Monthly Archives: February 2016

New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) today announced UrbanTech NYC, a comprehensive program to help entrepreneurs and innovators address New York City’s most pressing urban challenges in sectors such as energy, waste, transportation, agriculture and water. In partnership with New Lab and Grand Central Tech, NYCEDC has committed up to $7.2 million to create two Urban Technology Growth Hubs in Brooklyn and Manhattan, which will open in the summer of 2016.

A state agency’s failure to adequately monitor and inspect homeless shelters allowed violations and squalid living conditions to go unchecked, according to an audit released today by New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli.

Dawn M. Carpenter, CPM of Staten Island, NY took the oath of office Monday, February 8, as the 2016 president-elect of the New York State Association of REALTORS® (NYSAR). The association’s inauguration ceremony was held in conjunction with its business meetings at The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany, NY. She will serve a one-year term in the post.

Christine “CJ” DelVecchio, CBR, GRI of Ithaca took the oath of office Monday, February 8, as the 2016 secretary/treasurer of the New York State Association of REALTORS® (NYSAR). The association’s inauguration ceremony was held in conjunction with its business meetings at The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany, NY. She will serve a one-year term in the post.

Lawrence Lentini, GREEN, GRI, of Amherst took the oath of office Monday, Feb. 8, as the 2016 Western Region vice president of the New York State Association of REALTORS® (NYSAR) during the association’s inauguration ceremony held in conjunction with its business meetings at The Desmond Hotel and Conference Center in Albany, NY.

On Wednesday, following news of a tragic stabbing of a mother and three children being sheltered at a Ramada Inn on Staten Island, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer called on the Administration to conduct an immediate and thorough review of the safety and conditions of every commercial hotel being used to house homeless families throughout all five boroughs

Household debt increased moderately and repayment rates improved during the last three months of 2015, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit. The $51 billion increase put total household indebtedness at $12.12 trillion as of the end of last year. Additionally, only 5.4 percent of outstanding debt was in some stage of delinquency, the lowest rate since the second quarter of 2007.

On Wednesday, following news of a tragic stabbing of a mother and three children being sheltered at a Ramada Inn on Staten Island, New York City Comptroller Scott M. Stringer called on the Administration to conduct an immediate and thorough review of the safety and conditions of every commercial hotel being used to house homeless families throughout all five boroughs.

Congressman Paul Tonko (NY-20) today reacted to President Barack Obama’s final budget request of his administration with praise for support of several priorities rarely in the national discussion – but also with disappointment and urgency for Obama to press Congress for higher, more ambitious and realistic funding levels for our nation’s failing water infrastructure.

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the largest state-supported solar project for healthcare organizations in New York. The project will provide two significant health services providers in Albany – St. Peter's Health Partners and the Center for Disability Services – with clean power and will save each facility $50,000 annually. The funding will help support the Governor’s Clean Energy Standard to meet 50 percent of our electricity needs with renewable resources by 2030 and reduce greenhouse gas emissions

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the Western New York Workforce Training Center project reached an important milestone to redevelop underutilized property in the Northland Corridor into a new workforce training facility. The City of Buffalo Planning Board approved the project’s site plan after finding that there will be no significant environmental impacts associated with the redevelopment of the entire 35-acre site

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman today announced a $470 million joint state-federal settlement with mortgage lender and servicer HSBC to address mortgage origination, servicing, and foreclosure abuses

U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today urged the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) Chairman Stephen G. Burns to immediately order an investigation to determine the extent of possible ground water contamination and prevent future water contamination. According to the NRC, the water leakage was the result of a non-functional water pump at Indian Point. Schumer said, part of the investigation should be to determine why the pump failed.

Representative Sean Patrick Maloney (NY-18) issued the following statement after reports that radioactive tritium-contaminated water leaked into the groundwater at Indian Point Energy Center in Buchanan.

New York Power Authority President and CEO Gil C. Quiniones today unveiled an economic development report that could create as many as 1,900 new jobs and up to $190 million in new economic activity by 2020 in St. Lawrence County. The report details an aggressive plan to diversify the county economy by focusing and investing in agriculture, advance manufacturing, small businesses and tourism to reverse decades of economic decline.

Manhattan Borough President Gale A. Brewer issued the following statement in response to remarks made by U.S. Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tx.) to ABC News Monday evening "We are one city and one state. Our heritage is diversity and tolerance, and our values are community and fair play.

With more American businesses installing solar than ever before, the Solar Energy Industries Association (SEIA) is gathering the brightest minds in the solar, corporate, finance and legal sectors under one roof in New York City for the inauguralSolar Goes Corporate event. On Feb. 17, inside The New York Times Building, event attendees will have a chance to hear how to successfully develop, deploy and invest in solar projects – all while saving money and cutting their companies’ carbon footprint along the way.

Following Tragic 2009 Plane Crash That Claimed Lives of 50 People, Including Many WNYers, Families of Flight 3407 Fought to Create Tough Flight Safety Regulations, Including Requirement That Pilots Log 1,500 Flight Hours In Order To Receive Airline Transport Pilot Certificate

Mill Services, a wood finishing manufacturer in Cobleskill, has completed an expansion project that will create 10 new jobs at the facility. The firm will receive 176 kilowatts of low-cost electricity from the New York Power Authority through Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s ReCharge NY program in exchange for its commitment to support more than 70 jobs.

New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Vicki Been released the new list of residential buildings that have been placed into the agency’s Ninth Round of the Alternative Enforcement Program (AEP). The AEP is aimed at increasing the pressure on the owners of the City’s multifamily residential buildings that have fallen into disrepair, many of which are rent-regulated, to bring the properties up to code so that the residents are not forced to live in substandard and hazardous conditions.

The New York State Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTDA) today announced that it is requiring New York City to take a series of actions to increase and ensure the safety of residents at the 53rd St. Men’s Shelter in Manhattan. This includes immediately increasing security and law enforcement presence at the facility, and conducting a thorough investigation, to be shared with the state, into whether the facility’s security protocols are inadequate, and what improvements are needed if so to protect the well-being of people residing in the shelter.

Governor Cuomo today launched the Municipal Restructuring Fund – a new $25 million program to assist local government and school officials with developing transformative projects that will lead to property tax reductions for New Yorkers.

During a visit to Latham, NY, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today toured the Plug Power facility to see first-hand the growth the fuel cell company has made since his last visit in June 2010, and launched his bi-partisan effort to extend the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) for fuel cells. Schumer explained that the fuel cell ITC was a critical stimulus for the company’s success and its extension is needed so the company can continue to thrive and create jobs