New York, NY - January 21, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- “Throughout his career, both in City government and in the nonprofit sector, Rafael has embodied the best of what public service can be. During his five years at the City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, he put his unique brand of innovation and pragmatism to work in advancing our mission to strengthen our neighborhoods and create a more affordable and sustainable city for all New Yorkers.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - January 20, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer announced that the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Office of Healthy Homes and Lead Hazard Control Program (OHHLHC) has awarded $1,749,639 to the County of Westchester to conduct education and outreach activities to create an awareness of lead hazard control and lead poisoning prevention.

New Yorker, NY - January 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- As New Yorkers are being blasted with freezing temperatures and record snowfall, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) is releasing funds provided by Congress to help Long Island seniors and low income families deal with heating bills this winter. As part of the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program’s (LIHEAP) block grants, New York State is set to receive a total of $473 million. In 2010, 25,297 households in Nassau and 60,527 households in Suffolk received the benefit, and similar numbers of households are expected to receive the benefit this year. Due to the recession and the recent bitter cold spell and winter weather that has gripped New York, Schumer today said that releasing these resources is essential for Long Island families and seniors who struggle to heat their homes.

New York, NY - January 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and Department of Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Rafael E. Cestero today launched the Proactive Preservation Initiative, a new, aggressive approach to identify and address deteriorating physical conditions in multifamily buildings throughout the City before they reach a state that endangers the health and safety of residents and threatens the quality of the surrounding neighborhood.

New York, NY - January 17, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- "The first of two bills before me today is Introductory Number 436-A, sponsored by Council Members Mendez, James, Brewer, Chin, Dromm, Lander, Mark-Viverito, Seabrook, Vann, Williams, Jackson, Rodriguez, Nelson, Arroyo, Rose, Lappin, Gennaro, Recchia, Fidler, Barron, Gardonick, Gonzalez, Greenfield, Koppell, Reyna, and Sanders. Introductory Number 436-A makes changes to the Alternative Enforcement Program.

New York, NY - January 12, 2011 - (RealEstateRama) -- PREET BHARARA, the United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York, announced that CHEDDI GOBERDHAN, a real estate attorney, pled guilty yesterday before U.S. District Judge SHIRA A. SCHEINDLIN in Manhattan federal court to a seven-count Indictment charging him with conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud, and six counts of bank fraud, in connection with a scheme that defrauded banks out of more than $23 million in home mortgage loans. GOBERDHAN made hundreds of thousands of dollars in illicit profits from the scheme, in which he worked closely with corrupt loan officers of GuyAmerican Funding, a mortgage brokerage firm in Queens, New York. GOBERDAN is the ninth defendant convicted of participating in this mortgage fraud scheme

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 - 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) -- 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).

New York, NY - December 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York City Housing Authority Board Wednesday voted to approve the development of a new kindergarten-through-12th grade school and community center building at the St. Nicholas Houses development, to be built and operated by the Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ). This new and exciting project is part of NYCHA’s effort to meet President Obama’s Choice Neighborhoods and Promise Neighborhoods challenge to housing authorities to integrate their residents with the larger community and link them to outside educational resources. The school building, to be funded by HCZ with assistance from the School Construction Authority, will be available also for community programming, including the use of the gymnasium in the evenings and on weekends

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, D.C. - December 6, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- With consumer interest in environmentally sustainable homes remaining strong despite the economic downturn, the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is formally announcing a program to spur the building and certification of more green homes across the state.

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.

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.

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.