Contributing Writers: Azad Ali, Tangerine Clarke,
George Alleyne, Nelson King, Vinette K. Pryce, Bert
Wilkinson, Lloyd Kam Williams
GENERAL INFORMATION (718) 260-2500
Caribbean L 10 ife, April 19–25, 2019 BQ
By Mike Prohaska
I grew up in a Bronx
that was burning. Now, it’s
building. In this construction
boom, developers are
pursuing major commercial
and residential projects
here, especially in the South
Bronx.
In 2018 alone, the Bronx
set a record with more than
$3 billion in new development,
according to a recent
report.
Today, the challenges
Bronx residents face are
similar to what residents
have experienced in other
rapidly changing areas of
New York City.
Working class Bronx
households are concerned
they will be left behind or
get pushed out as wealthier
people move in and rents
go up.
We’ve seen displacement
happen in Williamsburg,
Jackson Heights, Harlem,
and numerous other
neighborhoods across the
city. And we’ve noticed how
recent rezoning efforts in
low-income neighborhoods
have failed to benefit longterm
residents and community
members.
Those are disturbing
trends the Bronx should
make every effort to avoid,
rather than repeat.
The Bronx must build
better and differently in the
years ahead.
My vision is one where
developers put Bronx residents
to work — and help
them pursue careers —
building new housing they
can afford to live in.
It’s both a worthwhile and
an achievable goal. Here’s
how to get it done: as developers
seek city and state
subsidies for new construction
projects in the Bronx,
they should be required to
hire local residents and create
union career-path jobs
in construction.
During the past decade,
our union, Laborers’ Local
79, has expanded access to
construction careers for
women, people of color,
public housing residents,
and formerly incarcerated
individuals. There are plenty
of high-road, pro-union
contractors and developers
that understand the value
of investing in a skilled
and trained workforce. But
too often they get undercut
by low-road, unscrupulous
competitors who are
only motivated by profit and
greed.
These union construction
careers come with
wages up to $40 an hour or
more, along with affordable
health care and retirement
security.
Working class Bronx residents
should be able to enter
the middle class through
these careers, and help build
a better future for themselves,
their families, and
the borough they love.
To make that happen, it’s
necessary to attach labor
standards, local hire criteria,
and training requirements
to Bronx construction
projects that receive
state or city funding. This is
a pragmatic and progressive
reform that will improve the
lives of thousands of Bronx
families.
Think about the alterna-
Schneps Media
For many, owning a home or
piece of real estate is a dream
come true. It is generally the
single most important and
largest investment we make
in our lifetime. We take out
mortgages which we have to
repay over a very lengthy period
of time, sometimes up to 30
years. For the lucky few, they
would have been gifted their
real estate through a will from
a family member or friend.
But all this can be lost in the
twinkling of an eye by unscrupulous
members of the society
who seek easy wealth on the
backs of those of us who were
gifted or through toil and long
work achieved our dreams.
In Brooklyn as real estate
values have dramatically
increased, so too has mortgage
fraud, deed theft and foreclosure
rescue scams. Many
unsuspecting home owners
have lost their properties to
criminals who run these kinds
of schemes. Real estate and
mortgage fraud have become
top legal issues after the foreclosure
and financial crisis of
2008. Because many including
politicians and public officials
have blamed the economic collapse
on shady mortgage dealings,
there has been tremendous
pressure to fight mortgage
and real estate fraud and
to aggressively prosecute those
suspected of committing these
offenses.
“Rising property values in
Brooklyn make homeowners,
especially the elderly, the target
of unscrupulous predators
trying to steal their homes
from under them,” District
Attorney, Eric Gonzalez said.
“I urge all homeowners to be
especially careful about signing
documents relating to their
property without trusted legal
advice.”
According to Richard Farrell,
assistant district attorney
with the Real Estate Fraud Unit
in Brooklyn, “Dating back to
2000, we’ve had 1,000 referrals
for real estate fraud. And we
see a disproportionate number
of cases involving seniors as
victims.” Two areas have been
identified as having the highest
number of fraud cases
in Brooklyn, namely Crown
Heights and Bedford Stuyvesant
and according to Farrell
there has been an increase in
East New York. The main types
of real estate fraud are Deed
theft — When someone tricks
you into signing away your
property away to another party;
Mortgage Fraud — When a
buyer gets financing via identity
theft or forgery of mortgage
documents; Foreclosure rescue
scams — A group of related
actions, including upfront fees
for loan modification or some
other outcome.
Several steps can be taken to
protect one-self from becoming
a fraud victim. According
to Farrell, you can request that
the Department of Finance,
which oversees the NYC Register,
send an alert any time a
new document is filed against
the homeowner’s property by
either completing and submitting
a Notice by Mail of Recorded
Document form or by regis-
OP-EDS
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Continued on Page 12
Continued on Page 12
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The Bronx must develop
not just buildings, but
middle class jobs, too
Protecting your real
estate dream
Map of development in the Bronx during 2018, created by the borough
president’s offi ce. Offi ce of BP
/schnepsmedia.com