New York RealEstateRama

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.

NEW YORK, NY - December 17, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Appellate Division, First Department handed down a unanimous decision in favor of the owner of 81 East Seventh Street in Manhattan, denying the motion of a former tenant, who claimed she was physically and mentally incapacitated, to vacate a default judgment against her and to allow her to move back into her apartment. The appellate decision affirmed an order by Hon. Justice Walter Tolub of the Supreme Court of New York County

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:

November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Good morning and thank you Chairman Lopez, Chairman Weinstein, Chairman Towns and members of the committees for inviting me here today to discuss New York's response to the foreclosure crisis.

Washington, DC - November 18, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Congressman Eliot Engel’s office at 3655 Johnson Avenue will collect toys for the homeless children as part of a drive by the Coalition for the Homeless to get toys to children in the City’s homeless shelters for the holidays

NEW YORK, NY - November 16, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- New York City Comptroller John C. Liu, on behalf of the trustees of the New York City Pension Funds, is calling on directors at Bank of America Corporation (NYSE: BAC), Wells Fargo & Company (NYSE: WFC), JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) to conduct an independent audit of their banks’ mortgage and foreclosure practices. The four banks are the largest mortgage servicers in the country representing 56 percent of the nation’s $10.64 trillion mortgage industry

November 11, 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 Elmer J. "Joe" McIndoo was sentenced today by United States District Judge Thomas J. McAvoy in Albany to six months of home detention and five years of supervised release for his role in a local mortgage fraud scheme. McIndoo also was ordered to make full restitution in the amount of $135,148.45, due jointly and severally with the other defendants convicted in the case, and he was required to surrender his New York state real property appraiser's license as a result of his conviction.

November 10, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Those who hope to fulfill the dream of owning their first home were given an edge today when Nassau County Executive Edward P. Mangano announced a new program that will provide down payment assistance.

November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR) which consists of the all the state's newly-integrated housing and community renewal agencies, launched a new $25,000,000 Preservation Initiative Program that uses existing funds and leverages multiple program resources to preserve and upgrade New York's existing stock of affordable housing. The program will provide financing to upgrade the physical conditions of this aging portfolio

MILFORD, CT - November 9, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Total Mortgage Services, LLC, a leading national mortgage lender and broker that offers some of the lowest mortgage rates available, announced today that it has received its state of New York Mortgage Banker License from the State of New York Banking Department.

November 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- The Federal Reserve Bank of New York today released its Quarterly Report on Household Debt and Credit for the third quarter of 2010, which shows that consumer debt continues its downward trend of the previous seven quarters, though the pace of decline has slowed recently. Since its peak in the third quarter of 2008, nearly $1 trillion has been shaved from outstanding consumer debts

New York, NY - November 8, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- Azure (www.azureny.com), the new luxury residential building at 333 East 91st Street on the Upper East Side, is customizing a number of units to meet the growing demand for larger apartments from people who want to raise their children in Manhattan. In recent months, The DeMatteis Organizations has customized 14 units (11 percent of the building) for buyers in Azure, with an expectation of many more to come.

New York, NY - November 5, 2010 - (RealEstateRama) -- SL Green Realty Corp. (NYSE: SLG), New York City's largest owner of commercial office properties, today announced the appointment of James E. Mead to be the Company's Chief Financial Officer (CFO), effective December 1, 2010. He succeeds Gregory Hughes, who is leaving at the end of his current contract on November 30, 2010 to pursue other professional interests