Politics Cloud Housing Recovery | America’s Homeless Kid Crisis | Mayoral Candidates on Housing

A rendering of 56 Leonard, which has a penthouse on the 60th floor that sold for $47 million. (credit: Herzog & de Meuron)

1. Economic, political volatility cloud housing recovery. Housing has been one of the bright spots in the economy this year. This week, a report showed that home prices in the top 20 cities continued their robust upward march in August. There are also far fewer foreclosure sales and other signs of distress in the market. But the Federal Reserve expressed concern Wednesday about the slowing housing market. Pending home sales fell far more than expected. And housing experts are bracing for some volatility [NPR – 10/31/13]
2. NYCHA pays $8 million so lawyers can bully poor residents in housing court. The New York City Housing Authority spends $8 million a year on lawyers - far more than it does on bricklayers or exterminators - to wage legal warfare against its 600,000 residents. When tenants turn to the courts hoping to force the agency to fix long-standing decrepit conditions, they’re outgunned by one of 98 NYCHA attorneys who work on the taxpayers’ dime. [New York Daily News – 11/01/13]
3. America’s homeless kids crisis. The number of homeless students in the United States has hit a record high, according to new data from the Department of Education. The raw numbers are shocking: in the 2011 school year, 1,168,354 homeless children were enrolled in preschools and K-12 programs. Even more disturbing is the trend those numbers show: nationally, they represent a 10 percent jump over the previous school year, and a stunning 72 percent increase since the beginning of the recession in 2008. [The Atlantic Cities – 11/04/13]
4. A vision for the Van Cortlandt park of the future, unveiled!  McKinney’s proposed changes include building a new playground near North Riverdale, constructing three pedestrian bridges over highways a la the ones in Central Park, and removing Tibbetts Brook from the sewage system and placing it above ground so that it becomes a pleasant water feature. Trails for running and walking will remain, of course, but the design calls for more access for bikes and pedestrians in general [Curbed NY – 11/04/13]
5. Advocates say subsidies for developers misdirected.  Developers say that with land costs and construction costs rising, they can’t afford to build market-rate rental buildings without deep government subsidies that come with the affordable housing. Those range from tax-exempt bonds to federal tax credits to property tax exemptions and zoning bonuses. [The Wall Street Journal – 11/04/13]
6. Stratospheric views, and prices. That ‘oh wow’ factor is part of a 6,250-square-foot, full-floor apartment in his soaring skyscraper, One57, complete with a soon-to-arrive master bedroom tub carved from a single piece of Italian marble. The apartment comes with a hefty price tag of $67 million. Or, put another way, nearly $11,000 per square foot. That’s Per. Square. Foot. [The New York Times – 11/04/13]
7. Help for some Sandy victims. The Federal Housing Administration’s203(k) loan program covers purchase and renovation costs in a single mortgage. Although eligibility requirements rule out renovations that change a home’s foundation, the government announced in September that it was temporarily lifting that prohibition for homes in areas devastated by Sandy’s severe flooding [The New York Times – 11/04/13]
8. Where mayoral candidates Bill de Blasio, Joe Lhota stand on issues such as taxes, education.  Lhota’s plan for affordable housing is more aggressive than de Blasio’s vision. He supports building 150,000 low-cost units in the five boroughs over the next four years. De Blasio wants to build or preserve 200,000 units over the next decade. De Blasio has also vowed to reduce homelessness in the city, where currently 50,000 adults and 21,000 kids sleep in shelters every night. He has proposed making NYCHA apartments available to homeless families, reversing a Bloomberg ban on giving them priority for public housing. Lhota wants to bar out-of-state residents from using the shelters. [New York Daily News – 11/04/13]
9. Senate Republicans block nominee for housing agency. In blocking the nomination of Rep. Mel Watt to head a top housing agency, Senate Republicans showed they preferred to keep oversight of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac in the hands of a career bureaucrat who opposes providing more aggressive aid for struggling homeowners. Watt, a Democrat from North Carolina, was nominated by President Obama to be director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency. The nomination failed a key procedural vote Thursday. [The Los Angeles Times – 11/04/13]
10. Are tax abatements helping or hurting affordable housing?  As developments like the Moinian Group’s 605 West 42nd Street, the Durst Organization’s 625 West 57th Street, and TF Cornerstone’s 606 West 57th Street (pictured) take advantage of the state-run 80-20 program, some people are questioning whether that program is a good use of state resources. The program gives government subsidies to developers who set aside at least 20 percent of the units in a new development for affordable rentals, and many developers say that they wouldn’t be able to complete their luxury projects without it. [Curbed NY – 11/04/13]