Maybe the Department of Buildings is a racket? 

It isn’t racketeering when the government does it. 

Here’s what happened: 

0. My friend’s architect told her: All plans submitted to the New York City Department of Buildings (DoB) get rejected the first time. The city receives a percentage of the total renovation costs, so they’ll require you to increase it. 

1. My architect filled out the DoB website; I clicked submit. 
2. The DoB examiner rejected my submission, requesting a higher price for the renovations and a detailed description of the price calculation. 
3. My architect resubmitted with a 10% increased price, but without a detailed description of the calculation. 
4. The DoB examiner accepted these new plans. 

Um, sure? 

I guess it’s possible that the original pricing was underestimated by exactly 10%. But also, what about that detailed calculation they requested? It seems much more likely that they just have a policy of rejecting every initial submission to increase their take. 

I’m reminded of Henry Kissinger’s method of accepting memos from his staff: 

Send the memo back with the line “Is this the best you can do?” scrawled on it in red ink. Then, scrawl the same on the resubmission. And repeat. After the third-or-so time, the guy will come running into your office screaming, “Yes, this is the best I can do!” At that point, calmly reply, “Okay, then I’ll read it.”