Aluminaire House is west coast bound

From the NY Post:

The Aluminaire House, a 1,200-square-foot structure billed as the first all-metal home built in the United States, has been called one of “the pivotal works of modern architecture in America” by respected critic Paul Goldberger.

The 1931 masterpiece was even highlighted in a MoMA exhibit on modern architecture.

It also may be the most hated house in New York.

After rankling a Queens historic district, the aluminum building has languished inside a storage facility since 2012. Before that, it had been subjected to vandals on Long Island.

And so, on Wednesday, the house’s disassembled panels, pipes and beams began a 2,800-mile trek from Ronkonkoma to Palm Springs, Calif., inside a 45-foot-long trailer at a cost of $15,000.

The desert resort city, some 100 miles from downtown Los Angeles and celebrated for its stock of modern properties, will become its new permanent home. The city plans to reassemble it in a planned park and open it to the public in 2018.

Get ready to be pissed on more

From the NY Post:

In January, the City Council voted to reclassify low-level crimes such as public urination, public consumption of alcohol, littering, subway fare evasion and taking up multiple seats on the subway from criminal to civil offenses.

But if California is any indication, it may not have been a smart move.

Retail giants with locations in the Golden State, including Safeway, Target, Rite Aid and CVS pharmacies, say they have seen at least a 15 percent increase in shoplifting since California voters opted to reduce theft penalties in 2014, The Associated Press reports. Shoplifting reports in LA increased 25 percent in the year after Proposition 47 passed.

Meanwhile, in California...

From the Daily News:

Shortly after sunrise, dozens of federal agents swarmed an upscale apartment complex in the Orange County city of Irvine, where authorities say a birth tourism business known as You Win USA Vacation Resort marketed to pregnant women who were then charged $50,000 for lodging, food and transportation.

Investigators said women were coached to lie about their travel plans when applying for tourist visas and to wear loose clothing to hide their pregnancies, and they were promised Social Security numbers and U.S. passports for their babies before returning to China.

In one instance, a trainer in China helped fabricate employment and income information for an undercover federal agent posing as a pregnant client to secure a tourist visa. The undercover agent was encouraged to fly through Hawaii, where customs officers were believed to be more lenient than in Los Angeles, according to a copy of an affidavit in support of a search warrant.

The business netted its owners hundreds of thousands of dollars in the past two years and helped Chinese tourists deliver more than 400 American babies at just one Orange County hospital, the court papers said.

Arrivaderci!

From Curbed:

After being soundly rejected by residents of Sunnyside, Queens, a currently homeless 1931 case study house known as the Aluminaire, which has been credited with bringing the International Style stateside, could be headed all the way to Palm Springs, California. The mayor of Palm Springs wants to raise $600K to bring the home out of storage and add it to Palm Springs' already strong collection of modernist homes.

Curbed LA has the full story.

Illegals saying "adios?"

From the NY Times:

New York has far fewer illegal immigrants than California, Texas and Florida, and their ranks have been declining, according to a new analysis by the Center for Migration Studies’ International Migration Review.

The analysis by the academic journal estimated that New York was home to 750,000 of the nation’s 11.7 million unauthorized immigrants in 2010, compared with 2.9 million in California, 1.6 million in Texas and 1 million in Florida.

The influx of unauthorized immigrants peaked in 2000, the analysis said, and by 2009 New York was one of 29 states that recorded a net loss – 35,000 – in that population.

Meanwhile, Florida and several other southern states reported gains in their illegal immigrant population that year.

Generally, the decline reflected the impact of the recession on jobs.

Would this work here?

From HousingWire:

California Gov. Jerry Brown signed a bill Monday forcing owners of foreclosed and vacant homes to maintain the property or face up to a $1,000 fine per day of violation.

The bill, A.B. 2314, is part of the Homeowner Bill of Rights, a slew of new legislation drafted and introduced through state lawmakers with the assistance of California Attorney General Kamala Harris.

The latest enacted bill gives local governments the ability to impose up to a $1,000 fine for code violations. It must give owners, including banks, at least 14 days to start fixing the alleged violation and 30 days to complete the correction before issuing the fine.

One of the violations includes "not failing to take action to prevent mosquito larvae from growing in standing water or other conditions that create a public nuisance." A woman in Studio City, Calif. recently diagnosed with the West Nile virus traced the contraction to mosquitoes breeding in a nearby foreclosure's neglected swimming pool.

The new bill could be costly for careless owners of these homes. Fannie Mae, for example, owned more than 10,000 REO properties in California as of June 30, according to its latest financial filing.

If an investor or homeowner buys a property that was foreclosed on at any point since Jan. 1, 2008, the local government must give at least 60 days to remedy any violations found since taking title. The law does give room to provide less time "if deemed necessary."

How do we get laws like this here?

From Fox 5:

The architect of a Hollywood Hills mansion where a ceiling collapsed and killed a firefighter during a blaze was charged Wednesday with involuntary manslaughter as a result of his shoddy work, prosecutors said.

Gerhard Becker, 48, was charged after investigators found grossly negligent construction at the newly built, 12,500-square-foot home, authorities said.

Becker left the country after last year's fire and was arrested when he flew from Spain to Los Angeles on Saturday. He remained jailed and, if convicted, could be sentenced to up to four years in state prison.

Hudson Yards to be built by California developer

From the Daily News:

THE DEVELOPER of the Hudson Yards project is bringing in an out-of-town construction giant to build the massive development.

