New York RealEstateRama

ALBANY, NY - January 11, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York State Office for People With Developmental Disabilities (OPWDD) has been awarded nearly $120,000 in housing counseling grants that will assist the agency to help individuals and families not only find housing, but will also offer them greater opportunities to keep their homes through counseling and training and to avoid loan modification scammers that are targeting millions of vulnerable populations.

New York, NY - January 6, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Savanna and Monday Properties announced today the closing of a $58 million loan for 386 Park Avenue South. The new partners of the 20-story, Art Deco office building additionally announced that Chase Bank has signed an 11-year lease renewal of its 12,000-square-foot retail space.

NEW YORK, NY - January 4, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Jones Lang LaSalle announced that vacancy rates fell in all property classes in the Midtown and Midtown South office submarkets during 2010. At the same time, Lower Manhattan posted a slight increase in vacancy rates in all property classes

New York, NY - December 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Richard S. Hartunian, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Rene Febles, Special Agent in Charge of the Office of Inspector General, U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development in New York, John F. Pikus, Special Agent in Charge of the Albany Division of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and Lt. John D. Durling of the New York State Police Special Investigations Unit announced that Michael Cassadei was sentenced today by Senior United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Albany to twenty-seven (27) months in prison, to be followed by three years’ supervised release, for his role as organizer of a local mortgage fraud scheme.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 28, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released Why Is the Market Share of Adjustable-Rate Mortgages So Low?—the latest article in its series Current Issues in Economics and Finance.

New York, NY - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer (D-NY) today announced a major milestone for seniors and individuals with disabilities across the country, as two pieces of legislation he sponsored passed Congress and were sent to the President for his signature. One of the bills, S. 118, is designed to streamline the Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly program, which funds affordable housing for low-income seniors and protects their right to “age in place” through the provision of supportive, community-based services

WASHINGTON, DC - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Charles B. Rangel joined a bipartisan majority Tuesday in passing legislation that will improve a federal housing program for those with disabilities.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 22, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Charles B. Rangel applauded Congressional leaders Tuesday for passing a proposal that preserves and improves the Department of Housing and Urban Development's (HUD) Section 202 Supportive Housing for the Elderly Program.

Mineola, NY - December 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano has announced that Warm Bed, Nassau’s homeless program providing shelter relief to families and individuals during cold winter months, has been activated. A one-stop Nassau County Winter Homeless Hotline, 1-866-WARM-BED, will operate 7 days a week and run through March 31. County Executive Mangano activated the program and hotline five days early, on December 10, in anticipation of the cold weather. Warm Bed was originally scheduled to open on December 15 this year. If winter conditions persist beyond March 31, the program will continue until warmer weather arrives

December 15, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, and JANICE K. FEDARCYK, the Assistant Director-in-Charge of the New York Field Office of the Federal Bureau of Investigation ("FBI"), announced charges against four defendants in a two-year scheme in which the defendants obtained fraudulent mortgages exceeding $3 million

New York, NY - December 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Savanna, a New York-based real estate private equity firm with investments in $3 billion of real estate in the Northeast and Mid-Atlantic corridor, today purchased 1375 Broadway, a 513,401-square-foot corner office building located on Broadway and 37th Street, for $135 million. With this purchase, Savanna has acquired four New York City office buildings in 2010, totaling approximately 1.4 million square feet, including 386 Park Avenue South, 5 Hanover Square, 104 W. 40th Street and now 1375 Broadway.

NEW YORK, NY - December 14, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The U.S. Department of Labor has taken legal action to recover more than $829,000 in back wages for 32 workers employed as demolition laborers by Enviro & Demo Masters Inc. and Gladiators Contracting Corp., construction demolition companies based in Brooklyn and Queens.

December 13, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced the construction of a new home in the Village of Hempstead’s Parkside Gardens as part of an effort between the County, the Long Island Housing Partnership, the Village of Hempstead, and the Hempstead Village Community Development Agency (IDA).

