Judge Fern Fisher and Mark Segall, chair of MFY Legal Services

A group of 19 legal organizations is now urging a city judge to extend a moratorium on post-Hurricane Sandy residential evictions that was lifted yesterday, the New York Observer reported. The group is led by MFY Legal Services, which yesterday wrote to Deputy Chief Administrative Judge Fern Fisher asking for an extension until Jan. 1, 2013.

“We were dismayed to learn that, less than a month after Hurricane Sandy hit, the moratorium on residential evictions is being lifted,” the letter reads. “With the city’s infrastructure still reeling, we respectfully request that you reconsider lifting the moratorium.” [more]

122 Bergen Street

Ales Realty, the landlord of a Boerum Hill brownstone at 122 Bergen Street, allegedly used Hurricane Sandy damage as an excuse to evict tenants, according to a lawsuit filed by residents, reported by DNAinfo.

Problems allegedly stemmed from a fallen tree that damaged the building’s fire escape, and prompted a Department of Buildings violation on Nov. 1 calling for its immediate repair. Four tenants of the building claimed that, due to the violations, Ales Realty ordered them to pack up their belongings and hand over their keys within 10 days. [more]

Lower Manhattan

More than one-fifth of office space below Canal Street remains closed in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, according to a tally released today by Jones Lang LaSalle research. Out of 183 Class A and Class B buildings, 25 are shuttered three weeks on. Thus, some 20.7 million square feet of office space downtown are closed to tenants.

Total inventory of Lower Manhattan Class A and Class B office properties totals 101.2 million square feet. [more]

Piles of wood at the Rockaways (source: Slate)

Nearly three weeks after the storm, a question has arisen in the Rockaways over future uses of the lumber, currently in piles, that Sandy tore up from the boardwalk, the New York Times reported. There’s a mix of teak, pine and ipe lumber, which can be valuable.

In the past, a stockpile of lumber taken from Coney Island’s boardwalk in a recycling project was used to make flooring, furniture and decks for homes. The city had discarded the wood and did not gain money from its recycled sales. [more]

Even before Hurricane Sandy wreaked havoc in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, the states were faced with dramatic increases in foreclosures, Bloomberg News reported today.

October default, auction and repossession notices increased 123 percent in New York, 140 percent in New Jersey and 41 percent in Connecticut from a year earlier, according to a RealtyTrac Inc. report cited in the story. Those were the biggest annual gains nationwide. [more]

From left: Nancy Horowitz and a rendering of a storm-resistant home in Copake

Following the wrath of Hurricane Sandy, which has left thousands of residents and office tenants displaced, some interested clients are looking to invest in hurricane-resistant, self-sufficient safe houses just outside of the city, Forbes reported.

Nancy Horowitz, a Halstead Property broker in the Hudson Valley said that she’s received a sudden flurry of emails from downstate dwellers who are looking for a stronger home away from water. [more]

From left: FEMA’s Craig Fugate and Forest Hills Tower (credit: PropertyShark)

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has inked a 200,000-square-foot lease at Forest Hills Tower in Queens for its New York City headquarters, according to a release from Muss Development, the landlord of the property. The lease encompasses 10 full floors that will be used by FEMA for administrative office space.

The lease spans the next several months, as the area recovers from the devastation left by Hurricane Sandy, and has options for short-term extensions. The financial terms of the deal were not mentioned. [more]

Mayor Bloomberg

City plans to pump $1 billion into city infrastructure projects are being radically altered by the affects of Hurricane Sandy, Crain’s reported. Last October, when the stimulus was announced, the funds were intended for waterfront construction, road and bridge repairs and street construction at a time when construction costs were at a relative low. Now with some 70,000 homes in need of repair, the cost of building materials like plywood and drywall has risen nearly 15 percent  – making construction more costly for the city.

Moreover laborers are being stretched across thousands of repair projects. “Every union member is working,” Lou Coletti, president of the Building Trades Employers’ Association, which represents 17,000 union contractors, said. [more]

Mayor Bloomberg

Mayor Michael Bloomberg signed an emergency order today to waive Department of Buildings application and permit fees for Hurricane Sandy-induced repair work, according to a statement the Mayor’s office issued today. New York City buildings that sustained significant damage from the storm and are in need of demolition, alteration or reconstruction work will have all repair fees waived until further notice, as well as fees for electrical and plumbing repair.

“It will ensure that New Yorkers fixing their homes will not have to incur additional expenses,” Mayor Bloomberg said in the release, “and we are going to do everything we can to help those displaced by Hurricane Sandy rebuild and recover as quickly as possible.” [more]

Seaside, N.J. during hurricane Sandy

Although the real estate market has and will continue to suffer in the waterfront areas affected by Hurricane Sandy, decreased competition is pushing some buyers back into the market, Bloomberg News reported.

“You take your chances anytime you get involved with real estate,” Danea Kelly, who is house-hunting with her brother in North Wildwood, N.J., said. “We may now have less competition from other buyers and it might steer some people who have lived down there a long time, who may decide, ‘It’s time for me to sell.’” [more]