New York, NY - May 18, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — DHCR recently wrapped-up a series of six meetings it held throughout the state with housing counselors and legal service providers involved in assisting homeowners under New York's $25 million Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program.

New York, NY - May 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — United States Senators Charles E. Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand announced today that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) has awarded a total of $2,038,081 in American Reinvestment and Recovery Act (ARRA) funding to the city of Utica through the Lead-Based Paint Hazard Control (LHC) Grant Program.

West Babylon, NY - May 15, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The Multiple Listing Service of Long Island, Inc., (MLSLI) released April’s 2009 home figures reporting a $350,000 closed median home price for Long Island, that includes Nassau, Suffolk and Queens, and a contracted median price of $411,000.

New York, NY - May 14, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — New York City Comptroller William C. Thompson, Jr. today called the City’s recent decision to require working families residing in Department of Homeless Services’ (DHS) shelters to pay rent toward the cost of being housed short-sighted, ill-considered and disconnected from the struggles of less fortunate New Yorkers.

New York, NY - May 13, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today named John B. Rhea to serve as Chairman of the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA), the nation’s largest public housing authority. Rhea will replace Tino Hernandez, who returned to the nonprofit sector last year, and Interim Chair Ricardo Elías Morales. Chairman Rhea has more than two decades of investment banking and private sector experience.

Mineola, NY - May 11, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi has signed into law new smart-growth requirements for subdivision developments in the County.

New York, NY - May 12, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG) today announced that accounting firm Marcum & Kliegman LLP has signed a new 10-year lease covering 67,152 square feet at 750 Third Avenue. The transaction is the largest tenant relocation lease signed in Midtown Manhattan so far in 2009 and is a follow up to SL Green's recent new lease with Wells Fargo Trade Capital Services covering 57,000 square feet at 100 Park Avenue.

New York, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Mount Hope Housing Company, a nonprofit community development organization and provider of social services in the Mount Hope section of the Bronx, along with the NYC Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD), the NYC Housing Development Corporation (HDC) and Enterprise Community Partners, Inc. announced today the grand opening of the New Hope Walton Project, a 63-unit environmentally friendly, affordable housing development for low-income residents.

Washington D.C. - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that in the budget released today, President Obama has included substantial new funding that can be used to fight the housing blight that plagues communities across Upstate New York. In his budget request released today, the President created a $1 billion Housing Trust Fund and fully funds Community Development Block Grants with $4.45 billion.

Washington D.C. - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today applauded the historic investment made by the Obama Administration to help build new affordable housing stock in hard-hit communities by including $1 billion for the National Housing Trust Fund in the Administration’s Fiscal Year 2010 budget. Schumer, who co-authored the legislation that created the new trust fund, said this critical investment will help rebuild and revitalize low-income communities by providing funds for the construction of rental housing to extremely low-income families.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The boards of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) and the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) today approved grants and insurance commitments of $35.8 million to build and renovate 669 affordable housing units across New York State.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved four grants totaling $10.33 million to the Housing Partnership Development Corp. to build and rehabilitate 362 units of affordable housing in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The board of the State of New York Mortgage Agency (SONYMA) today approved a commitment to insure a $14.25 million mortgage for a 132-unit rental housing development in the Town of Halfmoon, Saratoga County.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved a $300,000 grant to Cayuga County Homsite Development Corporation to finance home improvements for 50 homes in the City of Auburn in Cayuga County.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The board of the New York State Affordable Housing Corporation (AHC) today approved two grants totaling $600,000 to renovate 125 homes in the City of Rochester.

NEW YORK, NY - May 7, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — As the global recession continues to affect the retail industry, average asking rents for retail space in Manhattan had the first meaningful decline since 9/11, dropping 11 percent since fall 2008 to $115 per square foot, according to the REBNY Spring Retail Report released today.

Washington, D.C. - May 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — An amendment by Senators John Kerry and Kirsten Gillibrand to protect renters from being thrown out of their homes after a foreclosure passed the Senate today as part of the larger housing bill, the Help Families Save Their Homes Act of 2009 (S. 896.) S. Amdt. 1036, the Protecting Tenants at Foreclosure Act, ensures that tenants and families nationwide have at least 90 days to find their next home if they are renting in a building that is foreclosed upon.

New York, NY - May 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and the Upper Manhattan Empowerment Zone (UMEZ) announce the Harlem Business Assistance Fund, a grant program intended to offset some expenses small businesses may incur in relocating to 125th Street and its vicinity. The program is funded by New York City Industrial Development Agency and will be administered by UMEZ on behalf of the City.

Albany, NY - May 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — For the first time in the agency's history, the state Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) has developed a Statewide Affordable Housing Needs Study. The report involved an unprecedented effort to reach out and gather first-hand information from local leaders and housing professionals who best understand the housing and community development needs of their own communities.

Albany, NY - May 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Governor David A. Paterson today announced the availability of $35 million in Downstate Regional Blueprint Fund grants to finance business investment, infrastructure upgrades and downtown redevelopment that will advance New York’s economic vitality.

NEW YORK, NY - May 6, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The New York State Association for Affordable Housing (NYSAFAH) has named nyhomes, New York State's affordable housing bank, as its 2008 Innovator of the Year.

WASHINGTON, DC - May 5, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Today, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer unveiled new legislation that would require the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Treasury Department to draw up a plan to ensure major affordable housing complexes in New York City and across the country do not default on their mortgages and send those properties into a state of total disrepair. More than 60,000 units in New York City are now in buildings in danger of foreclosure.

New York, NY - May 4, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The Port Authority today released a report detailing the progress it has made through the first quarter of 2009 to achieve rebuilding milestones at the World Trade Center site and looking ahead to milestones for the second quarter.

Syracuse, NY - April 30, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — The construction of new housing on the near East Side has officially begun, as Housing Visions breaks ground on its 28 unit housing development. Loguen Homes is a continuation of the revitalization efforts undertaken by Housing Visions.

New York, NY - May 3, 2009 - (RealEstateRama) — Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg today announced community development projects and programs that will benefit from more than $48 million of federal stimulus funding received under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), signed by President Obama in February.