New York & Long Island Real Estate News

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2011-12-08T16:53:00.001-05:00

Pending home sales index rises from one year ago | Inman News

2011-11-02T08:03:00.000-04:00

Pending home sales index rises from one year ago | Inman News

Stalled Brooklyn park to get $8M lifeline | Crain's New York Business

2011-10-22T09:46:00.000-04:00

Stalled Brooklyn park to get $8M lifeline | Crain's New York Business

Is US Economy Flirting With 'Modern-Day Depression'?

2011-10-06T17:35:00.002-04:00

CNBC.com

| 06 Oct 2011 | 03:26 PM ET

While economists have made no secret of their fears that another recession is about to strike, the real danger could be worse
Instead, the country could be headed for a 21st century version of a depression, an economic term that, unlike a recession, defies a standard definition but instead conjures images of soup lines, 25 percent unemployment and a devastated economy.

A drastic view? Perhaps. But with the US economy facing growth well below expectations two years after a recession, and an increasingly ominous European debt crisis, the superlatives being used to describe conditions are gaining in intensity.

“Here we are today, with a severe recession (2007-09) followed by the weakest recovery on record and now on the precipice of another economic downturn,” David Rosenberg, senior economist and strategist at Gluskin Sheff in Toronto wrote in a special analysis. “This is a modern-day depression, not entirely dissimilar to Japan’s post-bubble experience of the past two decades.”

Rosenberg takes issue with the standard issue of a recession being two consecutive quarters of negative growth, and rather says it measures peaks in sales activity, jobs, industrial production and income growth.

The US already has had something of a lost decade, Rosenberg reasons, citing stock values still around 1998 levels and little net job growth.

This is occurring even despite unprecedented policy measures including a massive monetary easing campaign from the Federal Reserve and about $800 billion in government stimulus.

”Simply put, an economic depression occurs only once it becomes painfully obvious that the markets and the economy are failing to respond to repeated bouts of policy stimulus,” Rosenberg said.

While Rosenberg is certainly out of the consensus in discussing a depression, he is not alone.

Harvard professor and economist Niall Ferguson recently projected a “mild depression” (if there can be such a thing) as have other economists including the noted “Dr. Doom” Nouriel Roubini and HSBC’s Stephen King. The latter two, though, have raised risks of a depression and have not stated, like Rosenberg, that one is actually under way.

Most economists, rather, have confined their predictions to recessions and mild ones at that.

Jan Hatzius at Goldman Sachs recently said there’s a 40 percent chance of recession, but even at that sees “the main downside scenario as a shallow recession followed by a slow recovery.” Similarly, Deutsche Bank economists recently noted that if leaders fail to find satisfactory solutions to the European debt crisis, “the prospects for a moderate dip in GDP will grow.”

Some economists, though, have been doing their utmost to find silver linings that defy recession probabilities. Jeffrey Greenberg at Nomura Securities, for instance, cited a rise in construction spending in August to reason that second-quarter gross domestic product growth would come in at a decidedly nonrecessionary 2.5 percent.

Representing many of the economic voices out there, Citigroup’s Robert V. DiClemente pondered whether the current period should redefine the way recoveries are considered.

“Perhaps we should label this period a convalescence instead of a recovery in recognition of the ongoing attention to saving, deleveraging and balance sheet rebuilding,” DiClemente said in a note. “Flat is the new up and subpar growth has redefined optimism.”

Yet it is some of those very conditions—the slashing of consumer debt (or deleveraging), reticence to spend and general risk aversion—that helps drive Rosenberg’s depression case.

“It will take time and shared burden by lenders, households and future generations of taxpayers before we hit bottom in this credit contraction,” he wrote. “Time is certainly going to be a big part of the solution, and history tells us that the deleveraging cycles last years.”

Indeed, ominous signs abound.

Strategists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch earlier this week published a note with the sub-heading of, “The chart that keeps us up at night.” The particular chart in question tracks the bond yield differences, or spreads, in the European financial credit default swaps market .

The instruments are insurance against debt defaults and the spreads, BofAML says, have gone 0.70 percentage points or so beyond their levels at the 2008 financial crisis apex. The same spread for US financials is only about 0.40 percentage points away from late 2008, while high yield spreads are right at the point they were the day before Lehman Brothers went bankrupt.

Scary stuff, even for a firm saying that the chance of a recession remains below 50 percent.

“The experience of 2008 has taught us that once the level of distress in the financial system reaches a certain level, it can become an uncontrollable force, with the potential to push market participants into deleveraging as counterparty exposures are being cut,” the firm said.

“We may not be at that point yet, but we believe we might not be too far away from it, and with the markets behaving the way they have over the past few weeks, we could get there quickly.”

_____________________________________________

Pressure on lenders drastically decreases new foreclosures in New York City

2011-10-06T17:22:00.001-04:00

October 06, 2011 10:00AM

Source: PropertyShark

New foreclosure auctions in New York City plummeted during the third quarter, according to a PropertyShark.com report released today, but that's far from a sign of an improvement in the housing market.

Just 207 new foreclosures were filed in the third quarter, down 33 percent from the 311 filed in the second quarter, and down 69 percent from the 659 new filings in the third quarter of 2010. About half the new foreclosures were filed on co-ops.

Queens led all boroughs with 82 foreclosures, or 39 percent of the city's foreclosures. However, the number was still 28 percent less than it was last quarter, and 79 percent below the figure recorded in the prior year quarter.

In Manhattan and Brooklyn the quarter-over-quarter decrease was 45 percent, while Bronx saw a 26 percent decline. Staten Island foreclosures remained constant.

However, PropertyShark said the decreases were not necessarily due to an improved market. Instead, they were likely caused by the increased pressure on banks and lenders to pay close attention to the paperwork involved in foreclosure filings, thereby slowing the process.

"We believe the drop is due to increased legal pressure on the banks by the state and federal governments," said PropertyShark founder Matthew Haines. "As we enter a new recession, we expect homeowners to continue to have trouble making payments on mortgages that continue to far exceed the value of the underlying houses."-- Adam Fusfeld

Wealthy communities in NYC, Florida area could fall under Obama tax plan

2011-09-19T21:34:00.000-04:00

Wealthy communities in NYC, Florida area could fall under Obama tax plan

September 19, 2011 04:00PM

Above Sutton Place and Oyster Bay, N.Y., below Fort Lauderdale and Bay Harbor Island, Fla.

With President Barack Obama proposing a new tax on millionaires, Forbes investigated what areas of the country have the highest concentration of high-income residents.

The data indicates that the New York City area and South Florida were among the top spots for the rich.

According to the analysis conducted by Forbes, four out of the five wealthiest communities in the country were in New York City area or in South Florida based on estimated net worth.

The analysis also looked at other factors such as relative tax burden and charitable giving. On Fisher Island, Key Largo, Boca Grande and Longboat Key, the wealthy don't pay more than 25 percent in taxes.

Many residents in the New York City area also aren't very charitable. Particularly in some rich New Jersey towns, residents give away 2 percent or less of their income, compared to an average of 2.9 percent. The same is true for Tribeca and a part of White Plains.

While in Tribeca, only 17 percent of income comes from investments, reflecting the younger demographic of the neighborhood, according to the analysis, on Fisher Island that number is 85 percent, and in Boca Raton and Key Largo, places where residents have already accumulated their wealth, it's 75 percent or more of income. [Forbes]

Mortgage rates reach historic lows

2011-09-01T21:16:00.000-04:00

Mortgage rates reach historic lows

September 01, 2011 02:30PM

Mortgage rates are declining further amid continued weak economic and housing data, according to Freddie Mac's Primary Mortgage Market Survey, released today. While the 30-year fixed rate held steady, the five-year adjustable rate mortgage set a new all-time record low having fallen for the eighth consecutive week and now standing at 2.96 percent.

For the second week in a row, the 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.22 percent for the week ending today. Last year at this time, the 30-year FRM averaged 4.32 percent.

Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages this week averaged 3.39 percent, down from last week when it averaged 3.44 percent. A year ago at this time, the 15-year FRM averaged 3.83 percent.

"Weaker economic data reports eased upward pressure on mortgage rates this week and kept them at or near all-time record lows," said Frank Nothaft, vice president and chief economist for Freddie Mac. "The economy grew at a slower rate of 1 percent in the second quarter than was originally reported due to a smaller increase in inventories and fewer exports. In addition, consumer confidence in August fell to the lowest reading since April 2009, according to the Conference Board." -- Katherine Clarke

Top Reasons to Own a Home

2011-08-31T07:30:00.001-04:00

by Carla Hill

There's good reason that over half of all Americans are homeowners. Social and financial benefits are key factors when it comes to deciding to buy. Homeownership allows people to grow wealth slowly over time, to hold assets that build equity, and to bring stability into chaotic lives.
Despite these facts, homeownership rates have taken a hits since the recession in 2009. Falling home prices along with reduced access to credit has kept many would-be buyers from entering the market. According to Morgan Stanley, the current homeownership rate is around 59.2%. This is lowest rate since the Census Bureau began tracking in 1965. Has this reduction been a fear-based one?
The top benefits of homeownership haven't changed, even in the face of a down economy. Here are the top five:
1. Savings: Be sure to check out the calculator at the end of this article. You'll find that long-term homeownership is still a way to get big savings.
2. Tax Breaks: They're not on the chopping block just yet. Many homeowners are still able to take the mortgage interest deduction (MID) each year, along with great rebates and credits associated with upgrades made to your home.

3. Equity: When you pay a landlord, it's money down the drain. When you pay on a mortgage, you are paying towards owning a piece of something. You may still owe $100,000, but perhaps the home is worth $200,000. This means you have $100,000 worth of equity you've built up over time.

4. Budgeting: Unless you live in a rent-controlled apartment (and not many do), then each lease renewal could mean a jump in prices. A fixed-rate mortgage, however, means your monthly payment is the same amount for the life of the loan. A $1,000 a month payment on a 30-year mortgage is that same now as it will be in 30 years!
5. Security: When you own, it's yours. You can paint, improve, and decorate. The trees and flowers are yours to enjoy -- for a lifetime if you wish. Most homeowners are in neighborhoods with other homeowners, meaning more time to build relationships and friendships. Recent studies have also shown that homeowners rank themselves as healthier than their renter counterparts.
Should you rent or buy? For a strictly financial evaluation, be sure to check out The New York Times' Interactive calculator to crunch the numbers. This advanced calculator takes into account everything from yearly costs to selling costs and broker fees.
Experts have recommended for years that if you're planning on staying put for 5+ years, buying becomes an increasingly better deal. You have time to recoup any extra expenses found in closing costs and are now making an investment in your future through home price appreciation. Once your mortgage is paid off, you'll have a real asset. That brings real stability.
Home affordability is at near record highs. Now is a good time to run the numbers and see if buying makes good financial sense. If it does, then you're in store for a wealth of benefits that only homeowners can experience.

High-profile Brooklyn landlords fight landmarking of downtown skyscrapers

2011-08-30T09:12:00.000-04:00

High-profile Brooklyn landlords fight landmarking of downtown skyscrapers

August 29, 2011 09:00AM

Brooklyn Municipal Building and SL Green CEO Marc Holliday

Brooklyn's most powerful landlords, including SL Green Realty, Louis Greco and the Treeline Companies, arecampaigning against a city plan to landmark nearly two dozen tall buildings in Downtown and Brooklyn Heights, the Brooklyn Paper reported. They are arguing that the so-called "Skyscraper Historic District" plan, which would affect the Municipal Building and a group of early-1900s structures along Court Street, would prevent owners from taking advantage of the demand for retail.

"It makes little sense to move forward on a designation that will impede Downtown Brooklyn's ability to attract high-quality … retail tenants," opponents said in a letter to Landmarks Preservation Commission Chairman Robert Tierney earlier this month.

"This is crushing us," said Jordan Barowitz, who lives in a building at 75 Livingstone Street, the only residential tower within the proposal, but also works for the Durst Organization. "It would put a tremendous burden on people who own property in district -- and in the end what are we saving?"

The district would include Brooklyn's Borough Hall, the 14-story Temple Bar Building on Court Street, the 35-story Montague-Court Building at 16 Court Street and the Municipal Building. [Brooklyn Paper]

Brooklyn sees 60 percent jump in million-dollar home sales

2011-08-27T09:35:00.002-04:00

Brooklyn sees 60 percent jump in million-dollar home sales

August 24, 2011 12:30PM

Chris Thomas, executive vice president at Brown Harris Stevens, and a map of Brooklyn

There were 223 high-end residential property sales in Brooklyn in the second quarter of 2011, the highest number in three years, according to recent analysis by PropertyShark.com cited by Crain's. High-end sales are defined as those over $1 million.

Sales of million-dollar-and-up properties jumped a jaw-dropping 60 percent from the period in 2010 and outpaced the previous record set in the third quarter of 2008. Condo purchases accounted for 123 of the deals, more than double the tally in the same quarter of 2010, Crain's said. Around 25 percent of the sales were in new developments.

The surge in sales does not necessarily indicate that Brooklyn's residential market is thriving, experts said, as a lot of the logged sales actually went into contract earlier in the year.

"The early part of the new year was one of the strongest because there were not a lot of townhouses available," said Chris Thomas, executive vice president at Brown Harris Stevens. "The ones that were available tended to have a number of bidders, which drove prices up."

Most of the $1 million-plus sales took place in Williamsburg, with Park Slope coming in second.

Property Shark's data aligned with previous reports by the Corocran Group, Prudential Douglas Elliman and MNS, all of which suggested that the Brooklyn Market was being significantly buoyed by new development. [Crain's]

Navy Yard development held back by property transfer

2011-08-27T09:34:00.002-04:00

Navy Yard development held back by property transfer

August 26, 2011 09:00AM

Admirals Row

Brooklyn Navy Yard's Admirals Row, the proposed six-acre site of a supermarket, retail and industrial facility, is moving through the city's approval process, but one vital detail remains unresolved -- the purchase of the land from the federal government.

According to the Wall Street Journal, the Brooklyn Navy Yard Development Corporation, which manages the yard, had an arrangement with the feds to buy the land for just $1, but the government in now seeking market rate for the site, which is currently home to run-down historic 19th-century homes for military officers.

The city owns most of the Navy Yard, but Admirals Row belongs to the Army National Guard.

"We are still in negotiations with the city," said Chris Gardner, a spokesman with the Army Corp of Engineers. "We don't have any specific end date."

If it progresses as planned, the development of Admirals Row would be the latest in a large expansion underway at the Navy Yard, fuelled by more than $200 million in basic infrastructure investments from the Bloomberg administration, including a recent $15 million commitment to build space for green manufacturers.

Earlier this year, Rep. Nydia Velazquez wrote a letter to Army Secretary John McHugh, urging his office to push the transfer forward.

"Given the rapidly worsening state of the buildings, we now ask that the property be immediately transferred to the city," she wrote in the letter, which was also signed by Sens. Chuck Schumer and Kirsten Gillibrand and Rep. Edolphus Towns. [WSJ]

Sag Harbor condo project could return from the dead

2011-08-27T09:33:00.000-04:00

Sag Harbor condo project could return from the dead

August 26, 2011 12:30PM

Bulova Watchcase Factory

A Sag Harbor luxury condominium project approved after two years of deliberation in 2008, but then subject to lawsuits over the approval and the global recession, is showing signs of life, the Sag Harbor Express reported.

