"Mayor's New Plan for Affordable Housing: Overnight Delivery?," - Gothamlist

Rather than building new affordable homes in the city, Bloomberg now wants to spruce up those that already exist. His revamped plan will cost $8.5 billion and seeks to preserve 165,000 units by 2014. One Bed-Stuy housing development would have been a good candidate for the program, until it called a press conference to address its long list of complaints and the repairs were miraculously completed. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Cassandra Harrell, the president of the Bed-Stuy Rehabs’ resident association, who has lived in the project for 27 years. “They put up Sheetrock, they painted the walls, they knew the press was coming.”

For years residents of the Bedford-Stuyvesant Rehabs complained about "mold, leaky pipes, stained ceilings, holes in the walls, puddles in the hallway and long spells in the winter without heat or hot water," according to the Times. The vermin problem was so bad that one resident lost his pet bird to a rat. “Yeah, it ate the bird,” said David Caban. “The cage was on the floor.” But the night before a press conference was scheduled, 8-12 repairmen appeared at the projects and got to work. “[We are] a 24/7 operation,” said a spokeswoman for the housing authority in an email, adding that the work had been scheduled ahead of the press conference.

Under Bloomberg's plan, affordable housing tenants shouldn't have to sic the press on the housing authority to get their repairs. The New Housing Marketplace Plan will "preserve" affordable housing, meaning that "its housing agencies refinance and renovate buildings in return for keeping rents locked in for long periods, usually decades, as opposed to letting the units rent or sell at market rates" as the Times puts it.

The city will build 60,000 new homes and preserve 105,000 amending a cheaper 2005 plan to build 92,000 units and preserve 73,000. “The extra money will go toward allowing us to save projects that otherwise would’ve gone to market rates, and keeping rents low, and locking that in 30 or 40 years,” said housing commissioner, Rafael Cestero. “We have the opportunity right now to step in at a way that we weren’t able to before.”

"Every tenant's nightmare: No heat, hot water for months in Brooklyn apartment that's in foreclosure,"
BY JAKE PEARSON - New York Daily News

Their Bedford-Stuyvesant apartment building is in foreclosure - and these tenants are feeling forsaken.

Tenants at 874 Greene Ave. have suffered for months without heat or hot water even though a court-appointed receiver hired a managing company to make repairs and collect rents.

"The only way I get heat is to turn the stove on," said Paulette Walker, 36, who lives in her freezing fourth-floor apartment with her husband and 13-year-old son, Jacob.

"I boil water for the steam, turn on the grill and let the burners go."

The eight-unit building has been without heat or hot water since the boiler, which has broken countless times, failed again, tenants said.

Even their original landlord had a better track record than BPC Management when it came to making repairs, they added.

The tenants charge that BPC Management has ignored complaints about the broken boiler, roach infestations and even a leaking roof.

"They don't listen; they don't care," said Natasha Favorite, 25, who is eight months pregnant and lives on the second floor with her 3-year-old son, Adonis. "I'm sick of being in this house with no heat and no hot water."

Favorite said she has complained to BPC at least 10 times over the past year.

Angry tenants in the building have lodged 65 complaints with the Housing Preservation and Development Department since last February.

They are working with organizers from Pratt Area Community Council, who are trying to negotiate a timeline for improvements and repairs.

"This is the complication of foreclosures," said PACC organizing director Elana Shneyer.

"The tenants haven't done anything [wrong], but they get caught in the middle ... without basic services."

A BPC Management spokesperson declined to comment.

"We can't even bathe the way we want to bathe," said Walker, an unemployed security guard who dumps six big cooking pots full of boiling water into the tub and adds cold water to take a bath.

"We really shouldn't have to live this way."

Brooklyn home values slide, sales up
Despite Slight Increase in Sales Bed Stuy Property Value Waivers
By Gary Buiso - Courier-Life Publications

Home values in Brooklyn continued to slide, but sales activity is showing signs of life, surging for the second consecutive quarter, according to a recent report.

The median sales price of all residential properties in the third quarter fell 6.7 percent to $476,000 from $510,000 last year during the same period last year, according to the report, issued by broker Prudential Douglas Elliman Real Estate and Miller Samuel Inc., a Manhattan-based appraiser. The number of sales declined 19.6 percent to 1,847 from 2,298 sales from the prior year’s quarter — but increased 29.3 percent from 1,428 units in the second quarter of the year.

“The jump in the number of sales from the prior quarter reflects a release of pent-up demand from an unusually low level of sales activity seen in the early part of the year that began with the Lehman bankruptcy tipping point on September 15, 2008,” said Jonathan Miller, president of Miller Samuel. “The Brooklyn ‘spring’ market was pushed forward and occurred over the summer as a result.With the increase in activity, listing inventory fell sharply but remains above typical levels.The increase in median sales price from the prior quarter caused by the increased level of sales is the first increase after seven consecutive quarterly declines,” he stated in the report.

