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Schenectady - April is designated as fair housing month in Schenectady and on Friday, Mayor Gary McCarthy, along with other officials,  hosted a luncheon as part of the celebration.

Who is footing the bill for this luncheon?

And although the 'board-ups' may keep the 'undesirable element' out of these properties...temporarily......they are sure a nice canvas for the taggers!!!

Quoted from rachel72

Kinda' like have a high school graduation party for a drop out who failed the GED.
Save the luncheon money next year and start solving problems instead of pretending they don't exist.

You don't know how right you are. This what City DEM morons always do-ignore a problem and hope it goes away. Problem? What problem? How about a party for the hundreds of residents that want to sell their property but can't because of DEM tax and borrowing? The City can't afford to knock down the 800 abandoned homes. The City can't afford to bridge the period between the useless Erie narrowing and Federal funding. Sure that puppet Marion Porterfield has new solutions -lol.

Quoted from benny salami

...How about a party for the hundreds of residents that want to sell their property but can't because of DEM tax and borrowing? ...

LOL, hundreds?

Probably more like thousands. The Schenectady property taxes are killing homeowners and small businesses. Hundreds of empty businesses exist all over the city. Even more empty houses than empty businesses are in every neighborhood.

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SCHENECTADY
City getting arrest warrants for code scofflaws Police say they’ve charged 10 so far
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter

Those who abandon their properties and don’t show up in court are now getting arrested.
Mayor Gary McCarthy has ordered police to begin arresting those who refused to show up in court this month to answer summons for alleged code violations.
    “We just have to get the message out there that we cannot have people who thumb their nose at the system and have callous disregard for community standards,” McCarthy said.
    The Law Department began an aggressive effort to clean up the city by hauling the owners of what they called the city’s 100 worst buildings into court this month. About 50 percent didn’t show up.
    For the most part, those owners have abandoned their buildings, but some have continued to rent them out, despite doing no work to maintain the property.
    “That’s more frustrating, where people are collecting rent and not putting any money back into it,” Mc-Carthy said.
    After so few came to court, judges signed dozens of arrest warrants. McCarthy told police to give those warrants priority, and in less than a week, police spokesman Sgt. Mark McCracken said, officers have arrested about 10 of the owners.
    “We’re starting to put special emphasis on the code violation warrants,” McCracken said. “It’s almost a daily occurrence.”
    McCarthy is hoping the pressure forces owners to take action.
    “I want them out of the business,” he said, referring to owners who buy rental property as an investment but don’t maintain the buildings.
    As for those who have simply abandoned their property and left it vacant, he wants them to sell or make repairs.
    Blighted buildings bring down the value of surrounding properties, he said, but he’s also concerned that they encourage crime. Prostitutes and drug dealers have set up shop inside some houses, and others have become enticing prey to thieves looking to steal copper pipes.
    “These properties tend to create an atmosphere for criminal behavior,” McCarthy said. “People have to take code enforcement seriously.”
    The arrests are the latest in a series of housing-focused changes under McCarthy’s administration. Code enforcers are also doing publicized neighborhood sweeps for violations. While they leave courtesy notices for residents with minor problems, they are also boarding up houses and fi xing hazardous conditions. They hammered down loose sheet metal on a roof earlier this month, among other work.
    The Law Department is reviewing 750 abandoned properties with long-delinquent tax bills and may foreclose on hundreds of them this year. The final list will be available in three weeks.
    The department is also taking hundreds of owners to court on accusations they have abandoned their properties. Owners have been found as far away as Florida and Minnesota. .......................>>>>........................>>>>..................................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00101&AppName=1

Keep chasing people with no money for property improvement because they are paying your sickening taxes and fees. This should really turn it around- lol. Everything these DEM politards do chases out businesses, local investment and job creation. It's obvious that none of them ran any business, took an Economics course or have any private sector expertise. Marion Poterfield will fit right in with this sorry lot.

to burn down or not burn down

to raze or not to raze

to investigate or not to investigate

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City’s abandoned building problem hasn’t been ignored