Cape Advisors, the developers of a planned $100 million, 65-unit luxury apartment building at the old Bulova Watchcase Factory at Church and Division streets, along with seven adjacent townhouses that contain 16 units total, a pool, a recreation center and underground parking, met with the Sag Harbor Village Planning Board this week to push the project forward.

Founder Craig Wood said that construction could begin as early as the fall if the board were willing to modify the terms of its initial approval, including adjusting the schedule for the promised $2.5 million payment to a housing trust in lieu of including affordable housing in the project. He said that would be critical to Cape Advisors' attempt to land a construction loan. Wood also wanted to change agreements regarding crossing guards near the project and the second letter of credit following the initial bond.

Wood urged the board to act quickly, as the developers lost two financiers during the two-year approval period before 2008. According to the Express, the village planning board is also keen on seeing the project come to fruition. [Sag Harbor Express]

Buying is now cheaper than renting in most U.S. cities

2011-08-16T19:22:00.000-04:00

August 16, 2011 09:30AM

Purchasing a home is now cheaper than renting in most U.S. cities, thanks to drops in home prices, rock-bottom interest rates and increased demand for rental properties, CNN reported.

Buying made more economic sense than renting in 74 percent of the country's 50 largest cities in July, according to data from Trulia.com, with renting winning out in only 12 percent of cities, including New York. In the remaining 14 percent of cities, the costs of buying and renting were similar.

"It's a personal decision, of course. But if you have a steady job and you are planning to stay for seven years or more and have enough cash to put 20 percent down and enough left over for seven or eight months of expenses, you're better off buying in most places," said Daisy Kong, a spokesperson for Trulia.com.

At one end, Las Vegas was most obviously a buyer's market in July, with prices having plunged 59 percent from their 2006 peak. The median price of a two-bedroom property was $60,000.

New York remains quite clearly a renter's market despite the average asking rent hitting $2,980 per month, the highest of all the U.S. markets. To buy a two-bedroom home in New York costs an average of $1.3 million. [CNN]

Dumbo and Boerum Hill join Soho and Tribeca as NYC's most expensive nabes

2011-08-16T19:18:00.001-04:00

Soho and Tribeca were the most expensive New York City neighborhoods in the second quarter of 2011, but Dumbo was a surprising fourth entry on the top 10 list, according to PropertyShark.com. Dumbo was ahead of many other Manhattan neighborhoods such as the Upper East Side, the Upper West Side, the West Village and Chelsea, with a median sale price of $1.075 million. That price increased 9 percent from the median sales price in the second quarter of 2010, which was $990,000. Brooklyn's Boerum Hill was also on the list at number 10, with a median sales price of $801,000. Soho was tops at $2.147 million, a 26 percent increase over its 2010 second-quarter price of $1.7 million. Of the total of 60 residential properties sold in the second quarter of 2011, 17 were located in the Trump Soho Hotel. In Tribeca, with a median sales price of $2,019,250, only eight of the 80 properties sold there last quarter were under $1 million. The most expensive residential property currently for sale in Tribeca is a 13,479-square-foot triplex penthouse located at 144 Duane Street, available for $30 million. -- Miranda Neubauer

Hunter's Point sees wave of new development

2011-07-29T16:46:00.001-04:00

Hunter's Point sees wave of new development

July 29, 2011 03:00PM

Map of Hunter's Point

The Hunters Point section of Long Island City is experiencing a boom in new development, NY1 reported, with $700 million of construction happening inlcuding four new residential towers in the works.

"This all used to be industrial waterfront, much of it abandoned. Now we have 10 acres of beautiful waterfront park land, five residential buildings, a public school and a lot more coming on the way," said President Paul Januszewski of the Queens West Development Corporation.

Since development began in 1997, Januszewski said, Hunter's Point has experienced a major transformation. By the time of its completion in 2013, the area will have 11 residential buildings, two public schools, a park and a public library.

Mark Greenley, a sales director at Long Island City-based Modern Spaces, said Long Island City is becoming popular with potential homebuyers.

"We are seeing a tremendous amount of sales and lease-ups. In fact, our absorption rate is great. Our vacancy rate is maybe about 2 to 3 percent," he said. [NY1]

Nobu Hamptons opening is "sort of a prenup"

2011-07-27T07:26:00.000-04:00

Nobu Hamptons opening is "sort of a prenup"

July 26, 2011 12:30PM

Capri Hotel reception office and the Nobu dining room

To much fanfare, Nobu announced it was bringing its famed sushi to the Hamptons this summer, but the Wall Street Journal reported the restaurant's marriage to the Hamptons may only be temporary and that it is considering a global catering business.

"There's no obligation. This is sort of a prenup," Richie Notar, a managing partner at the restaurant, told the Journal of the restaurant's opening in the Capri Hotel. "We're going to live together a little while and they'll see if we snore and we'll see where they keep their toothbrush, and if we still love each other, we'll stay together."

But the restaurant has already had to expand beyond its initial 120 seats and into other parts of the Capri property, at 281 Country Road in Southampton, because of the demand. Unlike the two-person reservations common in the restaurant's Tribeca location, many Hamptons diners want tables for 10-to-20 people, Notar said.

Eventually, the Journal said, Nobu hopes to open a global catering business, on the heels of its popularity at this year's Cannes film festival. The restaurant has also catered actor Tom Cruise's birthday part on a boat, and events for the Rolling Stones and the Chelsea United football club. [WSJ]

Stabilization of nationwide home prices positive indicator for consumer spending | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

2011-07-27T07:24:00.000-04:00

Stabilization of nationwide home prices positive indicator for consumer spending

July 26, 2011 12:00PM

(Source: CoreLogic)

Home prices nationwide began to stabilize in the second half of 2011, a positive indicator for consumer spending, according to a report by CoreLogic released today. In May 2011, excluding distressed sales, the Housing Price Index only dropped 0.4 percent, compared to a decline of 7.4 percent for the Housing Price Index for all transactions. Another positive sign, the report says, is that the Housing Price Index, which even including distressed sales, increased between March and April, for the first time in more than six months, and continued up between April and May.

The positive trend echoed the Standard & Poor's Case-Shiller U.S. National Home Price Index, also released today, which indicated that U.S. home prices increased month over month in May for the first time in six months.

When median prices are disaggregated by type of sale for the first complete month of the spring homebuying season, CoreLogic reports that despite the impact of the expiration of the federal homebuyer tax credit, state homebuyer tax credits and increases in Federal Housing Administration premiums, non-distressed median existing and new prices are back to 2009 levels.

But median prices for real estate owned property and short sale transactions continued to decline and have fallen 10 percent since 2009, and the incidence and price discount of distressed sales is high, signifying a major impediment to price stabilization, according to the report.

Miami leads the way with a 62 percent REO price discount, followed by Chicago (60 percent) and Detroit (60 percent). West Palm Beach ranked fourth with 58 percent. Still, the current residential shadow inventory, which is the estimated pending supply of distressed properties, declined to 1.7 million units in April 2011, down from 1.9 million homes a year ago and down nearly 20 percent from its peak, according to the report.

Based on that data, CoreLogic projects that the level of distressed sales should begin to decline in late 2011 and into 2012. The report also states that nearly 11 million, or 23 percent, of all residential properties with mortgages were in negative equity at the end of the ?rst quarter of 2011. The negative equity share has been fairly stable over the last year. Going forward, the report states, negative equity will primarily decline through a combination of foreclosures, amortization and, to a lesser extent, price increases, but it could take eight to 10 years for national prices to reach the previous level .

-- Miranda Neubauer

Still-sluggish Hamptons sales market buoyed by highs and lows | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

2011-07-21T05:37:00.000-04:00

Still-sluggish Hamptons sales market buoyed by highs and lows

July 20, 2011 03:00PM

(source: Town & Country Real Estate)

The highest and lowest ends of the sales market kept East End real estate alive during the first half of 2011 even as activity dwindled.

Nine of the 12 main Hamptons sales markets saw fewer closings during the first six months of the year than they did during the same period in 2010, Town & Country Real Estate said today, resulting in a 9 percent decline in Hamptons home sales overall. In some areas, the declines were severe: the number of sales dropped by 25 percent in Westhampton and 21 percent in Amagansett, for example.

But in many markets, the sales that did happen were largely in the upper echelon in terms of pricing, Town & Country's data shows.

Median sales prices rose year-over-year in seven of the 12 markets the brokerage tracked, even in those that appeared to be struggling with sluggish transaction activity (Westhampton's prices jumped by 12 percent; Amagansett's prices rose by 16 percent). In Sag Harbor, where the number of home sales rose by a slight 5 percent, the median home sales price surged by 37 percent and the dollar volume of home sales doubled to $94.4 million, from $46.7 million during the first six months of 2010.

Across the entire East End, the number of sales rose for homes priced above $3.5 million and below $500,000, but declined in all price categories in between. -- Sarabeth Sanders

Foreclosures surge in Manhattan co-ops, but decline everywhere else in the city | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

2011-07-12T09:23:00.000-04:00

Foreclosures surge in Manhattan co-ops, but decline everywhere else in the city

July 11, 2011 12:30PM

(source: PropertyShark)

Foreclosures on co-op apartments in New York City reached a two-year high during the second quarter, more than quadrupling in number since the second quarter of 2010, according to the latest data from PropertyShark.com.

The spike was fueled by a major uptick in scheduled foreclosure auctions in Manhattan, which had 66 in the second quarter, up from 27 at this time last year, and from 41 in the first quarter, the data shows. But the increasing distress that was apparent among Manhattan co-op owners wasn't replicated elsewhere in the city, with all other boroughs -- which have traditionally been much harder-hit by foreclosures -- seeing year-over-year declines in the number of auctions scheduled during the second quarter.

In Staten Island, scheduled foreclosures dropped by 84 percent. In Queens, the decline was 68 percent. In the Bronx and Brooklyn, the numbers were down by 52 percent and 34 percent, respectively. Overall, there were 297 foreclosure auctions scheduled citywide during the second quarter of this year, down 56 percent from the 668 scheduled during the second quarter last year, but up 16 percent from the 256 scheduled in the first quarter.

Meanwhile, lis pendens, which mark the first stage in the foreclosure process and are indicative of foreclosure activity to come, were down 25 percent citywide in the second quarter when compared to the same three months last year, though they were up by 9 percent when compared to the first quarter. -- Sarabeth Sanders

How to help your kids buy a house

2011-07-08T07:57:00.003-04:00

Stern Advice: How to help your kids buy a house

By Linda Stern

WASHINGTON | Wed Jul 6, 2011 12:33pm EDT

(Reuters) - In some circles, the graduation gift du jour is a Manhattan apartment, according to a recent New York Times story. Note to my kids: Sorry, we are not in those circles.

Still, it would be nice. Given current market conditions, a compelling argument could be made for helping your kids buy their first home.

"Now is the time," says Benjamin Tobias, a Plantation, Florida, financial adviser who helped his 29-year-old son and daughter-in-law purchase a home. "We feel that in this area, we are at or very close to the bottom of the housing market, and with low interest rates on top of that, anybody who can should be buying now," he said.

In addition to the opportunities some see in the real estate market is the financial disparity between the generations. Baby boomers have money to invest, but are turned off by the low interest rates offered on bank savings and the risks posed by stocks and bonds. Many have children coming out of college unable to find the kinds of jobs that would allow them to save up the big down payments many lenders now require. Others are trying to erase past credit problems (or short sales of homes they previously owned) and can't get mortgages in today's more careful lending market.

"We get asked this question (helping kids buy a house) so often," said Mark Rylance, a Newport Beach, California, financial adviser. But he's seen good intentions backfire on all concerned, so he warns clients about the downside. Buy a house for a deadbeat kid -- or even at the wrong time for a solid bill-paying one -- and a bad turn in the housing or job market can ruin your credit score, your bank account and your relationship.

If you can afford to help (the most important consideration) and you want to, make sure you set it up in the most advantageous way. There are a variety of financial arrangements that can accomplish this: Parents can lend a down payment (or the entire mortgage) to the child; they can co-sign a bank loan, enter into a shared-equity arrangement with the younger generation or simply hand their kids a sum of money as a gift. They can also buy a house themselves and work out a rent-to-buy arrangement with their children.

Here are some considerations.

-- Apply due diligence to the deal. Have the house appraised and get the best advice you can about the real estate market in the area where the kids are house shopping. Parents who helped their kids buy a house at the height of the housing market are suffering along with them now.

Rylance has a client who loaned his son $100,000 for a down payment on a $500,000 house, but then life intervened. As real estate values plummeted in Orange County, his son's family grew. Now the house is too small, but the son can't move his family because he is seriously under water on the loan -- to his father! That would make strategic default pretty messy.

-- Nail down the legal details. These financial arrangements can maximize tax breaks if they are structured correctly. Get a financial professional to review your arrangement, and perhaps a lawyer to commit it to paper.

-- Give them a down payment. Anyone can give anyone else $13,000 a year without running into gift tax problems. So a couple can give a couple as much as $52,000.

-- Make a private mortgage. Well-heeled parents can skip the middle-man banker and make the whole loan; an approach that often benefits the parent and the child. If it's a long-term loan, the interest rate has to be over 3.82 percent (the Internal Revenue Service adjusts that rate regularly) to make the deal qualify as a loan and not a gift. But that still offers the parents more income than they'd get at the bank and gives the child a low rate and, as the loan is secured by the house, a mortgage interest deduction. A relatively new company, National Family Mortgage, will, for a fee, structure the mortgage and even service it for you, so the child sends her monthly payment to a third party.

This approach has advantages for wealthy parents who want to get money out of the estate. By "lending" the child money and then giving them a separate amount every year (those gift tax limits would apply), they can get money out of their estates.

The disadvantage to this approach is that the mortgage won't help the child's credit history. And the child should have some skin in the game, so make sure there's a down payment that you aren't providing.

-- Share equity. Bert Whitehead, a fee-only financial adviser in Franklin, Michigan, is very big on these arrangements. When a client wants to help the next generation buy a house, the client puts up the 20 percent down payment, and the kid makes the payments. After five years (or other agreed-upon period), the home is sold, and the parent and child split the profits. That worked well, years ago, when Whitehead did it with his son. But clients who did this at the peak of the housing boom now find they are sharing debts instead of equities.

-- Co-sign their loan. That could be all the kids need to get a good mortgage, and that's what Tobias did for his son -- who couldn't get a mortgage because he'd been on a two-year adventure travel spree. But Tobias' son now works with him (and the son's wife has a good job), so he's confident he'll be paid back. The problem with the co-signing approach is that you're on the hook if your child fails to keep up payments. If he's even late, it can impact your credit score. And if you want to buy another home yourself, you may find the co-signed loan uses up your borrowing bandwidth.

-- Buy a home as an investment and rent it to your kids. That may be a good investment for you, but it doesn't really do much for your kids, points out Brian Kazanchy, a Morristown, New Jersey, wealth manager. "It doesn't give them any ownership or upside, and it may also prevent them from building responsibility," he said.

-- Do the deal and then stand back. Helping your kids buy a house can be a blessing for all concerned. But being that parent who helps the kids and then spends the next 20 years picking paint colors, moving furniture and walking in at will? Not so much.

(The Personal Finance column appears weekly. Linda Stern can be reached at linda.stern(at)thomsonreuters.com)

(Editing by Gunna Dickson)

A perspective on buying today..not later

2011-07-05T21:31:00.002-04:00

I’ve always been a renter. I don’t know if that is a product of the places where I’ve spent the majority of my adult life (San Francisco and New York City) and the astronomical home prices in each or if it is simply fear of lawyers and legal paperwork. I suspect it is a combination of both. But despite all of my anxieties, I have always had major-league house envy.

My covetous nature in regard to housing revealed itself when my older sister and her husband bought their first property more than 10 years ago: a great row house with a fantastic backyard on Haight Street in San Francisco. Over the years, as their family has grown, the house has shifted and morphed in unexpected ways. They now have three amazing kids, and while no one ever thought those 1,750 square feet could contain a family of five, it has done so amazingly well. What was once a boxy kitchen has been liberated from its stucco walls and converted into an airy, open space that has become the center of the home—not only where dinner is prepped, but also where new dance moves are demonstrated and deep discussions held. What was a tiny sunroom/laundry room quickly became each new baby’s room, providing hours of restful sleep for all in the family. Their house has served its architectural functions remarkably well, and it has truly become their home in a way that no rental ever could.

As my interest in architecture has grown over the years, so has my house envy. This jealous streak hit its peak when I started spending a lot of time in Des Moines two years ago.

Suddenly, I was in a place where home prices seemed within my reach and there was plenty of great old housing stock to choose from. But more than that, I was now surrounded by co-workers who were homeowners...homeowners who were younger than me! I was always able to keep my house envy in check with my sister. She was supposed to have her act together and do grown-up stuff like own a home because, well, she was my older sister. But now I was confronted with younger colleagues and their beautiful homes. Not just houses, but homes. Places they’ve truly sunk not just their dollars into but their hearts and souls (see Deputy EditorAmy Palanjian’s brick beauty and Assistant Editor Alexa Fornoff’s bungalow).

So while there is something undeniably, inherently scary about making that first home purchase—don’t let our proud new homeowners featured throughout this issue intimidate you with their calm, cool demeanors—I’m always amazed that all my friends who have taken the plunge have come out on the other side just fine. A little like getting blood drawn or going to the dentist, buying a home is rarely as harrowing as it seems—at least to me. Putting this issue together has allayed many of my home-buying fears, and we hope that it might do the same for you on your journey toward that most American of American dreams—owning your own home.

Andrew Wagner
Editor in Chief-ReadyMade

Kiplinger 10 Tax-Unfriendly States for Retirees 2011 (New Jersey & Conn)

2011-06-27T13:06:00.001-04:00

Some states offer attractive tax benefits for retirees. Then there are these ten tax hells, which have earned a place on our "do not live here for your second act" list either because of higher-than-average taxes across the board or because of policies that don't exempt much retirement income from state taxation.

For retirees living on a fixed income, high income taxes, burdensome real estate taxes and hefty sales taxes on daily purchases can really eat into a nest egg. Choosing to relocate to — or stay put in — a state with a low overall tax burden can help stretch your retirement income.

#1 VERMONT
State Income Tax: 3.55%-8.95%
State Sales Tax: 6% (localities can add another 1%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

There are no exemptions for retirement income in the Green Mountain State, except for Railroad Retirement benefits (which are exempt in every state). Out-of-state pensions are fully taxed. Vermont exempts medical devices and prescription and nonprescription drugs from its 6% sales tax. But it imposes a 9% tax on prepared foods, restaurant meals and lodging, and a levies a 10% sales tax on alcoholic beverages served in restaurants. Real estate taxes have two components: school property tax and municipal property tax collected by towns and cities where the property is located. The Tax Foundation, a nonprofit tax-research group in Washington, D.C., lists Vermont's property tax among the ten highest in the nation.

#2 MINNESOTA
State Income Tax: 5.35%-7.85%
State Sales Tax: 6.875% (cities and counties can add another 2.65%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

Minnesota offers retirees cold comfort on the tax front. Social Security income is taxed to the same extent it is taxed on your federal return. Pensions are taxable regardless of where your pension was earned. Income-tax rates are high, and sales taxes can reach 9.53% in some cities. Food, clothing, and prescription and nonprescription drugs are exempt from sales taxes. The North Star State does offer some residents 65 and older who have income of $60,000 or less the option of deferring a portion of their property tax. But this is a low-interest loan, not a tax-forgiveness program.

#3 NEBRASKA
State Income Tax: 2.56%-6.84%
State Sales Tax: 5.5% (localities can add another 1.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

There are no tax breaks for Social Security benefits and military pensions in the Cornhusker State. Real estate is assessed at 100% of fair market value. Residents 65 and older qualify for a homestead exemption on property taxes. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from state sales taxes. But Nebraska imposes an inheritance tax on all transfers of property and annuities.

#4 OREGON
State Income Tax: 5%-11%
State Sales Tax: None
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

First, the upside: There's no state sales tax in the Beaver State. But it shares the distinction with Hawaii of imposing the highest tax rate on personal income in the nation on taxable income of $250,000 or more. Although Oregon does not tax Social Security benefits, that's the extent of its income-tax breaks for retirees. And Oregon has an inheritance tax that applies even to intangible personal property, such as investments and bank accounts, no matter where it is located.

#5 CALIFORNIA
State Income Tax: 1.25%-9.55%
State Sales Tax: 7.25% (effective July 1, 2011)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

The Golden State has lost its luster for many retirees. Although Social Security benefits are exempt from state income taxes, all other forms of retirement income are fully taxed. Californians pay some of the highest income taxes in the U.S., with the top rate of 9.55% kicking in at $46,767 of taxable income. State and local sales taxes can reach 9.25% in some cities, although food and prescription drugs are exempt. Real estate is assessed at 100% of cash value, but taxes are capped at 1% of value.

#6 MAINE
State Income Tax: 2%-8.5%
State Sales Tax: 5% (counties can add another 0.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

Like the majority of states, Maine exempts Social Security benefits from state income taxes. And residents can deduct up to $6,000 per person of eligible pension income. But remaining income in excess of $20,150 per year is taxed at a steep 8.5% rate. Residents of the Pine Tree State pay a 5% sales tax statewide on everything except food and prescription drugs. All real estate and personal property is subject to local property taxes (and, in some cases, state property taxes, too), but permanent residents can receive an exemption of $10,000 on the assessed value of their home. Maine is also one of only three states that do not allow cities and towns to impose their own local sales taxes.

#7 IOWA
State Income Tax: 0.36%-8.98%
State Sales Tax: 6% (localities can add another 1%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/Yes

The Hawkeye State offers no feathered nest for retirees. Although it allows single retirees to exclude up to $6,000 of retirement-plan distributions from state income taxes, and married couples can exclude up to $12,000, the rest is taxed at rates as high as 8.98%. Iowa taxes a portion of residents' Social Security benefits, too, although it is in the process of phasing out the Social Security tax, which is scheduled to disappear in 2014. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from the statewide 6% sales tax. Real estate is assessed at 100% of market value, and most property is taxed by more than one taxing authority, such as cities, counties and school districts. There is a small homestead tax credit for residents who live in-state at least six months of the year.

#8 WISCONSIN
State Income Tax: 4.6%-7.75%
State Sales Tax: 5% (counties can add another 0.5%)
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: No/No

The Dairy State exempts Social Security benefits and military-related pensions from its state income taxes, but it taxes most other pension and annuity income the same way the federal government does. Retirees 65 and older can subtract $5,000 of qualified retirement income, including IRA distributions, from their Wisconsin taxable income, subject to income restrictions. Some Wisconsin state- and local-government retirees qualify for a tax exemption. But out-of-state government pensions are fully taxed. Food and prescription drugs are exempt from state sales taxes. Some homeowners may qualify for a school property-tax credit against their state income tax.

#9 NEW JERSEY
State Income Tax: 1.4%-8.97%
State Sales Tax: 7%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/Yes

Its nickname may be the Garden State, but New Jersey is no Eden for retirees. The Tax Foundation says New Jersey's combined state and local tax burden is the highest in the nation, thanks in part to sky-high property taxes. But there are a few bright spots: New Jersey does not tax Social Security benefits and military pensions. It also allows residents 62 or older with incomes of $100,000 or less to exclude up to $15,000 ($20,000 for married couples filing jointly) of retirement income, including pensions, annuities and IRA withdrawals. Groceries, medicine and clothing are exempt from the 7% statewide sales tax. The state imposes an inheritance tax on the transfer of real and personal property worth $500 or more, but bequests to family members are exempt. Even with the bright spots, it's an expensive place to live for retirees.

#10 CONNECTICUT
State Income Tax: 3%-6.7%
State Sales Tax: 6.35%-7%
Estate Tax/Inheritance Tax: Yes/No

Connecticut can be inhospitable to retirees, depending on their income and where they earned their retirement benefits. Although some residents of the Constitution State can exclude their Social Security benefits from state income taxes, the exclusion applies only if their adjusted gross income is $50,000 or less ($60,000 or less for married couples). All out-of-state government and civil-service retirement pensions are fully taxed. Effective July 1, 2011, the sales tax rate statewide is 6.35%, with luxury items taxed at 7%. Connecticut residents pay some of the highest property taxes in the U.S., according to the Tax Foundation, but residents 65 and older qualify for an annual property tax credit or rent rebate.

City Releases School Letter Grades

2011-06-26T19:56:00.002-04:00

SEPTEMBER 30, 2010, 11:16 AM

By SHARON OTTERMAN

A later, more complete version of this story can now be read here.

New York City public school officials on Thursday released city school report cards, the controversial documents that award each school a letter grade, with 25 percent of schools receiving A’s, 35 percent B’s, 35 percent C’s, 4 percent D’s, and 1 percent F’s.

The report cards are based in large part on state math and English exams, for which the state toughened standards, resulting in much lower student scores than during the previous school year. This raised the possibility that hundreds of city schools would get D’s and F’s, grades that could lead to their closing.

To avoid that, the city graded schools on a curve. Still, there were far, far fewer A’s and B’s, and 65 percent of the city’s 1,140 elementary and middle schools lost ground.

Last year, when there was no curve on the report cards, 84 percent of schools got A’s, and 13 percent got B’s. Instead of letting those schools free-fall, the city decided to set a floor.

This year, those “A” schools could get no worse than a C, even if they had precipitous drops in student performance. The schools that earned B’s last year could do no worse than a D.

Shael Polakow-Suransky, the deputy chancellor for performance and accountability, said that this year’s results paint a more accurate picture of school performance than last year’s results. He defended the use of the curve and grade floor as measures to insure fairness.

“We are in a tricky year, because a lot changed this year that was outside of schools’ control and outside of our control around the state exams,” he said. “I think that when parents look at this, they are actually going to find that it does make sense in their community. And when they look at the data closely they may not be happy with it, but I think it is a fair and accurate picture.”

While about 300 schools earned the same grade as last year, about 400 dropped a grade and 350 declined by two grades. Only 22 schools improved.

Two schools stood out: Public School 32 in Belmont, Bronx, and P.S. 172, the Beacon School of Excellence in Sunset Park, Brooklyn. Both schools maintained their high student test scores even with the higher passing bar set by the state, and got bonus points for doing that despite having high percentages of poor students.

Queens was the highest-performing borough, and District 26 was the highest-performing district, receiving all A’s and B’s for the second year in a row.

At the bottom, eight schools received F’s — including one very popular, progressive charter school in Fort Greene, Brooklyn, the Community Roots Charter School. Community Roots, because it was a new elementary school that just began testing its children, did not receive a report card grade last year, so it was not protected by the city’s grading floor. The same was true for three other F schools.

Community Roots students still outperformed the city and state in math and English, but their scores dropped more than at other schools that teach mostly middle-class students.

“I think us getting an F is a flaw in the grading system in that we are not a failing school,” said Allison Keil, the school’s co-director. “We believe in accountability, and virtually every other independent assessment of our program has found that we are making positive, measurable impact on our students, who are thriving.”

The city has already sought to close two other F schools, the Academy of Collaborative Education, a middle school in Harlem, and Public School 332, an elementary and middle school in Brooklyn. Those schools remained open because of a lawsuit from the N.A.A.C.P. and the teachers’ union.

This year, the city said it moved to a more precise model to compare a school’s performance with that of other schools. Using something known as a “growth percentile model,” students were compared with other students who got similar grades on the state exams in the previous year. Schools over all are compared mostly with other schools with similar student populations, in terms of poverty, ethnicity, English as a second language abilities and special education.

Critics who say the state tests are unreliable measures of performance will not be mollified, however. A total of 85 percent of a school’s grade is still based on the test scores — both on student progress and raw performance — and 15 percent is based on surveys taken by parents, students and teachers about how much they like the school.

Testing experts have also noted that because the methodology used to calculate the school report cards has shifted each year, it is difficult to judge a school’s year-to-year performance.

In November, the Department of Education will release high school report card grades, which will also have new elements, including a section that grades schools on how well their graduates do in college.

As Values Sag, Tax Grievances Soar

2011-06-26T19:32:00.000-04:00

By MARCELLE S. FISCHLER

Kirk Condyles for The New York Times

READJUSTING In North Hempstead, the receiver of taxes contested the assessment on his East Williston house, left. He says it was worth $524,000, but was assessed at $605,500.

“HOW many of you think Nassau County has your assessment too low?” asked Don Clavin, the Hempstead town receiver of taxes, of 28 residents gathered for a recent taxpayers’ forum at the Wantagh Public Library. No hands were raised.

“How many of you think Nassau County has your assessment too high?” Every hand shot up. Last month Mr. Clavin held a dozen such forums, teaching homeowners how to challenge their assessments.

“People are drowning in taxes,” he said, “and the overwhelming majority feel they have been erroneously overassessed and are looking for relief.”

In Suffolk, the picture isn’t much different. One of the first things Gerry Loccisano did when he moved into his five-bedroom colonial in Smithtown last September was to hire a tax grievance service to contest his property taxes.

He bought the house for $900,000; it was assessed at more than $1 million. “The market changed,” said Mr. Loccisano, a technology manager. With the help of Elizabeth Roche, who runs a property tax grievance service out of Jamesport, he secured a 22 percent reduction in his $17,000 tax bill.

In this climate, Ms. Roche said, homeowners are fearful enough of the “value of their houses eroding.” And if the value has eroded without any corresponding adjustment of taxes, that fear can morph into anger. Her first line of inquiry is to determine, by looking at sales of nearby comparable homes, whether a homeowner has a legitimate beef.

“Where your assessment is saying that your house would sell for X amount and it really would sell for Y,” she said, “you have a grievance.”

With median prices of single-family homes having declined 7.1 percent in Nassau County and 7.6 percent in Suffolk last year, according to the New York State Association of Realtors, increasing numbers of homeowners are investigating whether they, too, have a grievance.

Dan Panico, Suffolk County’s senior deputy county clerk, said 29,424 small claims assessment review petitions were filed in 2008 — up from 17,790 in 2007.

Similarly, in Nassau last year, 115,000 — or nearly a third — of homeowners contested their assessments. Ted Jankowski Jr., the newly appointed Nassau County assessor, said that over the last five years, after appraisers “went out and looked at over 15,000 homes,” assessed values declined by 17 percent.

Suffolk and Nassau have very different tax assessment methods; Suffolk does it town by town, while Nassau does it countywide. That disparity, said Geoff Gloak, a spokesman for the state office of Real Property Services, is one reason that taxpayers have such a hard time figuring out “whether or not they are assessed fairly.”

It is also a reason that Mr. Gloak defines New York as the state with the “most complex property tax system in the nation.”

If homes were reassessed annually or cyclically, he said, the overassessed taxpayer would not be “subsidizing the tax bills of the underassessed taxpayer.” But the state does not specify how often taxes must be reassessed.

Therefore, one Suffolk town may conduct “a reassessment every year, one every three years and the next one hasn’t reassessed since World War II. The outcome is, taxpayers aren’t always treated equitably.”

Nassau, for its part, has been reassessing annually for the last five years — but only because of a 1997 tax discrimination suit brought by a group of minority homeowners.

Previously, it had been assessing homes based on 1965 land values and 1938 building costs — a practice that resulted in tax grievances that cost the county more than $1 billion in refunds, according to Jennifer Kim, a county spokeswoman.

In any case, said Lee E. Koppelman, director of the Center for Regional Policy Studies at Stony Brook University, the current real estate market is so volatile that a full-value assessment could be done annually and “by the time the technical people are finished, the numbers are out of whack anyway.”

Also, Dr. Koppelman said, whether assessments are done town by town or countywide, “there are great inequities in how the assessments are applied.” Taxes on a $5 million property, for instance, might not be 10 times more than taxes on a $500,000 property. “You are lucky if they are paying five times more.”

Then there is the fact that even if your assessment is reduced, your taxes won’t necessarily go down. When many assessments in a town are reduced, and the town must compensate for “less of a tax pie,” said Gregory Held, Smithtown’s assessor, it raises the tax rate.

In the town of North Hempstead, even the receiver of taxes, Rocco Iannerelli, was moved recently to challenge his assessment.

His East Williston house was valued for the upcoming tax year at $605,500. But based on neighboring sales, the house was actually worth $524,000. What Mr. Iannerelli wanted to know was, “How could it go up in value when the market is down by 10 percent?”

The result of his challenge is that for the 2010-11 tax year, the county reassessed Mr. Ianerelli’s house at $489,900.

“I will do my homework to see if it is fair,” he said.

In Nassau, the deadline for appeals is March 1. In Suffolk, complaints must be filed between May 1 and the third Tuesday in May, known as Grievance Day.

Renew your lease - rents could rise 10%

2011-05-02T12:34:00.000-04:00

Renew your lease - rents could rise 10%

Most Walkable Cities - CNBC

2011-04-21T11:15:00.000-04:00

Most Walkable Cities - CNBC

America's Weirdest Restaurants - CNBC

2011-04-21T11:02:00.000-04:00

America's Weirdest Restaurants - CNBC

States With the Healthiest Housing Markets - CNBC

2011-04-21T10:11:00.000-04:00

States With the Healthiest Housing Markets - CNBC

Jamestown presents plan for 300,000-square-foot Chelsea Market addition | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

2011-03-23T18:47:00.000-04:00

Jamestown presents plan for 300,000-square-foot Chelsea Market addition | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

New York’s Little Italy, Littler by the Year

2011-02-22T09:10:00.003-05:00

February 21, 2011

By SAM ROBERTS

In 1950, nearly half of the more than 10,000 New Yorkers living in the heart of Little Italy identified as Italian-American. The narrow streets teemed with children and resonated with melodic exchanges in Italian among the one in five residents born in Italy and their second- and third-generation neighbors.

By 2000, the census found that the Italian-American population had dwindled to 6 percent. Only 44 were Italian-born, compared with 2,149 a half-century earlier.

A census survey released in December determined that the proportion of Italian-Americans among the 8,600 residents in the same two-dozen-square-block area of Lower Manhattan had shrunk to about 5 percent.

And, incredibly, the census could not find a single resident who had been born in Italy.

Little Italy is becoming Littler Italy. The encroachment that began decades ago as Chinatown bulged north, SoHo expanded from the west, and other tracts were rebranded more fashionably as NoLIta (for north of Little Italy) and NoHo seems almost complete.

The Little Italy that was once the heart of Italian-American life in the city exists mostly as a nostalgic memory or in the minds of tourists who still make it a must-see on their New York itinerary.

The only streets that really feel like they belong to Little Italy, Mulberry and Grand, are still crammed with venerable Italian restaurants and shops. But Chinese-language advertisements for reflexology spas pepper the sidewalk, a poster announces the Lunar New Year celebration, and a “for rent” sign hangs on a new seven-story condominium building at 182 Mulberry.

The Gambino crime family’s old Ravenite social club at 247 Mulberry is now a shoe and handbag boutique. As recently as 2005, Vincent Gigante, the 77-year-old boss of the Genovese crime family, roamed the neighborhood in a bathrobe and slippers feigning mental illness to avoid prosecution. Last month, more than 100 reputed members of mob families were charged with federal crimes; none lived in Little Italy.

Sambuca’s Café, at 105 Mulberry Street, is listed by Yelp, the food-oriented Web site, as being in Chinatown — a particularly humiliating geographic transgression because it is owned by the president of the Little Italy Merchants Association.

Last year, the National Park Service designated a Chinatown and Little Italy Historic District with no geographic distinction between the neighborhoods. The two neighborhoods have begun organizing aMarco Polo Day and an East Meets West Christmas Parade.

City Hall will soon further erase the boundaries.

Following the lead of three local community boards, the City Planning Commission is expected in March to approve the creation of a Chinatown Business Improvement District, which would engulf all but about two square blocks of a haven that once spanned almost 50 square blocks and had the largest concentration of Italian immigrants in the United States.

“It’s really all Chinatown now,” said John A. Zaccaro Sr., owner of the Little Italy real estate company, founded by his father in 1935.

Even the Feast of San Gennaro, which still draws giant crowds to Mulberry Street, may be abbreviated in size this year at the behest of inconvenienced NoLIta merchants.

The number of residents of Italian descent in the neighborhood has been declining since the 1960s, as immigration from Italy ebbed and Italian-Americans prospered and moved to other parts of the city and to the suburbs.

“When the Italians made money they moved to Queens and New Jersey, they sold to the Chinese, who are now selling to the Vietnamese and Malaysians,” said Ernest Lepore, 46, who, with his brother and mother, owns Ferrara, an espresso and pastry shop his family opened 119 years ago.

Still, about 30 Italian-American babies born in the neighborhood are baptized at the Church of the Most Precious Blood on Baxter Street every year. And some residents cling to a neighborhood that is rich in history and culture.

Natalie Diaz’s children are the fifth generation of a family that arrived on Ellis Island from Naples in 1916. She still lives in the same gray five-story building on Mulberry Street above Il Piccolo Bufalo where she grew up. Ms. Diaz, who is 34, runs a group for parents of twins and triplets. Her husband’s parents were Irish and Puerto Rican, and he works as a manager at her family’s restaurant in the neighborhood, La Mela.

“Little by little, everyone wants a little more, more space, and moves away,” Ms. Diaz said. “There are some families, mostly from my mom’s generation, who have held out. To be honest, though, I feel a really strong sense of tradition. I owe it to my ancestors. I feel that everything my family worked for from the time they got off the boat is here.”

Of the 8,600 residents counted by the census’s American Community Survey in the heart of Little Italy in 2009, nearly 4,400 were foreign-born. Of those, 89 percent were born in Asia. In 2009, a Korean immigrant won a tenor competition sponsored by the Little Italy Merchants Association. That same year, a Chinese immigrant, Margaret S. Chin, was elected to represent the district in the City Council.

Ms. Chin played a key role in galvanizing diverse factions to create the business improvement district, which reaches north from Chinatown with two arms that flank Mulberry Street and arc toward it from the middle of two parallel streets, Baxter and Mott.

“We opted out” of the district, said Ralph Tramontana, president of the Little Italy merchants’ group and owner of Sambuca’s Café. “We didn’t think there was a need for it, because through the merchants’ association we already do what a business improvement district does.”

“I told Chinatown businesses,” said David Louie, who helped push for the district, “ ‘You should look at Little Italy and follow their example — at 8:30 in the morning you can see them scrubbing down the sidewalks.’ ”

Cleanliness, quaintness and low crime have broadened the neighborhood’s appeal, which has driven up rents. Rent-controlled apartments are still home to some Italian-Americans, Mr. Zaccaro said, but market-rate residences cost vast sums more. An 800-square-foot one-bedroom in a six-story renovated building at 145 Mulberry was advertised recently for $4,200 a month. The owners of a two-bedroom co-op on Grand Street are asking $1.5 million.

Paolucci’s, a popular restaurant that opened on Mulberry in 1947, moved to Staten Island after the owner’s rent was raised in 2005 to $20,000 a month from $3,500, he said.

Still, other Little Italy landmarks have not only survived, but appear to be thriving thanks mostly to tourists and to what the author Nicholas Pileggi described decades ago as suburban “Saturday Italians” — the “prospering overweight sons of leaner immigrant fathers.”

Di Palo’s, an Italian specialty food store at 200 Grand Street, opened for business in 1903, a decade after the Alleva dairy at 188 Grand, which advertises itself as the nation’s oldest Italian cheese store and which, like Ferrara, opened in 1892. Fifth-generation family members work in all three stores, and all three also sell their products online.

In 1990, Lou Di Palo said, his ailing father handed the next generation the keys.

“We decided we’re going to take our business and go backwards — focus the way our grandparents and great-grandparents ran their operation: family-oriented, hands-on customer relations,” he said. “We’re going to cut your piece of cheese and slice your prosciutto. We’re still a neighborhood store, but we took the initiative to make our shop a destination.”

“It went from an immigrant store to an Italian-American store focused on authentic products of Italy,” Mr. Di Palo explained. “We don’t expect our customers to come on a daily basis. A great customer we’ll see once a week, a very good customer we’ll see once a month. People used to say to me, ‘You’re still here!’ I said, ‘As long as you keep coming, I’ll be here.’ ”

Summer catch - NYPOST.com

2011-02-22T09:08:00.000-05:00

Summer catch

By KATHERINE DYKSTRA

Last Updated: 8:36 AM, February 18, 2011

Posted: 10:30 PM, February 16, 2011

Traditionally, President’s Day weekend serves as the starting gun for the moneyed set to elbow their way out to the Hamptons and hunt down a seaside summer rental.

While the race was more of a saunter the last couple summers — thanks to the economic downturn — renters are suddenly again hopping to. Many have even gotten a head start.

“This season is going to be strong; I started looking for people in September,” says Maria Pascal, associate broker at Heddings Property Group. “I even had a few rental deals done in September.”

“We experienced unusual rent demand toward the end of the fourth quarter [of 2010],” says Andrew Saunders, president of Hamptons brokerage firm Saunders & Associates. “We’re up 20 percent over last year in the same period.”

“There is ridiculous early interest this year,” echoes Andrea Ackerman, a senior director with Brown Harris Stevens. “It is so busy that there are bidding wars, and people and landlords are getting [more than] their asking prices.”

Last week, a broker in Ackerman’s office had a lease out for a summer house. But to the broker’s chagrin, the landlord received a higher offer elsewhere and took it.

“And these are substantial rentals,” Ackerman says. “Meaning $100,000-plus” for the season, which runs from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

“Last year and the year before, because of the economy, we saw more shorter-term rentals — a month or a portion of a month,” says Rick Hoffman, regional senior vice president at the Corcoran Group. “Now we’re seeing two months or more. There’s a return to that market because the economy is doing better.”

Which results in a willingness to actually spend disposable income.

“There are two things that influence our market: that’s weather and Wall Street bonuses,” Hoffman says. “The high end is doing well, and that’s based on good bonus news.”

A rise in activity in the Hamptons sales market, thanks in large part to those big Wall Street bonuses, has also tightened the rental market.

“We’re very strong out here with sales, so a lot of [rental] inventory isn’t available this year,” says broker Jude Lyons of Fourth Neck Realty. “When they can’t sell, they tend to rent.”

The house Pascal rented in September went to someone who was scrambling to find something after their long-time summer rental was purchased.

“They’d been out there before, for four or five years. The house they were renting was sold, so they had to find a new place,” Pascal says. “They were sad they had to leave their old place.”

Sad, and suddenly very motivated.

If anything, all the recent bad weather might have spurred those cooped up in their city apartments to fantasize more than usual about their summer plans.

There is some good news for those who are planning to rent this summer. Despite the increased demand, asking prices have mostly remained stagnant since the last summer season.

“Most haven’t raised prices from last year,” Ackerman says.

As for what housing stock is available for the season: “You can get a home, very nice, with four bedrooms, north of the highway in Bridgehampton, for $50,000 to $60,000,” Saunders says.

“You can get a home, a little bigger, south of the highway and newer, 6,000 square feet, six bedrooms, a little splashier, for $125,000 to $150,000,” he continues. “South of the highway, homes that are newer or in updated condition, if they’re close to the beach, can be $250,000 to $450,000. And then there are homes on the ocean, rarefied and special, that can rent from $750,000 to $1 million.

“But the sweet spot in the rental market is $50,000 to $70,000 in the Hamptons,” Saunders adds. “The most deals happen in the $70,000 range.”

Suffolk Times

2011-02-17T22:02:00.000-05:00

Soundfront winery wins Planning Board approval

By Beth Young | February 16, 2011 in Featured Stories, Lifestyle

KATHARINE SCHROEDER PHOTO | The Kontokosta family plans to build a winery at its 67 Steps Vineyard, just west of Peconic Landing in Greenport.

The site plan for the North Fork’s first winery near the Long Island Sound shoreline was unanimously approved by the Southold Town Planning Board Monday night.

The 8,419-square-foot winery, known by planners as JEMCO Winery, is proposed for a 60-acre property on the north side of Route 25, between Peconic Landing and The Portly Grape.
The property is owned by the Kontokosta family, which had planned to subdivide the acreage for residential development before legal hurdles prevented them from pursuing that plan. The Kontokostas’ 67 Steps Vineyard, already in operation on the property, was planted with 20 acres of grapes in 2004. The winery was proposed in April 2010.

Neighbors at Peconic Landing have expressed concern about noise from a 120-foot wind turbine proposed in the site plan, and from special events at the winery.

The wind turbine is outside of the purview of the Planning Board, according to town planning director Heather Lanza. She said the structure will require a building permit, which has an entirely separate approval process.

The applicants have included a 25-foot vegetative buffer between their property and Peconic Landing in an effort to address any potential noise from events.

Some related noise issues will likely be taken up by the Southold Town Board, which formed a new committee on special events last year. That committee is expected this year to propose town code changes to limit noise. The Town Board is also mulling over a proposed noise ordinance that would allow code enforcement officers to cite venues for excessive noise.

byoung@timesreview.com

Real Estate: North Fork foreclosures are few and far between

2011-02-17T21:38:00.000-05:00

Real Estate: North Fork foreclosures are few and far between

By Michelle Myers | February 7, 2011 in Featured Stories, Real Estate

The North Fork has been relatively immune to the profound turmoil in residential real estate over the last few years, particularly the loss of homes through foreclosure, and local experts say there are several explanations.

“This is a conservative, stable, family-oriented second home market,” said Nicholas Planamento, a senior vice president with Town & Country Real Estate in Mattituck. “Second homes are more cumbersome to finance and generally haven’t lent themselves to the kind of irresponsible lending we saw over the last few years.”

Mr. Planamento also observes that the North Fork has not attracted investors to the same degree as the South Fork.

“This isn’t to say there are no foreclosures, but the percentage has been very small compared with the South Fork, where investors may have overextended themselves,” he said. “There was also a bit of speculation on Shelter Island that came to a rather abrupt end just as the U.S. market went into a tailspin.”

Kevin Santacroce, executive vice president at Bridgehampton National Bank, agrees that the North Fork’s relative affluence and financial stability are substantial contributing factors.

“This is not like Nevada and Florida, where a huge percentage of homeowners are under water,” he said. “There are around 3,000 homes in trouble in Suffolk County, but most of these are concentrated in mid-Suffolk. We are buffered but we’re not completely isolated, however.”

In that regard, Mr. Planamento points out that the Multiple Listing Service of Long Island currently lists six real estate-owned (REO) properties on the North Fork. (An REO property is owned by the lender.)

“They’re all around or under $300,000, which makes them the lower end of the market and probably not second homes,” he said. But Mr. Planamento believes there may be up to 70 homes on the North Fork that are in trouble, but are yet to experience any legal action.

“On the North Fork everyone knows each other so people are reluctant to reveal they’re in trouble,” he said. “But I personally know of one homeowner with two homes who is upside down on both of them so I suspect there might even be more.”

There may be another reason our area is not seeing much foreclosure action. In October 2010, New York State chief Judge Jonathan Lippman set out strict rules for foreclosure filing that require the lender’s attorneys to affirm that the claims are all true because they personally checked them.

The net result, according to The New York Law Journal, has been a steep drop in foreclosure filings.

Shelter Island attorney Abigail Field writes extensively on real estate legal matters and detailed in an article published last December on www.dailyfinance.com that three Suffolk County judges had confirmed the withdrawal of hundreds of Suffolk County foreclosure filings as a result of the Lippman ruling.

Ms. Field was also told by several attorneys that foreclosure filings were expected to be at a standstill for several months until banks and their attorneys worked out a way to comply with the ruling.

Though she does not claim to be an expert on the North Fork market, Ms. Field says she believes foreclosures are unlikely to become a huge problem when legal actions resume.

“There was never a massive amount of building on the North Fork and the area has a lot of property that is not encumbered by a mortgage,” she said. “Many North Fork loans weren’t securitized, making the bank much more likely to modify a loan that it is holding,” she observed.

Mr. Santacroce agrees that the historical lack of speculative construction on the North Fork has worked in its favor. He says there may also be complicated political reasons not to flood the market with foreclosure actions.

“They’re certainly not assigning a massive number of judges to handle foreclosures so now it’s becoming a 24-month rather than a two-month process,” he said.

With foreclosures so scarce in our area, no one was more surprised than Paul and Joan Simon when they ended up purchasing a foreclosed home in Southold about eight months ago.

“We weren’t shopping for a foreclosure, but we noticed this one house whose price had dropped dramatically and it turned out to be foreclosed,” said Mr. Simon.

Although they were initially reluctant to look at it, they say they were pleasantly surprised at the home’s good condition and decided to make an offer.

“It took about four or five weeks from offer to closing, so it was quick,” said Mr. Simon.

“The bank was not easy to negotiate with, though, and that was the stressful part,” he added. “It was an out-of-town bank and they tried to give us the impression there were multiple offers on the house when there really weren’t. For anyone thinking about pursuing a foreclosure, I would say it’s far easier to negotiate a sale with a private party than with a bank.”

Watch This! Real Estate Agent: "I am a top producer!"

2011-02-16T15:13:00.000-05:00

Two Condominium Developments Sell Out in Williamsburg, Greenpoint

2011-02-11T20:03:00.000-05:00

Two Condominium Developments Sell Out in Williamsburg, Greenpoint

by Linda Collins (linda@brooklyneagle.net), published online 02-10-2011


One Modern, One Vintage With ’50s Era AppointmentsBy Linda Collins Brooklyn Daily Eagle GREENPOINT, WILLIAMSBURG — Two condominium developments — one at 100 Engert Ave. in Greenpoint, and 1 Powers St., at Union Avenue in Williamsburg — have completely sold out. Aptsandlofts.com, which handled sales at the two sellout projects, credited targeted marketing campaigns for their success. The aptsandlofts team began sales at both of the boutique condos in October 2009 “to an impressive buyer response.” according to David Maundrell, president. The Engert Avenue development, known as Century Vintage, which sold out in December, includes 31 units with interiors featuring uniquely vintage touches like oversized farm sinks, reclaimed wood bar tops and ’50s-style Big Chill refrigerators, but it also featured modern amenities like security systems, a fitness center, roofdeck and parking. A project of GFI Development with design by ADG Architecture and Design, the units sold for $485,000 to $659,000. The Powers Street development, which sold out in January, also features 31 homes that include one- and two-bedroom layouts, oversized windows, white oak floors, parking, a roofdeck and fitness center. A project of Essex Market Development LLC with design by Kutnicki Bernstein Architects, unit prices ranged from $345,000 to $775,000.

State opens investigation into alleged real estate license violations

2011-02-11T19:59:00.002-05:00

Inquiry follows TRD article that agents at Massey Knakal, Eastern, others, lacked licenses

February 09, 2011 05:41PMBy Adam Pincus

The New York State Department of State opened an investigation yesterday into allegations that individuals were improperly engaging in real estate activities without proper licensing.

The probe was prompted by an article on The Real Deal's website that revealed that individuals at firms such as Massey Knakal Realty Services and Eastern Consolidated were not properly licensed.

"The department's investigation will determine the merits of the allegations and if there is a sufficient basis to commence disciplinary proceedings against the relevant real estate brokerage licensees," agency spokesperson Daniel Shapiro said. "Depending on the nature and severity of the transgression, possible disciplinary measures include return of commission, fine, suspension or revocation."

Shapiro did not identify which firms or brokers would be looked at and declined to provide any other details.

The Department of State is the agency that issues licenses to brokers and salespeople and enforces the law concerning those licenses.

Paul Massey, CEO of Massey Knakal, declined to comment on the investigation, saying it was a legal matter.

Yesterday, The Real Deal reported that Massey Knakal employed Kenneth Krasnow as a manager in the Brooklyn office, despite the fact that he did not have a broker's license, which is required by state law. Krasnow was temporarily removed from his position and replaced by vice president Cory Rosenthal until he can obtain a license, Massey said yesterday. In addition, a sales manager for Robert Knakal, company chairman, did not have a proper license for more than a year. He has since had his license approved.

Eastern Consolidated had two agents with expired licenses and several other firms had agents listed on their websites who were not properly licensed. Meanwhile, the new residential firm, Blu Realty Group, which has been promoting itself publicly as a real estate firm, didn't have a license in the firm's name. A license is required for such activity by state law, an agency spokesperson said. A spokesperson for Blu said yesterday the firm didn't intend to broker any transactions before obtaining a proper license.

Out-of-State Owners Could Face Tax Bill

2011-02-11T19:42:00.000-05:00

Out-of-State Owners Could Face Tax Bill

By CRAIG KARMIN

Connecticut and New Jersey residents with a Hamptons summer cottage or a Manhattan pied-a-terre are about to get a nasty surprise: New York state wants more taxes from them.

A New York court ruled last month that all income earned by a New Canaan, Conn., couple is subject to New York state taxes because they own a summer home on Long Island they used only a few times a year. They have been hit with an additional tax bill of $1.06 million.

Tax experts and real estate brokers say this ruling could boost the tax bill for thousands of business executives who own New York City apartments they use only occasionally. It could also hurt sales in the Hamptons and New York's other vacation-home communities.

"People will think twice about spending any summer time in New York," says Robert Willens, a New York-based tax consultant. "The amount of tax they could be subjected to is likely to outweigh the benefit."

A spokesman for the state Taxation Department issued a written statement that said it was "pleased" with the decision. "However, these cases are fact-intensive and as such each case stands on its own specific fact pattern," it said.

The new ruling applies only to people who spend more than 183 days in New York, which would include many out-of-state commuters to the city. For years, New York law stated that these people have to pay taxes on any income they make in this state. But they generally haven't had to pay New York taxes on income they make outside of the state or on their spouses' income if they work elsewhere.

Under the recent ruling, this might change for many out-of-state residents who own vacation homes or apartments here. In effect, it reinterprets what counts as a permanent residence.

In defining a "permanent place of abode," New York tax code specifically excludes "a mere camp or cottage, which is suitable and used only for vacations." New York tax experts say the new ruling is the first they recall that counts summer homes as permanent residences.

"This is going to open up a Pandora's box," says Eric Kramer, a tax attorney in Uniondale, N.Y. "I don't think anyone previously thought vacation homes would count as a permanent residence."

Income that now could be taxed by New York includes capital gains, dividends and securities, attorneys said. In the event of an audit, these homeowners would also be responsible for back taxes, plus interest and penalties, as a result of their New York property.

Judge Joseph Pinto, a New York administrative law judge, made the novel ruling in a 2009 case that was affirmed last month on appeal by the New York state tax appeals tribunal. Mr. Pinto seized on what is meant by a permanent residence, which is the benchmark for whether all, or just the in-state portion, of an individual's income is subject to New York state tax.

Mr. Pinto ruled that the couple's Long Island vacation home qualifies under the law as a permanent abode because it was suitable for living year-round—whether or not the couple actually stayed in the home wasn't relevant. Under the ruling, if an owner doesn't spend a single a day in a home it could still count toward a permanent residence.

The Napeague, Long Island, house was purchased by John and Laura Barker for $260,000 in 1997, according to court documents. Mr. Barker works in New York City. From 2002 to 2004, the period that was assessed for back taxes, the Barkers said they spent only a few days a year at the Long Island home, usually during the summer.

The appeals court upheld the ruling that it's not the owners' intended use of the house that matters, but whether the home could be used all year long. The court said that the house is approximately 1,122 square feet with heat, electricity, and internet service "making it very habitable and comfortable year round," according to court documents.

The court also said that Mrs. Barker's parents, who sometimes stayed at the home throughout the colder months, were evidence that it was a permanent residence even though the Barkers never used it that way.

The Barkers countered that they used the home only a few days a year, adding that the refrigerator was usually empty, court documents showed. They cited clothing not being stored there as evidence that it was a part-time residence.

"We think the decision is wrong. We are evaluating our options including a continuation of appeals," Mr. Barker said. "We imagine this decision will have a chilling effect on New Your tourism and real estate values among other second and third order effects."

Tax attorneys said they were unlikely to get the ruling overturned.

W'burg's 139 Skillman condo to launch sales | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

2011-02-11T19:30:00.000-05:00

W'burg's 139 Skillman condo to launch sales | The Real Deal | New York Real Estate News

Sag Harbor Village Buys Long Wharf For A Buck

2011-02-11T19:18:00.002-05:00

Sag Harbor Village Buys Long Wharf For A Buck

Publication: The Southampton Press

By Michael Wright Feb 9, 2011 9:51 AM 2 COMMENTS

Long Wharf in Sag Harbor. MICHAEL WRIGHT

VIEW ALL IMAGES

The Sag Harbor Village Board agreed on Tuesday evening to assume ownership of Long Wharf, the iconic pier at the end of the village’s Main Street, from Suffolk County.

The resolution was met with more skepticism and lament than celebration, as the transfer will mean that the village will soon be responsible for needed repairs and future maintenance of the pier, which could cost the village hundreds of thousands of dollars.

In the end, the board voted unanimously to buy the wharf from the county for $1, albeit with a grudging vote from board member Tim Culver. He had been in favor of waiting to see if the county would follow through on threats to abandon the steel-and-concrete wharf, which it recently spent more than $1 million reinforcing.

“If we don’t have to buy it, I don’t want to buy it,” Mr. Culver said. “Don’t we owe it to ourselves to do a little research? What are they going to do, sell it to the highest bidder?”

That is exactly what some Suffolk County officials had threatened to do: put the wharf on the market, raising the specter of a private buyer turning the village’s centerpiece waterfront attraction into a development.

Village Attorney Fred Thiele, who is a state assemblyman, dismissed that idea with a guffaw during Tuesday’s meeting of the Village Board, noting that the pier is technically a county roadway and could not be sold to anyone, least of all a private entity. Mr. Thiele said the county could not even abandon the wharf and block it off from auto and pedestrian traffic, another possibility that had been floated from within the halls of the county offices.

“The ball is in our court—it’s not going to go anywhere unless we do this,” Mr. Culver added. “It might be interesting to see what the county does.”

Suffolk County Legislator Jay Schneiderman told board members that, regardless of the county’s future plans for the wharf, it was highly unlikely that the County Legislature, which is made up of mostly western Suffolk representatives, was going to be willing to sink more money into its maintenance.

“I would like to see the county maintain it, but that ain’t happening,” said Mr. Schneiderman, one of just two county legislators from the East End. “If you said, ‘We’re not going to do this,’ I think it would be extremely difficult to get any money from the county for maintenance.

“What does that mean?” he continued. “At the very least, I think you’re going to see an effort to take the revenues.”

The village currently reaps the benefits of the boat dockage that the wharf does provide, which totaled about $90,000 in 2010, though Sag Harbor Mayor Brian Gilbride said revenues that high were an anomaly. The mayor has said he thinks if the village were responsible for the wharf, it would cost about $100,000 a year to maintain. A county study conducted last fall said the wharf is in need of about $600,000 in improvements, about $300,000 of which is needed in the next five years. Mr. Gilbride has proposed that the village start a reserve fund just for wharf maintenance, and seed it with $100,000 a year.

“To the county, that’s not a lot of money,” Mr. Gilbride said of the annual expense. “To us, it’s a significant amount.”

But the mayor also said he was not willing to take a chance on the county finding a legal path to unload the wharf, a move that could result in the village losing control over it. “I’m not going to be the mayor who lost Long Wharf,” he said. “That isn’t happening on my watch.”

Immigrants Make Paths to Suburbia, Not Cities

2011-02-07T20:59:00.000-05:00

Immigrants Make Paths to Suburbia, Not Cities

By SABRINA TAVERNISE and ROBERT GEBELOFF

Published: December 14, 2010

MultimediaWASHINGTON — Immigrants fanned out across the United States in the last decade, settling in greater numbers in small towns and suburbs rather than in the cities where they typically moved when they first came to this country, new census data show.

Interactive Map

Every City, Every Block

A Sampling of Highs and Lows From Around the Country (December 15, 2010)
Region Is Reshaped as Minorities Go to Suburbs (December 15, 2010)
Times Topic: Census Bureau

Following jobs to rural and suburban areas, in industries like construction and the food business, immigrant populations rose more than 60 percent in places where immigrants made up fewer than 5 percent of the population in 2000. In areas that had been home to the most immigrants, the foreign-born population was flat over that period.

