The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has finalized its changes to a cleanup plan originally issued in 1996 to address soil and groundwater at the AVX property at the Olean Well Field Superfund Site in Cattaraugus County, Olean, NY. Soil and groundwater at the AVX property located at 1695 Seneca Avenue are contaminated with volatile organic compounds, which are often found in paint, solvents, aerosol sprays, cleaners, disinfectants, automotive products and dry cleaning fluids

Mayor Bill de Blasio today joined the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, development partners, federal, state and local elected officials to mark the commencement of passenger service on the number 7 Subway extension and the opening of a new station at 34th Street and 11th Avenue to link New Yorkers, workers and visitors to Manhattan’s Far West Side. The extension of the 7 Subway line west from Times Square was funded by a $2.4 billion investment by the City of New York

Combining the cumulative expertise they have garnered through decades in the residential and commercial real estate industries, respectively, real estate powerhouses Esther Muller and Faith Hope Consolo have formed a strategic alliance to help business newcomers and seasoned veterans take their success to the next level. Together, Muller and Consolo are booking information-packed business-building sessions through the Academy for Coaching and Training (ACT), including speaking engagements, as well as individual mentoring sessions, tailored to the needs of attendees.

landmarks legislation NEW YORK – Yesterday, Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer offered testimony (PDF) at a hearing of the New York City Council Land Use Committee, raising her deep concerns about the current version of Int. 775. In its current form, the legislation sets up hard deadlines for the Landmarks Preservation Commission’s consideration of items on its calendar, and would ban any and all items not designated within the set time frame from reconsideration for at least five years, regardless of whether a decision was made on the item’s merits. Borough President Brewer issued the following statement after the hearing: “As I testified yesterday, I think Land Use Chairman Greenfield, Landmarks Chairman Koo, and I share a common goal – property owners, residents, and preservationists alike all deserve a more transparent and predictable landmarking process, with real timelines. That said, the current draft of this bill does more harm than good. “I’m encouraged that Chairmen Greenfield and Koo indicated their willingness today to listen and consider changes to the bill. I think we can accomplish our common goal of a better landmarking process without undermining the work of the Landmarks Preservation Commission or dramatically weakening the Landmarks Law. With the input and help of all stakeholders, including real estate, community boards, and our city’s passionate and sophisticated preservation advocates, I think we can come up with effective reforms that make sense. “I offer my thanks and congratulations to the many preservation groups who mobilized to raise concerns about this legislation and made their presence felt at yesterday's hearing, including the New York Landmarks Conservancy, the Historic Districts Council, Landmarks West!, the Greenwich Village Society for Historic Preservation, and Friends of the Upper East Side Historic Districts. In addition, I thank my fellow elected colleagues who submitted testimony, including Assemblymembers Richard Gottfried, Deborah Glick, and Jo Anne Simon.” Brewer identified three key problems in Int. 775 that a good compromise would need to address. These are: • Five-year ban on reconsideration of items. The current draft of Int. 775 would tie the agency’s hands in an unprecedented manner by banning for five years the reconsideration of any individual landmarking item that does not receive a landmark designation within the timeline set by the bill (up to a year for individual landmarks and up to two years for proposed historic districts). • Inflexible, impractically short timelines. The 1- and 2-year time frames are too short to allow for the additional research and negotiation that often are part of finalizing more complex items. Under the framework in the current version of Int. 775, more than a quarter of the city’s historic districts would not have been created, including Mott Haven in the Bronx, Bedford-Stuyvesant in Brooklyn, Hamilton Heights and Mount Morris Park in Manhattan, and Jackson Heights in Queens. • Forcing LPC to clear its entire existing calendar within 18 months. This provision of the bill includes no requirements for public hearings or any public process, and it too applies a five-year ban on reconsideration for any item that is not designated within the time limit. This would interfere with the execution of LPC’s already-announced plan for clearing its backlog, and it virtually guarantees a large number of calendared items would not be considered in a public or transparent manner.

Westwood Financial Corp. (WFC), one of the largest privately held owner-operators of grocery-anchored retail properties in the United States, has announced the opening of Dollar Tree at its Albion Shopping Center. Located in the Albion Village of western New York, this location marks the sixth Dollar Tree to open at a WFC-owned center

Hunt Mortgage Group, a commercial real estate lender, announced today that it has provided a $6.75 million loan, through the Freddie Mac Co-Op program, to refinance a multifamily property located in Flushing, New York

U.S. Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand today announced a federal grant of $2,217,833 in Lead Hazard Control funding for Chautauqua County to address lead hazards in 150 housing units. This critical funding will provide necessary resources to spur collaboration between Chautauqua County and local organizations, including the Jamestown and Dunkirk Housing Authorities, in order toreduce the number of lead-poisoned children and protect families by targeting health hazards in homes with significant lead and other home health and safety hazards.