Related Companies hired California-based firm Tutor Perini for the $4 billion West Side project, Crain’s New York reported.

Related officials wanted to slash costs and were unhappy with the terms of deals worked out this summer between city contractors and construction unions, according to Crain’s.

The move is a blow to the city’s big construction companies, which had hoped to score the contract for the sprawling 15-year project.

Proof that the mental patients have taken over the asylum

From MSNBC:

On any other day at Live Oak High School in Morgan Hill, Daniel Galli and his four friends would not even be noticed for wearing T-shirts with the American flag. But Cinco de Mayo is not any typical day especially on a campus with a large Mexican American student population.

Galli says he and his friends were sitting at a table during brunch break when the vice principal asked two of the boys to remove American flag bandannas that they wearing on their heads and for the others to turn their American flag T-shirts inside out. When they refused, the boys were ordered to go to the principal's office.

"They said we could wear it on any other day," Daniel Galli said, "but today is sensitive to Mexican-Americans because it's supposed to be their holiday so we were not allowed to wear it today."

The boys said the administrators called their T-shirts "incendiary" that would lead to fights on campus.

"They said if we tried to go back to class with our shirts not taken off, they said it was defiance and we would get suspended," Dominic Maciel, Galli's friend, said.

The boys really had no choice, and went home to avoid suspension. They say they're angry they were not allowed to express their American pride. Their parents are just as upset, calling what happened to their children, "total nonsense."

"I think it's absolutely ridiculous," Julie Fagerstrom, Maciel's mom, said. "All they were doing was displaying their patriotic nature. They're expressing their individuality."

But to many Mexican-American students at Live Oak, this was a big deal. They say they were offended by the five boys and others for wearing American colors on a Mexican holiday.

"I think they should apologize cause it is a Mexican Heritage Day," Annicia Nunez, a Live Oak High student, said. "We don't deserve to be get disrespected like that. We wouldn't do that on Fourth of July."

As for an apology, the boys and their families say, "fat chance."

"I'm not going to apologize. I did nothing wrong," Galli said. "I went along with my normal day. I might have worn an American flag, but I'm an American and I'm proud to be an American."

Lackluster participation in census affects Congressional representation

From NBC 4:

Five states — New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Florida — are perilously close to losing out on congressional seats because of lackluster participation in the U.S. census.

The five were average or below average in mailing back 10-question census forms when compared to other states, trailing by as many as 5 percentage points, according to the final census mail-in tally released Wednesday.

Based on recent population trends, New York, California and Texas had been estimated to fall just above the cutoff for the last House seats when they are redistributed next year. Waiting behind them in hopes of picking up additional seats are Arizona and Florida, which are already expected to gain one seat apiece.

Responses from these states also raise a red flag because of their higher shares of residents who are Latinos. The Census Bureau has said one of its main concerns is whether tensions over immigration will discourage Latinos, and particularly illegal immigrants, from participating in the government count. That issue returned to the forefront after Arizona passed a tough immigration enforcement bill.

Latino residents represent a predominant share of the population growth in New York, California, Texas, Arizona and Florida, making up more than 50 percent of total growth since 2000. As a result, those states could face big losses if there isn't full cooperation when the Census Bureau on Saturday begins knocking on the doors of those who did not respond by mail.

Of the five states on the cusp, the biggest potential losers are California and New York, which could have a net loss of one and two House seats, respectively. Texas may end up gaining just three House seats instead of four.

Teachers busted in "Operation Lude Behavior"

From NY1:

Two New York City school teachers were among nearly two dozen people busted this week in a bi-coastal drug trafficking ring.

Investigators say 22 people in Brooklyn, Queens, Long Island, New Jersey and Oakland, California are charged with manufacturing and distributing more than 100,000 quaalude pills worth more than $3.5 million.

Terri Goldring, a teacher at PS 186 in Queens and Kenneth Kutin, a substance abuse prevention counselor at PS 266 in Queens, were among those arrested.

During a search of the 5th Avenue apartment of the group's suspected ringleader, Dennis Fairley, authorities say they found about two kilos of finished powder, hundreds of thousands of dollars in cash, and a large bag containing empty pill capsules.

Authorities also say they found thousands of pills and two kilos of finished powder at two labs in Brooklyn and California.

The three year investigation, called "Operation Lude Behavior," involved more than 100 federal and local officials.

Bank knocks down new houses

Fighting foreclosure blight in California

From the Wall Street Journal:

It's a tale of two cities. In Coachella, Calif., foreclosed homes are left to deteriorate and drag down housing prices. But in neighboring Indio, city officials have threatened banks with legal action if foreclosed houses aren't maintained. Nicholas Casey reports.

Swine flu eyed in 2 U.S. deaths

From Fox News:

The Los Angeles County coroner's office is investigating two recent deaths for links to swine flu.

Coroner's Capt. John Kades says tests are being run on two bodies to see if swine flu was a factor in their deaths, but there is no confirmation that the disease killed them.

The Los Angeles Times reports on its Web site that both men's deaths were reported to the coroner's office on Monday.

Coroner's spokesman Craig Harvey told the paper that a Bellflower hospital reported the death of a 33-year-old Long Beach man who was brought in Saturday with symptoms resembling swine flu.

The other death was a 45-year-old La Mirada man who died April 22 at a Norwalk hospital.

The World Heath Organization has now confirmed person-to-person transmission of the swine flu virus in the United States.

It's also spreading worldwide.

Update: A baby in Texas is confirmed to have died from it.