Senator Charles Schumer visited Schenectady Tuesday, urging the Department of Housing and Urban Development to approve a $3 million loan for the city. As YNN's Maria Valvanis explains, the grant will help tear down many of the properties that have fallen into despair.
SCHENECTADY, N.Y. -- "Why am I going to spend money to fix my house or my business when I have a building next door that looks like that for close to four years?" asked Angelo Menayias.
Angelo Menayias' family restaurant sits less than a block from a building that fell victim to fire in 2009. But now Menayias says the entire region is the victim because very little has been done to repair it.
Menayias said, "It's a distraction. I don't think people want to come here in the neighborhood and look at something like that."
It's that building and 129 others identified by the city that brought Senator Charles Schumer to the area Tuesday to urge the Department of Housing and Urban Development to approve a $3 million loan.
"When you have one building like that, it's like a cancer and the rest of the neighborhood can't grow and strengthen and prosper," said Schumer.
"People don't want to live next to a burned down abandoned building. Some of these, insurance companies won't write insurance for the adjacent property," said Mayor Gary McCarthy.
The mayor says if the loan is approved, 75 to 80 of the identified properties will be torn down and a portion of the money will help rehab some of the properties that can be spared. But it will also help free some invaluable resources.
"Tends to be some mischief in buildings like this. If we can tear down buildings like this, we can dedicate our resources elsewhere," said Police Chief Brian Kilcullen.
Schumer said, "Right now, the application has been pending in the HUD office since July. They haven't said yes, they haven't said no. My job is to get them to say yes and to say yes soon."
The Senator says if the loan is approved, at least 70 percent of the sites will need to be used for a new building or in a way to improve neighboring properties.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
Who gets state rent checks? Posted at: 11/25/2013 5:32 PM | Updated at: 11/25/2013 7:05 PM By: Bill Lambdin
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The State of New York pays out tens of millions of taxpayer dollars every year to rent office space in the Capital Region. That's your money.
NewsChannel 13 found out where it's going, but it's much harder to say who's actually getting it. That's why NewsChannel 13 set out to learn who is collecting the rent checks and what, if any, link they might have to politically well connected people.
1 Commerce Plaza is one of the best locations in Albany. Across the street from the State Education Building, the Alfred E Smith state offices and also, the Capitol outside your office window.
Documents obtained by NewsChannel 13 under the Freedom of Information Law show New York State pays almost $6 million in rent each year for space here, and it all traces back to a run of the mill row house in Brooklyn.
New York State rents space for the agencies Health, State, Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance, Homeland Security, Developmental Disabilities and Higher Education.
They pay another $850 thousand in annual leases at 845 and 875 Central Avenue.
All that money traces back to the Brooklyn row house.
A search of public documents gives us the names David Stern management at 2164 82nd St. Brooklyn and David Shemano, CEO of Stern management, at 2158 associated with numerous LLC's, Limited Liability Companies, listing the Brooklyn addresses.
A man that was confronted did not hang around long enough to answer any questions. He made it clear he wasn't interested in talking to us once we told him we were from an Albany TV station, heading inside without further discussion.
We shared our findings with Blair Horner of the New York Public Interest Research Group.
The whole story raises a lot of questions. The unwillingness of anyone to tell you who is behind it. The fact that you have to sort of be Sherlock Holmes to figure it out,” says Horner.
Albany city tax rolls list two LLC's and Carrow Real Estate as owners of 1 Commerce Plaza. Vice President Nancy Koller said they don't own the building, despite what city records say. Koller said the building is owned by private investors she would not disclose and then stopped returning further phone calls.
We asked the state's Office of General Services for the names of the people to whom they pay rent.
“If it's going to a home in Brooklyn, is it really going there or is that just a way station and is it going to somewhere else,” says Barbara Bartoletti, of the League of Women Voters.
We also tried a second time for answers at the Brooklyn row house, but were turned away again.
NewsChannel 13 will continue to stay on the Office of General Services, demanding the rental information involving taxpayer money the law allows us to receive.
