New York RealEstateRama

NEW YORK - December 20, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today announced a settlement with mortgage servicing giant Ocwen Financial Services over alleged improprieties by the company and its subsidiaries related to mortgage servicing and foreclosure practices. The national settlement, the result of a joint investigation by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, state banking regulators, and 49 state attorneys general, will bring more than $2 billion in relief to consumers in all 50 states. New York is expected to fare particularly well, with $292,716,793 in first-lien principal reductions going to homeowners across the state

Albany, NY - December 19, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Empire State’s November housing market posted a 4.8-percent increase in closed sales compared to a year ago, according to the housing market report released today by the New York State Association of REALTORS. The strong buyer activity also drove a 9-percent growth in the median sales price compared to November 2012

New York, NY - December 18, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today announced that, after his significant push, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has agreed to provide $7.5 million to fund the New York City Department of Environmental Protection’s (DEP) plans to expand the Staten Island Bluebelt. New York City applied for funding created in the Schumer-sponsored Sandy Relief Bill through the Emergency Watershed Protection Program (EWP) under the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS).

New York, NY - December 16, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) today announced the completion of Whole Foods Market Third & 3rd in Brooklyn (214 3rd Street), which will employ 425, as a model of energy efficiency and commitment to protecting the environment. The 56,000-square-foot supermarket, the company’s flagship store in Brooklyn, is located in the Gowanus neighborhood and has been constructed following a significant brownfield clean-up by Whole Foods Market. Its grand opening was today.

WASHINGTON, DC - December 17, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney (NY-12) today criticized a Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) proposal that could result in reduced access to mortgages for middle-class families. Maloney, the top Democrat on the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, says that reductions in conforming loan limits being considered by FHFA would cut thousands of families out of the housing market by forcing them to seek private mortgages, which typically require credit scores above 760 and average down payments of nearly 34 percent

Albany, NY - December 16, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today received an end of the year progress report on the NY Works Initiative showing investments of $1.6 billion in vital infrastructure projects statewide, including $1.2 billion to repair and rebuild roads and bridges, $265 million to improve parks, and $142 million to protect coasts from floods. NY Works projects have also supported tens of thousands of direct jobs around the state. Director of State Operations Howard Glaser presented the results of the report at the Governor’s cabinet meeting today.

New York, NY - December 16, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- New York State Supreme Court Justice Melvin L. Schweitzer has issued two rulings in favor of landlord Getty Properties Corp. in a gas station holdover dispute, holding the defendants in criminal and civil contempt. Defendants in the case consist of 19 limited liability companies (the LLCs), Robert Del Gadio, who is the principal of, and the attorney for, the LLCs, and Frank Mascolo. The landlord was represented in the proceedings by Rosenberg & Estis, P.C. founding partner Warren A. Estis and partner Howard W. Kingsley.

New York - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Warburg Realty®, one of Manhattan’s leading residential real estate companies, today announced Judy Bauer and Amy Fromer have joined the firm. A licensed real estate broker, Judy has an extensive background in real estate.

BUFFALO - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman announced today that he is providing nearly $2.2 million for a two-pronged expansion of the highly-successful Buffalo Green and Healthy Homes Initiative (BGGHI), a program that has already helped more than 200 of Buffalo’s neediest families lower their energy bills and eliminate serious home health and safety hazards in older

WASHINGTON, D.C. - December 13, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Rep. Grace Meng (D-Queens) today reaffirmed her opposition to the planned homeless shelter in Glendale, Queens.

Albany, NY - December 12, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that he is deploying the Department of Financial Services’ (DFS) Mobile Command Center (MCC) to Long Island to provide foreclosure prevention assistance to financially struggling homeowners.

NEW YORK - December 11, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman today praised Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Benjamin M. Lawsky, Superintendent of the Department of Financial Services, for issuing new regulations permitting “shared appreciation” mortgage modifications in New York State. Under a shared appreciation modification, a bank or mortgage servicer agrees to reduce the outstanding principal balance on a borrower’s mortgage in exchange for a share of any future increase in the value of the home. For borrowers who are underwater on their mortgage, owing more than their home is worth, shared appreciation modifications can significantly improve their chances of avoiding foreclosure

New York, NY - December 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today officially opened Village Lofts, a 29-unit transit-oriented rental development in the Village of Hempstead. This new housing opportunities, located at 479 Front Street, contain 23 (80%) workforce housing units and 6 (20%) affordable housing units. Village Loft is one of several residential developments assisted by the Mangano administration. Other projects include Jefferson Plaza in Farmingdale (154 units – under construction), Landmark in Great Neck Plaza (93 units – now open), Mill Creek Residential in Mineola (311 units – under construction), Mineola Properties in Mineola (315 units – under construction) and MPA Owners in Westbury (6 units – under construction).