In Los Angeles County, long a major destination for new immigrants, the foreign-born population remained largely unchanged for the first time in several decades. In contrast, it quadrupled in Newton County, in central Georgia outside Atlanta.

Tuesday’s report represented the biggest single data release in theCensus Bureau’s history, with more than 11 billion individual estimates for 670,000 specific geographic locations — areas as small as several blocks.

Unlike the 2010 decennial census, which counts every American, Tuesday’s survey, the American Community Survey, details characteristics using samples taken from about one in 10 Americans between 2005 and 2009.

They show a portrait of a rapidly changing America, whose young population is much more diverse than its older one.

About 48 percent of newborns last year were members of minority groups, compared with just a fifth of those over 65, a statistic that raises questions about possible generational tensions for the United States in coming decades, particularly over the cost of education and health care, said Kenneth Johnson, senior demographer at the Carsey Institute at the University of New Hampshire.

It also foreshadows a growing divide: Graduation rates for blacks and Hispanics — the overwhelming majority of all immigrants in the United States — are far below those for whites. The trend line therefore suggests that the country will be facing a growing shortage of educated Americans as global competition intensifies, particularly as other countries’ graduation levels rise.

In the last large immigration wave, in the late 19th century, immigrants took several generations to assimilate into American society through education. But the United States cannot afford to wait that long as its declining economy struggles to compete with developing countries like China, said Marcelo M. Suárez-Orozco, co-director of an immigration research center at New York University.

“Today we have two elevators,” he said. “One stuck in the basement and the other moving up faster than it ever has before.”

“It is placing us at a huge disadvantage,” Professor Suárez-Orozco added.

The spreading of immigrants throughout the United States reflects their mobility in the work force, particularly because of the booming housing industry last decade.

Roberto Suro, author of “Strangers Among Us: Latino Lives in a Changing America,” estimated that several years ago, before the housing bubble burst, one out of every three newly arrived Hispanic immigrants was working in construction.

These workers were joined by their families, and communities that had never encountered immigrants in large numbers suddenly saw large influxes. Friction often followed.

Stafford County, Va., for example, where residents have demanded a crackdown on illegal immigrants, saw its immigrant population nearly triple.

“It was a kind of deficit spending, borrowing against the future in very human terms,” said Mr. Suro, a former reporter for The New York Times and The Washington Post. “The leveraged asset was the work of the immigrants. The long-term payout was the social requirement to settle them and look after their children.”

The country’s biggest population gains were in suburban areas. But, in a departure from past decades when whites led the rise, now it is because of minorities. More than a third of all 13.3 million new suburbanites were Hispanic, compared with 2.5 million blacks and 2 million Asians. In all, whites accounted for a fifth of suburban growth.

Even in rural America, where the population grew the slowest — just 2 percent since 2000 compared with 7 percent nationwide — foreign-born residents accounted for 37 percent of that growth. Three-quarters of them were not citizens, suggesting that they had arrived only recently in the states.

Demographers did not agree on what the new data said about segregation trends.

William H. Frey, a demographer at the Brookings Institution, said his analysis of the data showed a decline in racial segregation in 61 of the top 100 metro areas.

One example is New Orleans, where segregation has declined noticeably, probably because blacks from segregated areas left the city after Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Black segregation is still higher than it is for Asians and Hispanics in the United States.

“Nationally we are moving to greater integration,” Mr. Frey said.

A study by John R. Logan, a demographer at Brown University, and Brian J. Stults, a demographer atFlorida State University, came to different conclusions by looking closely at neighborhoods of between 3,000 and 5,000 people. They concluded that black segregation had changed little from 2000 in the metropolitan areas, and had actually increased in areas where blacks are a smaller share of population.

The data also showed an increasingly pinched middle class. Median income declined by almost 5 percent in the past decade, with a few exceptions, including Maryland, Rhode Island and Wyoming. The deterioration was worse in counties dependent on manufacturing, where income dropped by 9 percent.

Of the five counties with poverty rates higher than 39 percent, four contain or are in American Indian reservations in South Dakota. The fifth, Willacy County, Tex., is in the Rio Grande Valley.

The Washington suburbs were home to some of the most affluent, educated people in America. The three places in the country with the highest median household income are all in Virginia — Falls Church, and the counties of Fairfax and Loudoun. Seven of the 17 counties where more than half of people 25 and older had a bachelor’s degree were in Washington’s suburbs.

There were 62 counties where fewer than 10 percent of the adult population had a bachelor’s degree. Fourteen of these counties were in Georgia, nine in Tennessee, eight in Kentucky and five each in Florida and West Virginia.

The county with the lowest median home values for owner-occupied housing units was Reeves in Texas, at $29,400. The county with the highest median home values was Nantucket, Mass., at more than $1 million.

Sabrina Tavernise reported from Washington, and Robert Gebeloff from New York.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 17, 2010

An earlier version of this article wrongly interpreted a set of figures in the report. The foreign-born population in the United States increased by 4.4 million in the decade ending in 1980; that was not the total foreign-born population. Similarly, in the decade ending in 2000, 11.3 million was the amount by which the foreign born population increased, not the total of all foreign born people, and 7.4 million was the increase in foreign born between 2000 and 2009, not the total foreign born population.

Region Is Reshaped as Minorities Go to Suburbs

2011-02-07T20:47:00.002-05:00

Region Is Reshaped as Minorities Go to Suburbs

Hiroko Masuike for The New York Times

Diverse enclaves have proliferated in New York, but most people still tend to live among neighbors of the same race, the census data showed.

By SAM ROBERTS

Published: December 14, 2010

REPRINTS

Metropolitan New York is being rapidly reshaped as blacks, Latinos, Asians and immigrants surge into the suburbs, while gentrification by whites is widening the income gap in neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, according to new census figures released on Tuesday.

Some of the largest population gains since 2000 were recorded in places that not long ago might have been considered marginal, including Bedford-Stuyvesant and Williamsburg in Brooklyn; Castle Hill and Hunts Point in the Bronx; South Jamaica in Queens; and Newark, Jersey City and Hoboken in New Jersey. Parts of those neighborhoods and cities, as well as the financial district in Lower Manhattan, registered large gains.

The number of Hispanic residents declined in tracts in Williamsburg, Bushwick and Greenpoint, Brooklyn, and in Washington Heights, but increased in the north Bronx; Woodside and Ozone Park, Queens; and central Harlem. The black population shrunk by double digits in Brooklyn’s Prospect Heights, Clinton Hill and Fort Greene, in central Harlem and in South Ozone Park, but jumped in Canarsie and Flatlands, Brooklyn, and in Springfield Gardens, Queens.

The non-Hispanic white population swelled on the Lower East Side and in Harlem, Washington Heights, Clinton Hill and Bushwick, but declined in Bensonhurst, Brooklyn, and in Rego Park, Queens. Asians increased in Forest Hills and Flushing, Queens, and in Bensonhurst.

Diverse racial, ethnic and immigrant enclaves have proliferated in New York City and especially its suburbs since 2000, but that increase generated only negligible inroads against historic patterns of racial segregation, according to analyses of the new data. Most whites in the metropolitan area and most blacks in the city still live where a majority of their neighbors are of the same race.

The latest figures are the single largest data release in the Census Bureau’s history, providing a look for the first time since 2000 at a variety of characteristics, including income, race, immigration and commuting habits for people in areas as small as just a few square blocks. Based on samples taken from 2005 to 2009, the five-year American Community Survey is separate from the 2009 survey, which probably better reflects the full impact of the recession, and from the 2010 Census, which is supposed to count people at every address.

Since 2000, decades of white flight eased and the proportion of non-Hispanic white New Yorkers increased slightly, to 35.5 percent. So did New York City’s proportion of Hispanic residents, to just over 27 percent. The proportion of blacks declined by a percentage point, to 23.3 percent, and the share of Asian residents rose by almost two percentage points, to nearly 12 percent.

For the first time since the 1970s, fully half of Manhattan’s population is non-Hispanic white. The borough is 24 percent Hispanic, 14 percent black and 11 percent Asian.

The number of non-Hispanic whites has increased in three other counties in the area since 2000: Brooklyn, and Middlesex and Ocean in New Jersey.

New York City’s foreign-born population remained fairly constant since 2000, about 36 percent. Three of the nine counties in the country where people born abroad made up one-third or more of the population are in New York or the surrounding area: Queens (47 percent, second to Miami-Dade, with 49 percent), Brooklyn (37 percent) and Hudson (40 percent) in New Jersey.

Hispanics are now the majority population in the Bronx, though Puerto Ricans, who were once dominant, have lost numbers, while the populations of Dominicans and Mexicans have risen.

Gentrification decreased the number of non-English speakers in Sunset Park, Brooklyn, while Chinese and Hispanic immigrants swelled the proportion of people who do not speak English at home in the southern portion of Staten Island.

Since 2000, the Dominican Republic, China and Mexico have sent the most people to New York. There have also been large influxes from Bangladesh and Pakistan, as well as from Ghana and elsewhere in the sub-Saharan region of Africa.

But many of the biggest gains in diversity were in the suburbs, generated by newly arrived Hispanic and Asian immigrants, and their American-born children. Their population increased in every county, typically clustered in ethnically or racially monolithic communities. Big percentage gains were recorded in places as far-flung as Ramapo and Huntington in New York; New Haven and Meriden, Conn.; and Jackson Township and Camden, N.J.

Spurred by a surge in people from Latin America, the Caribbean and Asia, foreign-born residents exceeded 60 percent of the population in Palisades Park and West New York, N.J.; 50 percent in Fairview, Guttenberg, Harrison and Union City, N.J.; 40 percent in Bergenfield, Cliffside Park, Elizabeth, Fort Lee, North Bergen, Passaic, Ridgefield and Teterboro, N.J.; and Bellerose Terrace, Elmont, Hillcrest, New Cassel, Port Chester, Sleepy Hollow, South Floral Park and Spring Valley in the Westchester, Rockland and Long Island suburbs. An influx of Jamaicans helped push the foreign-born population in Blue Hills, Conn., near Hartford, to more than 40 percent.

In the entire nation, residents of only four counties took 40 minutes or more to get to work: the Bronx, Brooklyn, Queens and Staten Island, where, at 42.5 minutes, mean travel time was highest. (The lowest was 3.4 minutes in agricultural King County, Tex.) Manhattan, with 58 percent, was one of 17 counties in the country in which more than half of the residents over 25 had a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Despite progress in the last decades of the 20th century, among the 100 largest metropolitan areas, New York stands third, behind Milwaukee and Detroit, on an index of black segregation compiled by William H. Frey, a Brookings Institution demographer.

Dr. Frey and Profs. John Iceland of Pennsylvania State University and John R. Logan of Brown University found persistent patterns of residential segregation in metropolitan areas around the nation that were repeated in New York.

In 2000, on average, a black suburbanite lived in a neighborhood that was 47 percent black. In 2005-9, that neighborhood would have been 44 percent black, the analysts found.

In 1970, whites in the metropolitan area were likely to live in a neighborhood that was 92 percent white, a figure that declined to 76 percent in 2000, and to 73 percent in 2005-9.

“New York is among a group of metropolitan regions,” Professor Logan said, “where the Great Migration created large black ghettos, and where very high levels of segregation have proved very resistant to change.”

Griff Palmer contributed reporting.

This article has been revised to reflect the following correction:

Correction: December 18, 2010

A chart on Wednesday with an article about the change in race patterns in the New York region mislabeled a town in Connecticut where the median household income has dropped by more than 40 percent since 2000. The town is North Greenwich, not Litchfield.

A Developer Aims High in Long Island City

2011-02-07T14:53:00.002-05:00

February 4, 2011

A Developer Aims High in Long Island City

By ALISON GREGOR

EVEN in a sluggish market, property developers are continuing to bet on Long Island City’s transformation from towering smokestacks to residential towers.

Last August TF Cornerstone, one of the city’s most prolific builders, broke ground on a 41-story tower at 46-15 Center Boulevard that is to have 367 rental apartments when finished in April 2012. In December at 45-40 Center, the developer poured the foundation for a 32-story high-rise that will have 345 rental apartments, and in March it will begin a third tower, at 45-45 Center, with 806 rentals.

By 2013, along with those three towers, TF Cornerstone plans to have finished a fourth, with 586 apartments, at 46-10 Center, directly behind the huge Pepsi sign on the East River waterfront.

K. Thomas Elghanayan, the chairman of TF Cornerstone, said he wasn’t worried about going ahead with high-rise buildings in a city development market that remains largely stagnant.

“We know the market there,” Mr. Elghanayan said. “We’re able to get the financing, and no one else is building. I believe by the time we finish these four buildings, the whole community will be an established market, and we’ll do well.”

Long Island City’s formerly industrial waterfront, only a subway stop away from Manhattan, was designated by the city and state for cleanup and redevelopment in the early 1980s. A plan was adopted to create roads and infrastructure on 74 waterfront acres to support 11 residential towers, two schools, a park, and a library designed by the architect Steven Holl and his partner Chris McVoy.

The Queens West Development Corporation, a government agency, has been working with private developers, who lease the land they build upon, to achieve that plan.

There are now seven apartment towers in the area. Neighborhood amenities include parking garages, a new Duane Reade store and a supermarket called Food Cellar. A spa, a wine shop and more restaurants are opening or are planned. Vernon Boulevard is a thriving commercial strip with a new health food store and restaurants like Madera Cuban Grill and Steakhouse and Testaccio Ristorante.

The existing towers, the oldest of which is Citylights, built in 1997, have a total of about 2,600 apartments (not including a building with senior housing). The four new glass buildings — which, with two of the existing buildings, are part of what TF Cornerstone calls East Coast — will add about 2,100 apartments. New York City also has a plan to develop 5,000 apartments, about 60 percent of them for middle-income residents, on 30 of the 74 acres immediately to the south at Hunters Point South. TF Cornerstone has submitted a plan to participate in that development as well.

One-bedroom rentals in Long Island City’s waterfront area start at $2,000 a month, while two-bedrooms start at $2,400 to $2,500 a month, said Silvette Julian, a vice president and project director with the brokerage Nest Seekers International. Landlords in the area said they were optimistic that demand for apartments would continue, especially among renters priced out of Manhattan. Over the last decade, AvalonBay Communities built two rental towers, Avalon Riverview and Avalon Riverview North, and both have rented easily, said Frederick S. Harris, a senior vice president of AvalonBay.

“There hasn’t been a lot of competitive price pressure,” he said, meaning the company has not had to reduce rents.

A year ago, TF Cornerstone began testing the sales waters with condominiums at the View, a glass-clad terraced building that looks a bit like an Incan pyramid, at 46-30 Center Boulevard. The 185-unit building is more than half sold, with prices at $800 to $1,000 a square foot, Mr. Elghanayan said.

Among available units in mid-January, a one-bedroom was listed for $616,000; a two-bedroom for $840,000; and a three-bedroom for $995,000. Common charges on those units ranged from $546 to $981 a month.

