Dozens of city-owned homes intended for low-income New Yorkers have sat vacant for years, sometimes for at least a decade, with some attracting squatters while others become a blight in their neighborhoods.
But after years of neglect and failed strategies to deal with the properties, including stalled plans to sell them off, the New York City Housing Authority says it has a new approach to rehabilitate the 63 single-family homes by partnering with two groups -- Habitat for Humanity New York City and Restored Homes -- that have proven track records in fixing up houses.
First-time homeowners would then get an opportunity to move in.
"The whole point is to stabilize communities," said Nicole Ferreira, senior director of real estate development at NYCHA. "We don't want the vacant homes hanging out there."
But she agreed the homes have been neglected for far too long. "There has been a stall over the last 10 years," she said.
The houses, located in Queens and Brooklyn, were foreclosed properties acquired by NYCHA from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development from 1969 through 1982. They are the last remaining properties from a portfolio of 730 that were largely sold off and repurposed for low-income families. Yet these lingering homes have gone years without occupants and their condition shows it.
"The age and condition of the houses has deteriorated over time, rendering the houses unsuitable for continued operation as well as creating a negative influence on their neighborhoods," the NYCHA board stated in a resolution in July 2014.
Habitat for Humanity and Restored Homes are expected to be charged $1 for each property, with the understanding that they would find financing and lead the rehabilitation of each. Habitat for Humanity said it received 13 NYCHA homes in 2012, and that five have been renovated and are ready for families to move in; eight are under construction.
Some policymakers said finding a solution for these homes helps combat the affordable housing crisis, even if there are a relatively small group.
5 comments:
I seen a gross house in bayside. It looked like it literally had no floors in it....everywhere you walked, you were afraid you would fall through. It had a basement that looked like a torture chamber. Problem with it was that it was not a NYCHA house (which it should have been), just a short sale house and the price tag they were asking for was 460k! Because it was located in bayside, that was considered a steal! 460k plus 150k worth of work to do in the house! These NYCHA foreclosures will offer you houses in the worst neighborhoods and in the good, decent neighborhoods, they will sell the homes as short sales just so they can discriminate on who they bring into the neighborhood. The rich liberals will keep staying with the rich liberals. The asians will keep discriminating in their housing markets. Once again the government will try to keep working class citizens out of the nicer areas of nyc and try to stick them a few blocks away from the projects. It's never going to stop in nyc. Our neighborhoods are very "income" and race separated and the government keeps promoting it.
I seen a dumb comment on the interwebs by an ineducated people who dont understand nothin. Why aint a house in the baysides the same as a NYCHA house? Racisms of course!
This house looks older than RKO Keith.
This is a discussion of the over-development and mis-development in Queens. I don't know what the first reply is talking about except for a rant against "rich liberals".
The sad fact is when neighborhoods have few owner-occupants, the housing stock goes into rapid decline. The renters have no incentive to keep up the appearance of the house and neighborhood. The absentee landlord wants to spend money on the house he or she lives in. For someone who's lived in the projects, they may not be prepared for the amount of time and money spent in repairs and maintenance of a home, or the the skills necessary to do it as a self-reliant home owner.
Sell it to a Chinaman or an Arab or a Russian. At least they'll fix it up.
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