There was a 1.7 percent dip in condo median sales price to $496,860 borough-wide compared to the same quarter last year, according to the report, released October 14. Compared to last year’s second quarter, condo sales tumbled 29.8 percent to 463 units — from 660 units in the same period last year, but 24.5 percent above the 372 units in the second quarter.
The median sales price of 1-3 family properties dropped 10.6 percent to $536,300. Sales declined 9.4 percent to 944 units, compared to last year. Still, this figure is up 31.8 percent from last quarter.

North Brooklyn, which includes Williamsburg and Greenpoint, saw a median sales price of $564,110, down 12.1 percent than the prior year quarter. Northwest Brooklyn, which includes neighborhoods such as Boerum Hill, Brooklyn Heights, Carroll Gardens, Red Hook, Park Slope, and Gowanus saw a 14.2 percent decline to $565,000. The number of sales dropped 19.6 percent to 415 units, but surged 69.4 percent above 245 units in the second quarter.
In the southern portion of the borough, sales slipped 4.2 percent to $445,479. Sales fell 14.4 percent to 1,060 units, up 25.3 percent above the 846 units in the prior quarter.

The eastern section of Brooklyn, which includes neighborhoods like Bedford Stuyvesant and East Brooklyn, saw home prices decline 3.5 percent, to $425,962. Sales fell 26.6 percent to 259 units, just 6.6 percent above the 243 units in the prior quarter.

Borough-wide co-op median sales price was up 1.1 percent, to $283,210, compared to last year at this time, while sales fell 26.5 percent, up 29.4 percent from the second quarter.
The median sales price of luxury properties, representing the highest 10 percent of all Brooklyn co-op, condo and 1-3 family home sales, was $1,210,000, down 13.7 percent, according to the report.

Bedford Central Community Development Corporation
Presents Its 4th Annual Home Buyers Seminar Series
Program provide participants with tools to secure & sustain homeownership
By Keith L. Forest

Purchasing a home in today’s current economy seems like a long shot. With banks strict lending policies and foreclosures abound, the American Dream seems more like a nightmare. However, according to Wayne Devonish, Executive Director of Bedford Central Community Development Corporation now is the perfect time.

“There is no better time to become a homeowner than today,” affirms Mr. Devonish. “Mortgage rates are at an all time low, purchasers have more negotiating power and there are grants and funding available for qualified first time home buyers.”

On October 20, Bedford Central Community Development Corporation will host its 4th annual Home Buyer Seminar. The courses will take place at Bedford Central Presbyterian Church, 1200 Dean Street, Brooklyn, NY. The workshops, which are co sponsored by Assemblywoman, Annette Robinson and Assemblyman, Karim Camara, includes a comprehensive 16 week program designed to turn qualified potential home shoppers into financially secure homeowners. “Homeownership is an excellent community stabilizer that provides an excellent incentive for homeowners to take an active role in their community,” says Mr. Devonish, who is a Bedford-Stuyvesant homeowner.

As part of its Literary Institute, which takes a holistic approach to educate Central Brooklyn residents in money management, Bedford Central Community Development Corporation instituted its Home Buyers Program. The 16 week workshops, which are sponsored by JPMorgan Chase, Carver Federal Savings Bank, Nau Corp Properties, HSBC, Wells Fargo, Home Market Realty, Flateau Realty, and Delta Sigma Theta Brooklyn Alumnae Chapter, are divided into four- four week courses covering such topics as: Getting Ready for Home Ownership – which goes over the financial qualifications and the role of realtors, attorneys and home inspectors; Repairing Your Credit – covers budgeting, saving and paying down debt; Budgeting for Your Home Purchase & Getting Pre-Qualified or Approved – addresses contracts, applications, predatory lending and insurance; and Minor Repair & Maintenance of your Home or Apartment - which covers basic repairs and upkeep.

The goal of the workshops, which are taught by a team of seasoned professionals, is designed to provide participants with comprehensive training in debt management while placing them on a managed savings program in an effort to help them secure prequalification for a low-interest rate loan. In addition, participants received home maintenance training and are able to network with housing professionals. Each graduate receives a certificate upon completion. “This program helps get them into a home in a structured and safe manner that ensures success,” states Mr. Devonish.

Bedford Central Community Development Corporation (BCCDC) is a non-profit agency that aspires to strengthen the lower and middle income populations in the Central Brooklyn areas. This specific population continues to endure tremendous adversities and often lack the resource and opportunities afforded to more affluent New York neighborhoods. Bedford Central Community Development Corporation recognizes the importance of empowering these neighborhoods in the hopes of fueling the local economy and fostering relationships within the community, participants of (BCCDC) programs and funders. (BCCDC) aims to combat the stereotypical phenomenon by assisting individuals with tangible assistance on realizing their dreams and ultimately living to their fullest potential.

Photo Caption – Left to Right – Josh Lockwood, Executive Director, New York City Habitat for Humanities(left) and Rodheyse Bichotte, Delta Sigma Theta Sorority Alumnae Chapter (right) congratulate a 2008 Home Buyer Graduate.