Mr. Elghanayan said the View had mostly larger apartments, even some four-bedrooms, because the developers believe Long Island City’s waterfront is evolving into an attractive neighborhood for families.

A 662-seat school for kindergarten through eighth grade will be built by the New York City School Construction Authority adjacent to the rental building going up at 46-15 Center. The area already has one small school, Public School 78Q, for kindergarten through fifth grade.

The 10-acre Gantry Plaza State Park is being expanded, and the library design was recently approved by the Queens Library Board of Trustees.

Each building in the East Coast development has its own fitness room and amenities, but the 806-unit building will have a 1,000-car parking garage, along with an amenity center for all residents of East Coast buildings. On top of the parking garage will be a recreational area with a pool, tennis courts, beach volleyball courts and other outdoor amenities.

The recreational area will also have a large gym for which East Coast residents will pay a nominal membership fee to join, Mr. Elghanayan said. Those amenities should be available in early 2013.

“A lot of people don’t even know this development is here yet,” he said. “They have a vague idea of a Pepsi sign and seeing it as they cross the Queensboro Bridge. But once you get out here, it’s pretty spectacular.”

Why Your Next Place May Cost More

2011-02-07T14:52:00.000-05:00

January 14, 2011

Why Your Next Place May Cost More

By VIVIAN S. TOY

AT the height of the real estate boom in Manhattan, it seemed a new glass-walled apartment tower was unveiled every week and sold out before the next one even got its Web site up. Now, as the market plods along in a slow but steady recovery, brokers and developers are saying the city will soon face a shortage of new development projects.

Skeptics might be forgiven for snickering at the suggestion that this shortage will spur demand and — what else? — drive prices up. But a look at one indicator, the number of building permits filed for new residential units in recent years, might give the doubters pause.

Last year, through November, the city issued permits for only 10 new residential buildings, for a total of 505 new units. That’s 95 percent fewer apartments, either condo or rental, than for the same period in 2008, when permits were filed for 9,448 units in 147 buildings, according to census data. (The number of units had dropped to 1,203 in 31 buildings in 2009.)

“We tend to go through these cycles where, when you finally come out of a recession, there’s a shortage of inventory,” said Gregory J. Heym, the chief economist for Halstead Property and Brown Harris Stevens. “You usually expect the slowdown to come over a couple years, but this was like slamming on the brakes. So to start up again may take awhile.”

Brokers, developers and market watchers say that barring any significant economic hiccups, real estate values in Manhattan will continue to grow at a measured rate through 2011. But starting in 2012, after most or all the new projects that were stalled or delayed have finally sold out, the supply of new apartments will take a decided dip, and prices for all apartments could start to rise significantly again. “Once we work through the existing inventory and there’s nothing new coming on line,” said Kelly Mack, the president of the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group, “there’s going to be a major shift in the market. Prices may start going up significantly in 2012, in anticipation of the shift in inventory.”

Mr. Heym said that since a permit doesn’t always translate into bricks and mortar, many permits from 2008, and even earlier, have yet to turn into buildings that can be sold and occupied. “There’s also the question of how many buildings that were stalled during the downturn are still out there and when they will hit the market,” he said. “So there are a lot of unknowns.”

Gary Barnett, the president of Extell Development and one of the few developers who continued building through the downturn, said the lack of inventory was more pronounced now than in previous recessions. “In the early 1990s,” he said, “there was a big overhang of things that had been built in the late ’80s, but when things stopped this time, it just fell off a cliff.”

The number of building permits “didn’t go from 10,000 to 6,000,” he added, “it went from 10,000 to nothing. So we don’t have the overhang and no big inventory to work through. That’s why the market recovered much more quickly than people expected.”

Brokers and developers agreed that the reason for the sudden falloff in building permits was the lack of construction financing. Apartment hunters have had a hard time in the last two years getting a mortgage, but developers have had an even tougher haul.

“If you look at all the traditional players in the condo market, very few have anything under construction because there’s just no financing available,” said Bruce A. Beal Jr., an executive vice president of the Related Companies, which this year is completing a 60-story tower at 42nd Street and 10th Avenue that will have both rentals and condos.

Both Mr. Beal and Mr. Barnett acknowledged that a few big projects would open this year but said they could not think of any major developments set to open in 2012. Projects that get under way this year will not be ready for sale until 2013 at the earliest, after inventory has been depleted and just as prices have begun to rise.

Last year, Extell started a hotel/condo project on West 57th Street near Carnegie Hall with 136 condo units, which Mr. Barnett said would come to market in 2013.

Related is planning its mixed-use project at Hudson Yards, and could also start building on a West 30th Street site on the edge of the yards, but Mr. Beal said neither location was likely to produce new apartments until 2013 or 2014.

Kenneth S. Horn, the president of Alchemy Properties, which primarily builds condos with fewer than 100 apartments, said that he felt lucky both to have closed on a site in late 2010 and to have obtained a construction loan. “I’ve been saying for the last 18 months that now is the time to buy and build,” he said, “but the financing just wasn’t there. The only reason we could get this loan was through relationships that we had built up over the years.”

The project will be a 23-story tower on 15th Street and Fifth Avenue that will have a school on its lower floors and 57 apartments above. Alchemy will start construction this year and hopes to start selling units in late 2013. “Who knows if prices will go up in 2013,” Mr. Horn said, “but it does stand to reason, on pure supply-and-demand basis. If I can deliver product in 2013, I’ll be ahead of the curve. And I would have done more projects if I had been able to convince my other financial partners.”

Mr. Beal said that although construction financing had been hard to obtain for both rental buildings and condos, he knew of as many as 3,000 planned rental units that could start construction in 2011. “There are a couple of deals here or there that people have heard about,” he said, “but not much in a market that once was producing as many as 10,000 units a year.”

Andy Gerringer, the managing director of the Marketing Directors, said that developers and investors had just recently started buying land again. “Sites have been trading,” he said, “and we’ve been talking to people who are dusting off plans that have been on the back burner for the last two years.”

Many projects conceived before the downturn are getting a second life, said Howard Lorber, the chairman of Prudential Douglas Elliman. Most have been taken over by new owners and are likely to start construction within the next six months, he said.

“I have 10 different projects that we’re working on,” he added, “and none of them have started yet. Let’s say only seven of them eventually get done, that’s still probably 1,000 units” that could come to market by 2013.

The handful of buildings that start selling apartments in 2011 are expected to do well, especially in neighborhoods that have little new construction.

In 2007, when buyers were signing contracts based solely on floor plans and glossy brochures, more than 8,500 new units hit the market in Manhattan, not including Upper Manhattan neighborhoods, according to data compiled by the Corcoran Sunshine Marketing Group. That number dropped to just 553 units in 2009, when the presale market shriveled up because buyers were loath to invest in properties they could not see or touch.

Prices for new developments also peaked in 2009, with a median price of $1.215 million, according to streeteasy.com. Prices continued to rise during the downturn — even as resale prices dropped — because many contracts signed before the financial crisis did not close until late 2009. By 2010, the number of new development units had climbed back up to 1,767, but the median price had dropped 13 percent, to $1.059 million.

Ms. Mack said she expected only about 600 to 700 new condo units in about a dozen buildings to hit the market this year.

Two big projects include the Aldyn on Riverside Boulevard, a 40-story tower built by Extell and being marketed by Corcoran Sunshine, and Related’s 42nd Street tower. At the Aldyn, which is to have 286 rental and condo units, rents will start at $2,695, for a studio, and condo prices will range from $775,000, for a one-bedroom, to $15.9 million for a six-bedroom. The 42nd Street building will start leasing 500 apartments in March, but sales on its 150 condos will not start until later in the year.

Activity on the rental side will probably be greater, with about 2,500 new rental units expected to open in 2011, said Gary Malin, the president of Citi Habitats, “but we’re not talking about massive construction coming on line.”

The 2011 number includes 900 apartments at 8 Spruce Street, the 76-story tower designed by Frank Gehry; 250 units at Clinton Park, a Two Trees Management project at 53rd Street and 11th Avenue that will eventually have 900 apartments; and 338 units at the Continental, a 53-story tower at Avenue of the Americas and 32nd Street.

“A lot of what’s going to come on line this year has been planned for a long time,” Mr. Malin said.

Durst Fetner Residential recently closed on a failed condo site that will now become a rental building. It plans to break ground in early 2012 on a 40-story rental tower at 855 Sixth Avenue, at 30th Street. The building would have either retail space or a hotel on the lower floors and several hundred apartments above. It would not be completed until 2014.

Prices in the buildings that open this year will most likely start to rise in some areas before others. Emerging neighborhoods like Harlem, the financial district and Downtown Brooklyn still have substantial inventory, and prices will stay stable.

“But about 80 percent of New York City has very little product in it right now,” Mr. Gerringer said. That doesn’t mean a new building can expect to sell 50 units a month, as they used to in 2007 and 2008, “but those levels weren’t real, and a level market is more like 5 to 10 units a month, which is what we’ve been seeing lately.”

Several new buildings that have opened downtown, for example, have fared well in recent months. Ms. Mack cited 123 Third Avenue, a 19-story tower at 14th Street that started selling last fall. It sold 70 percent of its 47 apartments in four months, she said, adding that the projects with healthy sales are the ones priced well for their neighborhoods.

Gramercy 19 on Third Avenue, a 16-unit condo that Halstead Property started selling last November, sold 12 units in 10 days, said Stephen G. Kliegerman, the executive director of development marketing at Halstead. Four of those sales had bidding wars and sold for about 5 percent above initial asking prices. The range at Gramercy 19 starts at $440,000, for a one-bedroom, and reaches $2.65 million for a three-bedroom.

“That kind of thing isn’t happening everywhere and there are always going to be bright spots and lower spots,” Mr. Kliegerman said. “But generally, we are seeing good demand almost everywhere.”

On the Upper West Side, an area that has historically had little new development, Brown Harris Stevens began sales in December for the Laureate, a 20-story building with 76 apartments. Made up mainly of large apartments with three to seven bedrooms, the building is not yet finished, but interest has been so keen that as of Jan. 1, 600 people had signed a waiting list to see units.

Mr. Kliegerman said that fewer new apartments entering the market “can be a good thing for the market,” adding, “It gives the market time to catch up to itself.”

The Lucky Break of Rent Stabilization

Housing Bubbles Are Few and Far Between

2011-02-07T12:50:00.003-05:00

ECONOMIC VIEW

Housing Bubbles Are Few and Far Between

By ROBERT J. SHILLER

Published: February 5, 2011

WHAT’S the outlook for home prices over the next decade? It’s not easy to tell. We need to confront the basic fact that near the beginning of the 21st century, the market for homes in much of the world suddenly became more speculative than ever.

This enormous housing bubble and burst isn’t comparable to any national or international housing cycle in history. Previous bubbles have been smaller and more regional.

We have to look further afield for parallels. The most useful may be the long trail of booms and crashes in the price of land, particularly of farms, forests and village lots. Those upheavals may give some insights into the present situation, and some guidance for the next decade.

In the 19th century and most of the 20th, speculation in land was a powerful phenomenon. There was little speculative activity around homes, however, which were usually viewed as rapidly depreciating assets whose value was to be found almost entirely in physical buildings, not the land beneath them. Eventually, the buildings were expected to be torn down and replaced, so there was little bubble psychology for housing on any large scale. People generally didn’t think about housing as an investment.

But they knew that land was fixed in quantity and would last forever, and many believed that as the economy grew and more people were born, there would be ever-increasing demand. The speculative imagination could be easily fired by reflecting on the huge population that would consume the food from this land or settle on it in future years.

There have been many highly localized land price bubbles in the United States over the last couple of centuries, although bubbles over large areas have been rather rare. Those with the biggest national impact were in the 19th century, when speculators found opportunities that had been created by government land sales and by shifts in land prices set off by construction of canals and railroads. Stories of fortunes in land speculation captured the imagination, and led to bubbles. (That is typically how bubbles form, by titillating the public imagination.)

Two such land bubbles stand out. The first, in the 1830s, was associated with federal distributions to state banks and the loss of fiscal restraint that had been imposed by the short-lived Second Bank of the United States. People began to think farm prices could never fall. As an article in a publication called The Cultivator said in 1836: “Who ever heard of a man buying and selling a farm at the same or a lessened price? It is so well understood that the seller is to have more than he gave, that it has almost become a settled principle in the purchase of real estate.”

The bubble burst with the Panic of 1837, and was followed by the first great depression in United States history, from 1837 to 1843.

A second bubble, in the 1850s, was encouraged by an 1852 act of Congress making land warrants tradable. It burst with the Panic of 1857. Some historians — notably James L. Huston of Oklahoma State University — say they think that the resulting tensions escalated sectional animosities and helped precipitate the Civil War, which ended the depression.

The entire 20th century appears to have had only one farmland bubble of national significance — it occurred in the 1970s. Its causes were complex, but it seems to have been accompanied by a newly common belief that the human population would soon become excessive. A widely cited Club of Rome report in 1972 predicted famines induced by overpopulation. In any case, that bubble burst after theFederal Reserve clamped down on credit in the United States, effectively producing the recessions of the early 1980s.

So land manias have been rather infrequent, many decades apart. They suggest that the recent housing bubble is a similarly rare event, not to be repeated for many decades.

But, of course, the relevance of this long history isn’t entirely clear. In contrast to the 19th century, when the business cycle proceeded without much constraint, we now have the Fed and an active government housing stabilization policy, both of which mitigate the cycle’s more extreme effects. And now, the Dodd-Frank law has created a Financial Stability Oversight Council, which is supposed to go even further to prevent instability.

Ultimately, bubbles are impossible without extreme public enthusiasm. Opinions about housing seem to change in rather trendy ways, but investor enthusiasm for housing has now been down for more than five years — a decline that started well before the collapse of the housing bubble in 2007.

With Karl Case of Wellesley College, who developed the S&P/Case-Shiller Home Price Indices with me, I have been surveying opinions of home buyers in the United States on and off since 1988. We have found a fairly steady downtrend since the early-to-mid-2000s in a number of speculative attitudes. On questionnaires, people are less likely to report that they think of housing as an investment, or to express the view that real estate is the “best investment.”

As an investment, in fact, they are more likely to see housing as risky. Although they still have solid expectations of home price increases over the next 10 years — a median of 5 percent annually, in nominal terms — those expectations have been declining and are not nearly as extravagant as they were before the market peak.

IT will take a while for the housing market to recover fully. Still, many people continue to think of housing as an investment, and so it does seem that we are in danger of encountering another whopper bubble someday. Even so, both the history of land bubbles and the slowness of shifts in public opinion suggest that such bubbles will be fairly rare.

Add the new policy restraints, and a new national housing bubble looks even less likely anytime soon.

Robert J. Shiller is professor of economics and finance at Yale and co-founder and chief economist of MacroMarkets LLC.

East Hampton home among top 10 weirdest

2011-02-05T14:32:00.002-05:00

East Hampton home among top 10 weirdest

Thursday February 3, 2011 3:20 PM By Gigi Berman Aharoni

Photo credit: Dimitris Yeros

The first U.S. example of architecture against death -- otherwise known as “reversible destiny architecture” -- is now selling in East Hampton for $4 million. And the home has been named one of the country's Top 10 Weird but Wonderful Homes.