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
A loan? That means we get to pay for demolition, who gets to profit from whatever is put in place of 70% of the properties? So, pay for someone else's property to be torn down, pay for something else to be put there (more Section Eight ready housing), pay the rents, and some connected sort gets the proceeds, because it is "good for" the neighborhood? Why not have one of these NFPs train some of the unemployed in demolition, taking down these places for free? I don't want this loan, no thank you.
2158 82nd Street Brooklyn, NY 11214 - View Map Phone: (71 234-3297 Own this Business? Ads NYSERDA Grants Real Challenges. Real Solutions. Cash Incentives. Definite Results. nyserdasolutions.org David Stern Management Corp A privately held company in Brooklyn, NY. Is this your company? Claim This Profile More Details for David Stern Management Corp Categorized under Management Services, our records show it was established in 1996 and incorporated in New York, current estimates show this company has an annual revenue of unknown and employs a staff of approximately 1 to 4. Products or Services Companies like David Stern Management Corp usually offer: Total Fleet Management, Online Inventory Management, New Artist Management, Industrial Artists Management and Hayes Management Consulting. Ads Official Settlement Site Deepwater Horizon Settlements. Official Court-Authorized website. http://www.deepwaterhorizonsettlements.com Company Contacts Is this your company? Claim This Profile David Shemano David Shemano Chief Executive Officer Search for more contacts
Business Information Location Type Single Location State of Incorporation New York Annual Revenue Estimate SIC Code 999977, Nonclassified Establishments NAICS Code 999990, Unclassified Establishments Employees 1 to 4 10 ** Company contact David Shemano, Chief Executive Officer Business Categories Management Services in Brooklyn, NY Management Services Unclassified Establishments
...you are a product of your environment, your environment is a product of your priorities, your priorities are a product of you......
The replacement of morality and conscience with law produces a deadly paradox.
STOP BEING GOOD DEMOCRATS---STOP BEING GOOD REPUBLICANS--START BEING GOOD AMERICANS
"While Foreign Terrorists were plotting to murder and maim using homemade bombs in Boston, Democrap officials in Washington DC, Albany and here were busy watching ME and other law abiding American Citizens who are gun owners and taxpayers, in an effort to blame the nation's lack of security on US so that they could have a political scapegoat."
This is a political move by McCarthy to call for help from Schumer because McCarthy knows that if he can't knock these burnt down buildings down. Come election day in 2015 the tax payers are going to vote for Roger Hull for Mayor. This deal is a major screw job for the city tax payers $500,000 giveaway to Galesi and a 20 year mortgage for taxpayers to pay remember the Public Works building on Foster Ave we are still paying for that building similar deal here.
So, the financially struggling homeowners in the city will have their taxes increased to pay the interest on this loan, of which a tax exempt millionaire is getting his property demolished at no cost to him.
And in return on this "investment" the residents of the city will get:
continual increases in taxes continual reduction in the tax base continual reduction in their property values (with no reduction in assessment) continual reduction in home sales continual reduction in home sale prices continual elimination of essential city services continual increase in unnecessary stuff--at taxpayer expense--such as fancy lighting continual kickbacks between the dem leaders in the city and county, and plex, and the downtown millionaires continual increasing abandoned houses continual increase in squatters in abandoned buildings causing more fires continual increase in blight in the city's neighborhoods
Mayor McCarthy and his team are doing a great job in the city. Keep up the good work.
YES! McC and his team are doing a wonderful job in the city -- a wonderful job DESTROYING the city.
Optimists close their eyes and pretend problems are non existent. Better to have open eyes, see the truths, acknowledge the negatives, and speak up for the people rather than the politicos and their rich cronies.
This could be solved very easily......Just start to collect taxes on all of the rich developers/businesses aka friends and family club that have been given tax exempt status for years and years!
How much property/school tax is being collected downtown?
When the INSANE are running the ASYLUM In individuals, insanity is rare; but in groups, parties, nations and epochs, it is the rule. -- Friedrich Nietzsche
“How fortunate for those in power that people never think.” Adolph Hitler
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