Occupy Wall Street protesters around the country are joining forces with housing advocates to protest fraudulent foreclosures today, NY1 reported. In New York, they will be marching through the East New York section of Brooklyn, an area especially hard-hit by the foreclosure crisis.

The protestors will assemble later today at the closely-guarded location of a pre-selected foreclosed home, which has been occupied overnight, according to news reports.

“This action is part of a national kick-off for a new frontier for the occupy movement: the liberation of vacant bank-owned homes for those in need, and the defense of families under threat of foreclosure and eviction,” Occupy Wall Street said in a statement. [more]

The city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development is looking for a developer to build up to 225 affordable housing units and 68,000 square feet of retail space along a vacant strip on Livonia Avenue, between Pennsylvania and Williams avenues in the East New York area of Brooklyn, Crain’s reported, issuing a request for proposals today.
The request is the first phase in what the department has dubbed the Livonia Avenue Initiative, a plan to revamp the strip.
“This retail corridor has been defunct for a long time,” said RuthAnne Visnauskas, deputy commissioner for HPD. The site’s proximity to the elevated L train line meant there was a lot of noise, which discouraged developers in the past, but building materials can keep out noise, she said. [more]

After more than 100 uninvited community members expressed intentions to attend an exclusive breakfast with Walmart executives yesterday, there was a last minute location change from the Lindenwood Diner to a private office building on Atlantic Avenue and Eastern Parkway.

“If they want to hear from the community, then why am I not in there?” asked one Community Board 5 member. “I was not invited. I went inside and they wouldn’t let me in.”

As reported earlier this week, Walmart hosted an invitation-only breakfast for East New York, Brooklyn local leaders as part of its efforts to gather community support for a Walmart store in the neighborhood. Most of the several dozen invitees, such as clergy or community board members, either support the project or are undecided, while those who have been openly critical of the proposal were not invited. [more]

A tenant in an illegal apartment in East New York died after being trapped in the cellar dwelling during a small fire early this morning, according to the Department of Buildings. The two-story building at 568 Drew Street had been illegally converted to accommodate a basement tenant, a DOB spokesperson said.

Firefighters received a call alerting them to the blaze at 4:49 a.m. and arrived at the scene at 4:52 a.m., according to a spokesperson for the New York City Fire Department. The fire was under control at 5:23 a.m.

The cause of the fire is under investigation by the New York City Police Department, according to a NYPD spokesperson. [more]

737 Drew Street

From the January issue: Minority and working-class Brooklyn neighborhoods like Bed-Stuy,
Canarsie and East New York have been suffering from high concentrations
of foreclosures since before 2007.
But recent statistics indicate that distress is creeping into
gentrified neighborhoods like Williamsburg, Greenpoint, Fort Greene and
Brooklyn Heights now, too. The Williamsburg-Greenpoint area saw a 141 percent quarterly
increase in foreclosure filings during the first three quarters of 2009
compared to 2008, while Fort Greene and Brooklyn Heights saw a 71
percent jump. Brooklyn-based appraiser Sam Heskel counted 99 distressed real
estate listings in Williamsburg, including 44 condominiums that are in
“pre-foreclosure.”

Nearly 1,000 moderately priced homes and apartments are now available for purchase in the city through the Housing Partnership Development Corp., a non-profit that works to create new affordable housing with the help of government grants, subsidies and tax credits. Of those, 700 are located in Brooklyn’s Crown Heights and East New York neighborhoods and are priced up to 35 percent below market values. In the Bergen Street Co-ops, at 1509 Bergen Street in Crown Heights, Brooklyn families meeting a minimum income requirement of $54,000 per year can apply to purchase one-, two- and three-bedroom apartments, priced between $179,190 and $350,000. Homes like these are built with the help of government grants, subsidies and tax credits, which the Housing Partnership works to make available to developers selected by the city. Recently, funds were approved for the 104-unit Sterling Street Co-ops conversion, another of the organization’s projects, at 320 Sterling Street in Crown Heights. Construction on the project is 75 percent complete. In the Bronx, there are 200 affordable units currently available, and there are 75 in Queens. [Brooklyn Eagle via Curbed]
[more]

Four New York City affordable housing projects will be among the first
to begin construction after receiving federal stimulus funding. About
$60 million of the $85 million the city has received for affordable
housing from the stimulus package will go toward the construction of
739 units at three developments in East Harlem and one in East New
York, Brooklyn. Construction is set to begin immediately, Mayor Michael
Bloomberg and Governor David Paterson said. The projects are expected
to create about 2,800 jobs, most in construction work. The units will
be available to households with incomes of up to $46,080. [more]

As more New York City neighborhoods are being affected by the current
wave of foreclosures, non-profit organizations such as Changer are
stepping in and offering a helping hand to the areas hardest hit, like
East New York. The organization’s mission is to help homeowners by
offering free legal services and making them aware of potential scams.
Neighborhoods that have been hurt most by the foreclosure crisis, such
as Canarsie, Brooklyn, have been targeted by so called “loan
modification consultants” who charge up to $5,000 and falsely claim
they will help homeowners escape foreclosure. In response to these
scams, non-profits like Changer hold free seminars and forums in which
residents can learn how to smartly handle a potential foreclosure
situation and get back on track with payments. [more]

A mortgage fraud report from the Federal Bureau of Investigation released yesterday shows an increase in mortgage fraud throughout 2008. Also, a second-quarter hospitality report from Marcus & Millichap shows more signs of distress in the national hotel sector. And, phase one of construction has been completed at Nehemiah Spring Creek Homes in East New York. Click here for the full version. TRD Comments

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