    Re the May 30 editorial [“Sch’dy must do more to secure abandoned properties from fire starters”] criticizing Schenectady’s efforts to secure abandoned properties: While there is no question that vacant and abandoned properties are a problem in Schenectady, and that it will take an organized and continued effort to solve the problems they cause, the impression the editorial gave was that the city is not doing enough to combat the problem right now. The truth is that my administration has taken a number of steps to address both the short- and long-term symptoms of this problem.
    The first was to know where the vacant properties are: My administration has worked hard to create a comprehensive list. With the help of fi refighters, police, code enforcement officers and Offi ce of General Service employees, this list is constantly updated. Once a property gets on the list, it is regularly checked on to keep track of its status. The most important things we check for are whether the yard is being maintained, if there is trash buildup, and if the building is secure.
    This spring my staff proposed, and the City Council passed, new and more rigorous standards for the materials to be used when buildings are boarded up. In the past, vandals and squatters were able to break into buildings which had been boarded up in a subpar way, but now we’re fi nding that the new standards have made it much more difficult. In fact, we’ve even run into situations where people have had to break down part of the outside wall of the house in order to get in, because the city secured the property so well.
    So far this year the city has boarded up twice as many properties as it did in all of 2011, and we’re not slowing down the pace. Additionally, this has been accomplished without creation of any new positions in the departments which handle boarding.
    I’ve [also] increased the prosecution of absentee owners. Previously when the city boarded up a building, the cost would be added to the tax assessment and often it would go unpaid. Now these owners are being ticketed and hauled into court, where they’re made to reimburse the city’s boarding expenses as well face fi nes and jail time. This shifts the fi nancial burden of enforcement from city residents to the people causing the problem. Prosecutions have increased to the point where we’re on pace to double the amount of cases we’ve taken to court over last year.
    I know people are anxious for fast results, and nobody wants that more than me. The reality, though, is that it is going to take a sustained effort over the next several years to truly fix the issues that Schenectady is facing. These problems aren’t unique to Schenectady, and no city is able to board up every single vacant house, or to watch them all 24/7 to make sure people don’t sneak in and cause trouble.
    While I can’t promise that things will be perfect, I have been, and will continue to do everything in my power to address the issues facing this city. If people can be patient, the results will come.

    GARY R. MCCARTHY
    Schenectady The writer is the mayor.

http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r00702&AppName=1

Regarding addressing the issues, how long was Gary on the City Council? The answer is too long, along with a good majority of the rest of the rubber stamping council. A sustained effort over the next several years to fix the issues, what the hell have they been doing the past few years?
Oh I know the answer, they've been hard at work getting us to this point.

MC.  YOU AREN'T MAINTAINING THE BUILDING S THE CITY OWNS EITHER.  HYPOCRITE?

Quoted from Dirt2

Regarding addressing the issues, how long was Gary on the City Council? The answer is too long, along with a good majority of the rest of the rubber stamping council. A sustained effort over the next several years to fix the issues, what the hell have they been doing the past few years?
Oh I know the answer, they've been hard at work getting us to this point.

McCheese was on the City Council for 24 years. He always voted for tax increases and many times wanted them higher than any other DEM. Now he was the gall, the nerve, to say he didn't know the full extent of the fiscal implosion. City properties are in worse shape than private buildings. The Mayor is also forcing residents out into the street because of his insane taxing and spending. The worst part? He has no solution-no answer for any of the problems he alone created. The only solution is State Control Board takeover and ripping up all Union contracts. Hello Camden?

Stockton California Water Project = ALCO Project in Schenectady

Quoted from TakingItBack

MC.  YOU AREN'T MAINTAINING THE BUILDING S THE CITY OWNS EITHER.  HYPOCRITE?

You except him to actually do something? McCheese is too busy doubling dipping to attend to the people's business. Crisis? What crisis? According to the City DEM morons every NE City has a $5 MILLION deficit in one year. At least Nero fiddled. These DEM incompetents do nothing but pretend all is well. And endorsed other DEM morons for Assembly and State Senate.

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“It doesn't hurt us to stop and reflect on some of those things because it wasn't that long ago and it still does occur in some places where free and open housing opportunity is not afforded to everyone,” McCarthy said."

Schenectady has taken "open housing opportunity" to a new level.  It is sooooo open, housing is available to ANYBODY that want to squat in one of the hundreds of abandon properties.  Schenectady is an example of the ghetto's in the workers’ paradise.

I TRUST the Mayor -- the results WILL come..  He is redoubling his efforts and works around the clock.  Only a liar or a nayboob would spread misinformation to the contrary.

Quoted from Glryinthhighest

I TRUST the Mayor -- the results WILL come..  He is redoubling his efforts and works around the clock.  Only a liar or a nayboob would spread misinformation to the contrary.

Care to present EVIDENCE of the alleged misinformation?    Huh?????    Well?????

Didn't think you would present any evidence