According to the website TopTenRealEstateDeals.com, the three-bedroom, two-bath, 3,700-square-foot house was designed by the architectural team of Arakawa and Madeline Gins. The philosophy behind the architecture is to disorient the occupants while at the same time keep them challenged and alert for a long life.

Says Ursula Reimann, the listing agent from Sotheby's International Realty: "This great dwelling is a synthesis of architecture, philosophy, art and science." Built as an extension to a 1964 A-frame house based on theFrank Lloyd Wright’s architecture, the "Bioscleave House" comes — thankfully — with directions for use.

C.B. 1 to inventory Downtown affordable housing

2011-02-05T13:36:00.000-05:00

C.B. 1 to inventory Downtown affordable housing

BY Aline Reynolds

Community Board 1 is on a mission to document the affordable housing units that still exist Downtown. The board’s affordable housing task force is coming out with a new guide this spring.
The idea behind the guide, according to C.B. 1’s Affordable Housing Task Force Chairman Tom Goodkind, is to “shine a light on how to get one of these choice apartments for less money if you’re not earning enough to afford market in the same area.”
The task force aims to replicate the successful runs of its previous community guides — one on rent stabilization that came out in 2009, and another for seniors last summer. Goodkind said the group would be updating the rent stabilization guide in the spring or early summer to include 37 Wall Street and other buildings that have become rent-regulated since the guide was published. Goodkind said the updated guide would also clarify the differences between the various stabilization laws.
The housing guide is poised to offer families of all income levels the means to identify affordable apartments. Goodkind said the goal is to promote financial diversity in a neighborhood that often champions market-rate housing.
“This community is growing so quickly – we need to know what nature of affordable housing is available,” said Michael Levine, the community board’s director of planning and land use. The guide, he said, could also serve as a crucial resource for growing families residing in Lower Manhattan that are in search of larger apartments.
Part one of the approximately 30-page guide will list and define the different types of affordable housing and part two will comprise an inventory of the low-income residences located in the board’s district. The inventory will include average apartment rates and residents’ expected earning status.
C.B. 1 chair Julie Menin noted that assembling all the vital data on the existing affordable housing units will prove to be an important resource for the Downtown community.
“There is an affordable housing crisis in this city,” said Menin, “and we in Lower Manhattan are working proactively to address the needs in our community by actively pushing for more affordable housing development in our district.”
The project’s coordinator, Heather Anderson, C.B. 1’s 2010-11 urban planning fellow from Columbia University, plans to research the contemporary context of low-to-middle income housing for the guide. The project ties in directly with her housing concentration at Columbia’s Graduate School of Architecture, Urban Planning and Preservation.
The manual, she said, should be “an effective tool of affordable housing to see what our options are of possibly creating more, but definitely preserving what’s there.”
Anderson’s research thus far, which involves surfing the net for annual housing reports and press releases, revealed that the most common forms of affordable housing units Downtown are either federally subsidized or privately developed. Some residences, she found out, gives preference to locals, seniors and people with disabilities.
Additional research and data-gathering tasks will be divided among the 13 members of the task force. “We’re going to find out every little nuance of this stuff and just go for it,” said Goodkind.
The guide will also provide tips on how to apply for affordable housing, along with a brief history of the residences, which, Goodkind said, might shed light on their past and current conditions. The task force also plans to track down residents currently residing in affordable housing units Downtown so as to incorporate into the guide some first-hand accounts of typical living scenarios.
“I really want to personalize this, and show what it’s been like over the years for the people living in these buildings,” said Goodkind.
The task force also hopes to create Manhattan Seniors, a nonprofit organization that would oversee affordable services for seniors seeking to age-in-place in Downtown.
The group will reconvene on Wednesday, February 16, where the task force members will be discussing additional ideas for the guide and snags they’ve encountered along the way.
The board hopes to complete a working draft by March and a final draft by April. The guide will be released before May, when Anderson finishes her fellowship work with C.B. 1.

Outlook Dims for Some Stores in Sunnyside

2011-02-05T13:29:00.002-05:00

By KAVITA MOKHA

The shuttering of more than a dozen stores along Queens Boulevard in Sunnyside, Queens, has many locals and business owners on edge over the future of an area considered one of the most desirable residential neighborhoods in the borough.

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

Some businesses are struggling in Sunnyside, Queens, while a few new to the area have met opposition. Guitars hang at the recently opened EZ Pawn.

A number of prime retail locations along the stretch between 40th and 46th streets are displaying "For Rent" signs after businesses have closed one after the other during the past year.

The spate of closings include Starberry yogurt and ice cream shop, the Diving Bell bar, April Glass gift shop and Jennifer Accessories. Rose Restaurant, an eatery that served old-fashioned Irish fare, also has closed.

Some long-timers are struggling to stay afloat.

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

Sophia Maragoudakis at work at Sunnyside Florist.

"We're hanging by the thread, like other businesses here," said Bill Psitos, owner of Sunnyside Florist that has been in the neighborhood since 1940.

Local business owners cite the effects of a drawn-out recession coupled with high rents on the strip as the reason for the retail downturn.

"The rents are very high in the area and they keep going up," said Regina Tunney, a Sunnyside resident and owner of Pure Spa & Salon on Queens Boulevard. "And with all these closures, we're finding it harder and harder as the foot traffic goes down."

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

The now-closed Diving Bell.

Even a cut in rent isn't enough for some stores to make up for sluggish business in recent years. April Glass, a gift shop that had been in the neighborhood for almost eight years, closed last week, moving into a smaller space farther down Queens Boulevard.

"My landlord was willing to let me pay less, but with the way business is going, it was still too much," said Patrice Lee, owner of April Glass. "A lot of my best customers have either been laid off or their retirement funds have gone down."

Strong interest in commercial and residential real estate in the neighborhood has been sparked in part by a steady influx of new residents in recent years. The prime draw for many is the neighborhood's proximity to Manhattan—a roughly 15-minute ride to Midtown on the No. 7 line.

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

A robe and slippers at Pure Spa & Salon.

"People who are getting priced out elsewhere—from places like Greenpoint—are moving here," said Sunnyside resident Ciaran Staunton, owner of O'Neill's restaurant and bar in Manhattan, who is opening a bar in Sunnyside called Molly Blooms this month. "It's drawing a young, trendy crowd as well as families."

As many businesses in the area struggle, some longtime staples remain. The Butcher Block, a deli and grocery on 41st Street off Queens Boulevard that specializes in imported Irish products, remains a destination store since opening 15 years ago. The traditionally Irish strongholds of Sunnyside and nearby Woodside in part give the store a steady following, according to Noel Gaynor, co-owner of the Butcher Block. Nearby is Foxy's Diner, which has been a mainstay for several years.

New businesses, meanwhile, continue to pop up in some of the formerly shuttered retail spaces. But with some locations remaining empty for months, local business leaders point to the lack of flexibility on the part of landlords.

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

Foxy's Diner

"I don't think most landlords are willing to give a break," said Ira Greenberg, president of the Sunnyside Chamber of Commerce. "They let it sit empty until they find someone who is willing to pay what they ask and the new business goes out in two years."

Members of the Sunnyside Business Improvement District, the chamber of commerce and community leaders joined hands in 2010 in an effort to attract lucrative tenants and improve the neighborhood's appeal. One target area: the full iron gates on storefronts along Queens Boulevard, which many say project a negative image.

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Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

An employee at April Glass, which is moving.

"If you walk around Sunnyside after 9 p.m., you see big metal gates on all the stores," said Mr. Staunton. "If you're a businessman looking to invest here, you're not sure if it's a safe area." Mr. Staunton has been urging new businesses in the area to install partially see-through gates.

In 2010, the City Council voted for a gradual ban on the use of roll-down metal security gates for retail and department stores, among other structures. While the full ban doesn't go into effect until 2026, the bill requires that roll-down gates replaced after July 1, 2011, must allow at least 70% of the covered area to be visible.

The recent opening of EZ Pawn Corp. store on 46th Street and Queens Boulevard also has worried some residents and business owners that the shop could damage the image of the neighborhood. It is the second pawn shop to open on the strip in as many years.

"The last thing this area needs is another place where people passing by can make a quick stop to pawn items," said Susan Sullivan, a longtime resident.

Lauren Kaminsky, vice president of EZ Pawn, said the shop had toned down its sign and lights in response to complaints and also had changed its hours of operation. "We've had coat drives and try to engage with the community," she said. "I'm trying to change the image associated with the shop."

Local business leaders, meanwhile, hope the tide of closings will subside, but doubt it will happen without help from landlords.

"There's a lot of pressure on small businesses because the economic downturn has now been going on for years," said Mr. Greenberg. "They simply can't sustain it unless the landlord gives them a [rent] cut."

City Lists Worst Places to Call Home

2011-02-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

By CRAIG KARMIN

New York housing officials identified 200 buildings they say are the most poorly maintained in the city and are responsible for more than 20,000 hazardous violations.

Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

In Queens, 1821 Cornelia St. was properties on the city's list of worst buildings

Brooklyn had the highest number of problem buildings with nearly half the list at 99. The Bronx was next with 70 offenders; Manhattan was third with 23.

While a handful of landlords had more than one building on the list, one of the highest totals was represented by a portfolio of Bronx buildings formerly owned by the private-equity firm Milbank Real Estate.

The buildings went into foreclosure in 2009 when Milbank defaulted on $35 million in debt. Six out of 10 of those Milbank buildings are on the list. All 10 are currently maintained by a bank-appointed special servicer, LNR Property Corp.

"For the families who call these terrible 200 buildings home, the conditions pose a real threat to health and safety—not only to the tenants, but to the neighborhood as a whole," Rafael E. Cestero, commissioner of the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development, said in a statement.

This is the fourth time that the department has compiled the list as part of its Alternative Enforcement Program, aimed at ratcheting up the pressure on owners of the city's most distressed buildings to comply with the law. The buildings owe a combined $2.9 million in emergency repair charges for work done by the city.

Ken Maldonado for The Wall Street Journal

In Queens, 1736 Greene Ave. was also on the list.

Housing advocates say the AEP program is a step in the right direction but it remains unclear how effective it has been in forcing better compliance. Each year the list adds 200 new buildings, and some say the true test is how many buildings clean up their act to get off the list. The housing department says that 196 of 600 offenders over the first three years of AEP have made the necessary improvements to be discharged from the program.

"It's a valuable tool to make delinquent owners make repairs," says Dina Levy, a director at the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board, a nonprofit that focuses on affordable housing.

She added that even without knowing the program's overall effectiveness, it would provide a powerful stick in certain instances, such as the Milbank portfolio. Investor Steve Finkelstein recently made a bid of about $28 million for the properties but still needs to reach various tenant agreements and is seeking the support of the housing department, say people familiar with the matter.

Ms. Levy said getting those buildings off the AEP list gives housing officials something to bargain with when discussing a deal with Mr. Finkelstein. He couldn't be reached for comment.

The 200 buildings have four months to address the most serious violations, classified as hazardous or worse. These include mold, vermin and heat or hot water violations. If not fixed in those four months, the city will send back inspectors to perform a more thorough investigation.

"That is obviously going to result in more violations," says housing department spokesman Eric Bederman. He said that a second round of violations would require landlords to perform more substantial changes. "For instance, they would be required to replace a roof, rather than just patch a leak," says Mr. Bederman.

The list is the first to use new criteria that was intended to help the AEP capture larger buildings. This year, the list included 61 buildings with 21 or more units for a total in those buildings of 2,442 apartments. Last year, the list included only 13 buildings with 21 or more units.

A New City Handbook Demystifies Zoning

2011-02-05T13:26:00.002-05:00

February 3, 2011

A New City Handbook Demystifies Zoning

By FRED A. BERNSTEIN

SINCE becoming New York City’s planning commissioner in 2002, Amanda M. Burden has presided over the rezoning of wide swaths of the city.

Some changes have served traditional zoning goals — encouraging higher density on commercial thoroughfares (particularly near transit hubs) while lowering density in residential neighborhoods. And some have served goals not usually associated with zoning — improving food choices (by encouraging grocery stores to open in underserved neighborhoods) and promoting nonpolluting transportation (by requiring bike parking inside new residential buildings, for example).

“It turns out that boring old zoning, when used creatively, can be used to solve a whole lot of problems,” Ms. Burden said in a telephone interview.

The catch is that the rules can be found only in the zoning resolution, a 1,500-page tome incomprehensible to all except city officials — if it’s even comprehensible to them. (In a recent case, a judge said the word “development,” which appears at least 2,500 times in the resolution, did not mean what the city said.)

That the resolution is “impossible to understand,” Ms. Burden said, has taken the tool of zoning out of the hands of the public. She hopes to change that, with a new handbook, available Monday, that she said not only “demystifies zoning, but I think is entertaining — it’s fun to read.”

Along with admirably lucid prose, the 168-page book contains cartoonlike illustrations of what each zoning designation allows, as well as images showing successful applications of the provisions.

Zoning designation R8A, for example, is illustrated by 459 West 18th Street, an angular black-and-white building by the Brooklyn architects Della Valle Bernheimer. And the designation R8X is illustrated by On Prospect Park, the Richard Meier-designed condominium building facing Grand Army Plaza in Brooklyn. Ms. Burden said she went over every “line, every illustration, every photo,” adding, “I love this guidebook with a passion.”

But this is no coffee-table tour of the city’s architecture; it is meant, Ms. Burden said, to be a tool.

Ms. Burden said a property owner (or a potential one) could use the book (parts of which were adapted from a less extensive 2006 handbook) to determine what is allowed on a given lot.

Rachaele Raynoff, the spokeswoman for the department, said: “It won’t replace lawyers and architects. But even before you bring in professionals, you’ll already have an idea of what you can build.”

Conversely, if a neighbor is already building, the book will help show if rules are being followed. “It will make it much easier for communities to flag early if something looks wrong,” Ms. Burden said.

Beyond identifying uses for specific parcels, the book could help activists and residents shape their neighborhoods, Ms. Burden said. “You might flip through the book, see an illustration that appeals to you, and think, I’d like my neighborhood to look like that — and you’ll see that it’s R3A or R4A,” she said. “And you might go to the Planning Commission and ask for one of those designations.”

“Without the handbook,” she added, “you would never have known that in a million years.”

During Ms. Burden’s tenure, the city has created 10 new zoning designations, with names like R9D and C4-5D, to reflect more closely the qualities of specific neighborhoods, and 23 special zoning districts, for places like Coney Island and the Bronx side of the Harlem River. All together some 9,400 city blocks have been rezoned, Ms. Raynoff said.

But how to know which of the myriad districts you’re in? The book doesn’t have a zoning map, which could never fit on its 8.5-by-11-inch pages. One is available on the city’s Web site, and soon the commission will have a system called ZOLA (for Zoning and Land Use Application). Clicking on the map will open a Web version of the relevant zoning handbook section. (Until then, the book can be bought for $35 at the planning department bookstore, 22 Reade Street, or by downloading an application at nyc.gov/html/dcp/pdf/pub/orderform.pdf.)

Ms. Burden says she will be happy when residents start attending meetings with dog-eared copies of the new book. “Planning,” she said, “is most effective when it’s in the hands of the community.”

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