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced today that Verizon will, in response to local concerns regarding a long-abandoned building in the Village of Camillus, level and clean up the property that has become a community eye-sore for the last 20 years. Last week, Schumer visited the Village and urged Verizon to be a good neighbor and clean up this site so it is no longer an eye sore or can one day be used for other purposes

Jersey City, which often draws a close comparison to New York City’s most populous borough, is experiencing yet another wave of multi-family investment demand associated with its Hudson waterfront location and proximity to Manhattan, according to the brokerage professionals at Gebroe-Hammer Associates. Development is moving inland, tenants are migrating from New York City in search of a similar yet less expensive lifestyle and property appreciation is up approximately 7 percent in the past 12 months

New York state continues to have high levels of foreclosure activity with new foreclosure filings remaining significantly higher than prerecession levels, according to a report released today by State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli

The $10 million, 10-year CMBS loan was provided by Rialto Mortgage Finance LLC and features a fixed rate and interest-only payments for the first year. This transaction was negotiated by Meridian Managing Director, Tal Bar-Or, Associate, Beau Williams, and Vice President, Judah Neuman, who are all based in the company’s New York City headquarters

Governor Cuomo announced more than $6.2 million in grant awards to help 16 historically significant properties repair severe damage from Superstorm Sandy in 2012. This is the second round of funding announced by the Governor to rehabilitate historic landmarks damaged in the storm

Scores of workers, tenants, elected officials and union leaders came together at 1711 Fulton Street in Bedford-Stuyvesant on Thursday night to call on the building owner to restore good jobs for the building’s workers, who saw their pay cut and were harassed and fired because of their union membership

On Thursday, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, and California State Treasurer John Chiang released a joint letter to Polish Prime Minister Ewa Kopacz calling on her government to adopt measures to restore real property and provide restitution to victims of the Holocaust. Seven decades after the end of World War II, Poland remains the only European Union member-state, and the only major former Soviet-bloc country, with no legislation establishing a pathway to compensation or restitution.

The New York Department of State will hold a public meeting on August 7, 2015 at 10:30 a.m., regarding the real estate appraisal profession. The meeting will take place at the following locations: 99 Washington Avenue, Albany; 65 Court Street, Buffalo; and, 123 William Street, New York City. The public has the right to attend the meeting at any of these locations.

he Federal Home Loan Bank of New York (“FHLBNY”) today released its unaudited financial highlights for the quarter ended June 30, 2015. “Twenty-five years ago this month, the first Affordable Housing Program grants were made,” said José R. González, president and CEO of the FHLBNY. “In the quarter-century that has followed, our consistent performance has positioned the Federal Home Loan Bank of New York to be a reliable partner for both our members and the communities we all serve.

New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) Commissioner/CEO James S. Rubin announced the latest round of funds and tax credits, totaling over $200 million, for the preservation and construction of affordable housing statewide. The financing will be made available by HCR via Unified Funding, a competitive Request for Proposal (RFP) process that allows applicants to apply for 11 different funding sources using a single online application

One of America’s oldest and most prestigious real estate brands, HUNT Real Estate ERA, has launched the real estate industry’s hottest new technology – marketing automation – a move that will “shave years” off the total time its more than 1,000 agents typically spend marketing listings annually.

The New York State housing market posted healthy gains in nearly all categories including sales, median selling price and pending sales during the first half of 2015, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS. Closed sales were up 3.4 percent in the first six months of 2015 compared to the same period last year, while the median sales price increased 3 percent and the number of pending sales jumped more than 12 percent.

Agorafy, New York City’s new digital home for the real estate industry, has released its official Agorafy New York Real Estate App. The Agorafy New York Real Estate App is now available for free download on iOS and Android devices at the App Store and Google Play.

Mayor Bill de Blasio today announced that the City financed the creation and preservation of 20,325 affordable apartments and homes during fiscal year 2015, enough housing for more than 50,000 New Yorkers and the most in 25 years. The City broke an all-time record for the most new affordable apartments underway – nearly 8,500 – the highest figure since the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development was established in 1978

The Alliance for Downtown New York’s Board of Directors last night unanimously elected Brookfield Properties Partners’ Global Office CEO Dennis Friedrich as its new Chairman. Friedrich replaces Robert Douglass, who has served as the Alliance’s Chairman since its inception in 1995 and will remain a member on the Board of Directors.

U.S. Reps. Joe Crowley (D-NY), Vice Chair of the Democratic Caucus, Chris Smith (R-NJ), Ted Deutch (D-FL), and Leonard Lance (R-NJ) announced they led 42 bipartisan members in a letter to Secretary of State John Kerry expressing strong and ongoing support for the restitution of Jewish communal, private, and heirless property seized across Europe during the Holocaust. They also urged the State Department to continue efforts to address the issue swiftly and in collaboration with the legislative branch

The Erie County Department of Real Property Tax Service has announced it will be holding its annual seminar on how to purchase tax foreclosed properties. The seminar, titled “How to Purchase Tax Foreclosed Properties," will be hosted by the Director of Real Property Tax Services, Joseph L. Maciejewski and will offer insight into the foreclosure process as well as the procedure for purchasing these properties at the next tax foreclosure sale.

Perkins Eastman and affiliate BFJ Planning are proud to announce that Governor Andrew Cuomo’s Office of Storm Recovery (GOSR) has awarded the NY Rising to the Top Award for “Best Inclusion of Vulnerable Populations” to the NY Rising Community Reconstruction (NYRCR) Plan for Gravesend and Bensonhurst, which was completed by the Perkins Eastman/BFJ team last January. The award secures $1 million in additional funding to implement community-specific recovery efforts in the two South Brooklyn communities.