Albany, NY - December 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that his Administration is proposing to expand the mortgage relief options available to struggling ‘underwater’ homeowners, who owe more than the current market value of their homes. The Department of Financial Services (DFS) is issuing proposed regulations that would authorize and encourage “Shared Appreciation” mortgage modifications in New York. Under a shared appreciation modification, banks and mortgage servicers reduce the amount of principal outstanding on a borrower’s mortgage in exchange for a share of the future increase in the value of the home.

New York, NY - December 10, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer today called for federal Hurricane Sandy relief funds to be used to create a new dune flood-protection system in Breezy Point that would make its residents safer and enable the community to be better prepared to withstand subsequent storms. Similar dune protection systems are already under way across the rest of the Rockaway Peninsula, but not yet at the far-western end, which leaves this community exposed to future storms.

New York, NY - December 5, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, at the Frankfort Village Hall, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer launched a two-pronged plan to help ensure that veterans returning home to Herkimer County from Iraq and Afghanistan are receiving critical benefits that will allow them to afford a home and live stable civilian lives. Schumer said that nearly 6,000 veterans live in Herkimer but many have not applied for the property tax benefit for veterans that is available to them and worth hundreds of dollars a year

Riverhead, NY - December 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, County Executive Bellone was joined by Suffolk County Legislator Al Krupski, NYS Senator Ken LaValle, Riverhead Town Supervisor Sean Walter, the Long Island Housing Partnership, the Woolworth Revitalization LLC and a host of community members to announce support and the submission of legislation to provide $250,000 in capital funds to offset infrastructure costs associated with utility improvements, drainage and excavation for the rehabilitation of the old Woolworth building in downtown Riverhead.

As developers hike prices for luxury apartments to take advantage of the now-desirable real estate along the High Line, janitors and doormen who work in the buildings that buttress the park are not sharing in the good times. A penthouse recently sold for $6.8 million in a building that Mick Jagger and Nicole Kidman call home while in other buildings one-bedrooms go for $1.6 million. Meanwhile workers make as little as $11 an hour and don’t have health care coverage. The workers want one New York for #AllofUs.

Brooklyn, NY - December 3, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner RuthAnne Visnauskas, New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Marc Jahr, the New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) Chairman John Rhea, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) New York Hub Multi-Family Director Teresa Bainton, and Brooklyn Borough President Marty Markowitz joined SKA Marin, the Calvary Church of God, Catholic Charities of Brooklyn and Queens, and partners to celebrate at the ribbon-cutting ceremony for Riverway Apartments. Located at 230 Riverdale Avenue in Brooklyn, this new development provides 115 units of affordable housing with onsite supportive services to seniors 62 years of age and older

Albany, NY - December 2, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced that federal funding has been approved for an innovative resiliency project on a 150 acre span along Spring Creek and Jamaica Bay in Queens to better protect homes and businesses from destructive storm surges. The project will use an initial $3 million for engineering and design work, and once approved, an estimated $47 million toward resiliency efforts. Approximately 3,000 homes in the Howard Beach neighborhood suffered serious damage as a result of Superstorm Sandy.

New York, NY - November 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- With colder than expected weather approaching, Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano today announced that WARMBED, Nassau County’s Emergency Shelter Relief Program for homeless individuals and families during the winter months, will be activated tomorrow evening, Wednesday, November 27, 2013 beginning at 6:00 p.m

New York, NY - November 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Today, at 33 Pulaski Street in the Town of Dickinson, U.S. Senator Charles E. Schumer was joined by local law enforcement and other officials to push legislation that would crackdown on the recent rash of scrap metal theft in the region that threatens private property, local residents, and taxpayers. Due to the high price of iron, copper, and other metal, Broome County has seen a significant number of scrap metal burglaries and larcenies in the area, including multiple cases just this month.

WASHINGTON, D.C. - November 27, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congresswoman Carolyn B. Maloney, (NY-12), Ranking Member of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets and Government Sponsored Enterprises, commended the Federal Housing Finance Agency’s (FHFA) announcement today to maintain the current limits on the size of home mortgages that taxpayer-owned Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac can finance in 2014. Last month, Maloney led 65 members of Congress on a letter to FHFA Acting Director Ed DeMarco that urged FHFA not to reduce these mortgage sizes, also known as conforming loan limits

New York - November 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- Warburg Realty®, one of Manhattan’s leading residential real estate companies, has been named the exclusive New York area representative for Tamarind Hills in Antigua, a collection of luxury villas and condominiums within a beachfront resort on the island’s tranquil west coast. Camille Duvall-Hero, a leading broker at the firm, will market the properties.

New York, NY - November 26, 2013 - (RealEstateRama) -- The New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) recognized four engineering firms in New York City for achieving double the required energy savings on projects completed through the Multifamily Performance Program (MPP).