.

Furthermore, with respect to certain of our properties, including properties held by joint ventures, or subject to triple net leases, insurance coverage is obtained by a third-party and we do not control the coverage. While we may have agreements with such third parties to maintain adequate coverage and we monitor these policies, such coverage ultimately may not be maintained or adequately cover our risk of loss. We may have less protection than with respect to the properties where we obtain coverage directly. Although we consider our insurance coverage to be appropriate, in the event of a major catastrophe, we may not have sufficient coverage to replace certain properties.

Belmont had loss reserves of $6.3 million and $6.4 million as of December 31, 2016 and 2015, respectively.

Capital and Ground Leases Arrangements

In 2015, we entered into a ground lease for the land and building located at 30 East 40th Street with a lease term ending in August 2114. Based on our evaluation of the arrangement under ASC 840, land was estimated to be approximately 63.6% of the fair market value of the property. The portion attributable to land was classified as operating lease and the remainder as a capital lease in the amount of $20.0 million.

The property located at 420 Lexington Avenue operates under a ground lease ($10.9 million of ground rent annually through December 2019, $11.2 million of ground rent annually through December 2029, and $12.3 million annually afterwards, subject to a one-time adjustment based on 6% of the fair value of the land) with an expiration date of 2050 and two options to renew for an additional 35 years.

The property located at 1080 Amsterdam Avenue operates under a ground and capital lease with an expiration date of 2111 ($41.6 million total over the lease term attributed to ground rent). Land was estimated to be 40.0% of the fair market value of the property, which was classified as an operating lease. The remainder was classified as a capital lease.

The property located at 711 Third Avenue operates under an operating sub-lease, which expires in 2083. The ground rent was reset in July 2011. Following the reset, we are responsible for ground rent payments of $5.25 million annually through July 2016 and then $5.5 million annually thereafter on the 50% portion of the fee that we do not own.

The property located at 461 Fifth Avenue operates under a ground lease ($2.1 million of ground rent annually) with an expiration date of 2027 and two options to renew for an additional 21 years each, followed by a third option for 15 years. We also have an option to purchase the fee position for a fixed price on a specific date.

The property located at 625 Madison Avenue operates under a ground lease ($4.6 million of ground rent annually) with an expiration date of 2022 and two options to renew for an additional 23 years.

The property located at 1185 Avenue of the Americas operates under a ground lease ($6.9 million of ground rent annually) with an expiration of 2043 and an option to renew for an additional 23 years.

The following is a schedule of future minimum lease payments under capital leases and non-cancellable operating leases with initial terms in excess of one year as of December 31, 2016 (in thousands):



	Capital lease			Non-cancellable operating leases
2017	$	2,387		$	31,049
2018	2,387			31,049
2019	2,411			31,066
2020	2,620			31,436
2021	2,794			31,628
Thereafter	822,688			732,724
Total minimum lease payments	$	835,287		$	888,952
Less amount representing interest	(793,155		)
Capital lease obligations	$	42,132