PREET BHARARA, - December 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that ANTOINETTE HODGSON was sentenced yesterday in Manhattan federal court to six years in prison for running a $50 million real estate Ponzi scheme that fraudulently solicited investments from over 20 New York and New Jersey investors. HODGSON operated the scam between 2006 and her arrest in early 2010, tricking investors into providing money to her for purported investments in real estate when, in fact, HODGSON was simply using the money to pay off other investors in the scheme and to enrich herself and her family members. HODGSON previously pled guilty on September 14, 2010, to one count of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and one count of wire fraud. The sentence was imposed by U.S. District Judge ROBERT W. SWEET.

Buffalo, NY - December 7, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) has hired two new educators to teach the public about energy-related programs available to Western New York residents

Washington, DC - December 3, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, House Judiciary Committee Chairman John Conyers, Jr. (D-Mich.) led a full committee hearing on "Foreclosed Justice: Causes and Effects of the Foreclosure Crisis," in which the Committee discussed with invited witnesses the government’s response to the country’s foreclosure crisis.One of the witnesses, a New York bankruptcy judge, testified that he had routinely encountered in his court foreclosure attorneys who: failed to know who they represented, lacked the underlying note evidencing their entitlement to seek foreclosure, failed to establish the legal chain of title establishing the standing of their client-mortgagees, and submitted to the court false affidavits attesting to the ownership of the note and mortgage

New York, NY - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Yesterday, United States Senators Charles E. Schumer and Richard Durbin (D-IL), introduced a five-year moratorium on the requirement that New York homeowners purchase expensive new flood insurance policies if they live in a community designated as a flood zone since September 30th, 2007. Schumer has been highly critical of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) flood mapping techniques and has been pushing the agency to go back to the drawing board to devise a flood map plan that reflects the on-the-ground realities of communities now being impacted by new flood elevation requirements.

New York, NY - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel and Alexandria Real Estate Equities CEO Joel S. Marcus today opened the Alexandria Center for Life Science – New York City, a state-of-the-art science park on Manhattan’s East Side. The new 310,000-square-foot, 15-floor facility, the first of three buildings to be developed as part of Alexandria’s newest life science cluster campus, will connect and foster unique and innovative collaborations among New York City’s world-renowned academic and medical institutions, preeminent scientific talent, access to venture capital funds, and the commercial life science industry.

New York, NY - December 2, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- In the latest sold-out session of The Real Estate Board of New York’s (REBNY’s) New York Residential Specialist (NYRS) course, 29 leading real estate agents earned the esteemed NYRS designation last month. The elite set with the credential, which denotes that a broker has received the highest level of education available, is made up of a powerful peer group committed to ethical behavior and professional excellence in sales and marketing. The growing numbers of NYRS graduates, which now total more than 150, demonstrates REBNY brokers’ commitment to raising the bar

December 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, United States Senator Charles E. Schumer, introduced a five-year moratorium on the requirement that Long Island homeowners purchase expensive new flood insurance policies if they live in a community recently designated as a flood zone.

December 1, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- NYU’s Furman Center for Real Estate and Urban Policy released, for the first time, a quarterly update on six key indicators of housing market performance, based on a variety of administrative data sources.

November 30, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the Foundation For the Advancement of Women Now (FFAWN) announce their partnership to help young women living in public housing tackle life’s challenges through a series of workshops.

November 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor David A. Paterson today continued his efforts to urge the Federal government to fund the Federal Low-Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) at last year's level of $5.1 billion. If Congress does not provide adequate LIHEAP funding and the President does not release $590 million in contingency funds as a stopgap measure, the State's Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) will be forced to discontinue heating assistance to vulnerable low income New Yorkers in January.

New York, NY - November 29, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Flatbush Gardens workers were locked-out by their employer Renaissance Equity Holdings this morning, effectively preventing them from performing their jobs and serving thousands of tenants at the massive complex. The employer’s action took place following the workers' refusal to accept a more than 30 percent cut in wages and cuts to benefits that would leave most workers without health care coverage. The contract, which expired in April, covers more than 70 porters and handymen who maintain the complex that is home to more than 10,000 New Yorkers.

NEW YORK, NY - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- New York City Comptroller John C. Liu stated the following in response to questions about the Congressional hearing today on irregularities in the foreclosure process: