City Will Buy Foreclosed Homes
At the end of August, New York City had 11,743 foreclosed homes. Pretty soon, we’ll have 115 less of them. The City plans to buy and refurbish them with $24 million of federal funds, creating as many as 300 low- and middle-income housing units, writes the NY Post. The bulk of these rescued homes are…
At the end of August, New York City had 11,743 foreclosed homes. Pretty soon, we’ll have 115 less of them. The City plans to buy and refurbish them with $24 million of federal funds, creating as many as 300 low- and middle-income housing units, writes the NY Post. The bulk of these rescued homes are in central Brooklyn and Jamaica, Queens, and the initiative is intended both to stem the foreclosure tide and to stabilize the neighborhoods. “Aside from restoring the foreclosed homes to the tax rolls, officials said the purchases would help avert a dangerous downward spiral that threatens to undermine stable neighborhoods. ‘When a house becomes vacant in the middle of a residential block, it tends to fall into decay,’ said City Councilman Lew Fidler (D-Brooklyn). ‘It runs down an entire block, and it begins the process of running down an entire neighborhood.'”
City to Buy Foreclosed Homes to Save ‘Hoods [NY Post]
Photo by tonyc67.
Inthehood, of course $24 million isn’t going to make a dent in the economic crisis. And 115 out of 11,743 houses in NYC isn’t a lot (let’s hope it’s one per block). So far, most of these houses in Bushwick still have the original owners living in them rent free. That’s fine. But those that are empty and abandoned are attracting vandalism and crime. Better to have a low-income house on a block than an empty one. That’s what they mean by “stabilizing” the neighborhood.
Reality check. Nice little program, but $24 million will not make a dent in the macro situation even when macro means NYC real estate. The bubble has burst. Reality will force its ugly head upon us. There is no way to escape a serious downturn. All of the bailout plans are just making the distribution of pain unfair and unjust. Remember, real estate downturns are normally caused by a recession due to layoffs, etc. What we got here is a whole new story. Things were getting bad b/c of real estate. The impact of layoffs (on Wall St., Amex, Time Warner, etc.) will only now start to make things worse. We will now get a classic hit to the real estate market, people losing jobs have less money, prices decline.
Or, If the govt bails out everybody, it will need a 10 trillion bailout, but don’t worry, by the time it’s all over that 10 trillion will really on be worth $100 in today’s dollar.
“ENY…think of all that could be had along 8th Ave in Manhattan back in the day. Times have changed for sure.”
8th Ave., almost all of the Lower East Side, Bryant Park, Meatpacking District, Times Square, Downtown Brooklyn (where MetroTech is now)….all were “hotspots” in the 1970s and 1980s.
ENY…think of all that could be had along 8th Ave in Manhattan back in the day. Times have changed for sure.
“MANY people loved living here then, even though they had to put up with a lot of crap to do so.”
You said it. Back then, you could get high in the bleachers at Yankee Stadium, and no one batted an eye. Times have changed.
“I detect a distinctly different mood change in you today What. All very positive.”
It’s Friday and they will not release me for the weekend until I chill.. Oh wait here come the orderlies, time to take my meds…
The What
Someday this war is gonna end…
This is indeed a very positive development. And to Sebb, we do have a very serious housing crisis in New York. It’s just in select neighborhoods you may or may not have seen. Bushwick, for example. And apparently Jamaica, going by this article. I posted yesterday about Bushwick being full of short sales and abandoned buildings that were getting broken into. Serious problem. Very bad news for the people living in those neighborhoods.
DIBS, I just asked him in his Forum post what’s going on. He’s either taken his meds and/or been warned by Mr. B. His joie de vivre is nowhere to be found.
I detect a distinctly different mood change in you today What. All very positive.