U.S. Public Housing Needs Exceed $21 Billion

Following the Department of Housing and Urban Development’s (HUD) recent award of $1.9 billion to public housing, a capital-needs assessment released today by Recap Real Estate Advisors finds that public housing needs in the United States exceed $21 billion. On-Site Insight, a Recap company, conducted the fieldwork along with Abt Associates, representing the most comprehensive capital-needs assessment of the nation’s public housing stock in more than 20 years. [ Read more...]

NYC Reaches Major Milestone in its Affordable Housing Plan

Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Robert K. Steel, Housing Preservation and Development Commissioner Mathew M. Wambua and New York City Housing Development Corporation (HDC) President Marc Jahr announced today the City has reached a major milestone in its affordable housing plan, the New Housing Marketplace Plan.  New York City is now three-quarters of the way towards completing Mayor Bloomberg’s goal of creating and preserving 165,000 units of affordable housing by the end of 2014. The City invested $1.3 billion and financed 15,827 units of affordable housing for middle-class and low-income New Yorkers in Fiscal Year 2011, which ended June 30th.

[Continue reading...]

Consolidate Energy - NYC Benchmarking Information

Attached below is an information sheet in Q&A format describing the details of the NYC Local Law 84 – Benchmarking Compliance. This ordinance was passed in 2009 and requires that any building (commercial or residential) over 50,000 square feet must be “benchmarked” for energy usage and space attributes starting in calendar year 2010 and every year thereafter by May 1.

A property is subject to NYC Local Law 84 if it includes:

1 building more than 50,000 gross square feet

2 or more buildings on the same tax lot that together total more than 100,000 gross square feet

2 or more buildings held in condominium ownership that are governed by the same board of managers and that together exceed 100,000 gross square feet

Using the online tool, Portfolio Manager (managed by the EPA), a property owner is responsible for inputting the whole building’s energy usage for the prior calendar year.  The usage has to be reported by type of energy (electric, gas, etc.).  The owner will also have to provide the building’s gross square area and a breakdown of the square area by space use type.  If a non-residential tenant has its own utility meter, the owner must send them a “Benchmarking Non-Residential Tenant Information Collection Form” to fill out.

Owners have until August 1, 2011 to comply and every May 1^st thereafter.

  

If owners or property managers have questions, they can go to the PlaNYC site - http://www.nyc.gov/html/planyc2030/html/about/ggbp.shtml#know – or contact DOB’s Benchmarking Help Center by calling 311 or emailing sustainability@buildings.nyc.gov.  The Benchmarking Help Center can help to set up an account with Portfolio Manager.

[Benchmarking Factsheet]

Important Changes to New York City Tax Lien Sale Statute

Beginning January 1, 2012, the City will have the authority to sell tax liens on HDFC rental properties.

[ Read full letter from Department of Housing Preservation & Development and Department of Finance]

421-a Extended without Prevailing Wage

The Senate and Assembly passed and the Governor signed into law, the omnibus housing bill, Chapter 97 of the Laws of 2011. In addition to extending rent regulation, and capping property taxes, the bill extends 421-a for four years - without the prevailing wage requirement first proposed in January this year. The final bill can be viewed at: http://www.assembly.state.ny.us/leg/?default_fld=&bn=A08518&term=2011&Summary=Y&Actions=Y&Text=Y.  The 421-a provisions can be found beginning on page 40.

[Source: NYSAFAH]

Update on HPD HDFC Directive

As you may be aware, the HPD Commissioner issued a letter on October 4^th, 2010 which set forth HPD’s position on several issues related to the operation of HDFCs (see enclosed “HPD HDFC Letter”).  This letter caused a great deal of confusion within the legal community which compelled our office, along with a small group of attorneys, to meet with HPD to confirm and clarify their position.

As a result of the meeting with HPD, we produced the enclosed presentation (see enclosed “Legal Interpretation”) which highlights Goldstein Hall’s interpretation of the central points in the HPD Commissioner’s Letter.

Further, we are pleased to announce the formation of our HDFC Practice Group, staffed with attorneys who are focused on serving the needs of the HDFC community.  The Practice Group offers services covering virtually all matters involving HDFCs, including corporate governance and litigation issues.    

If you have any questions about the letter or any other HDFC-related matter, please call me or Matthew Hall at 212-461-2338.  Or, send an e-mail to dgoldstein@goldsteinhall.com or mhall@goldsteinhall.com.

Goldstein Hall's Legal Interpretation of Letter from HPD Commissioner

1,400 Bronx housing units saved

More than 1,400 housing units in the Bronx will remain affordable, thanks in part to Enterprise Community Partners, a Maryland-based affordable housing nonprofit that recently helped to close the preservation deals.
One deal involves eight buildings with 526 units located in the West Farms section of the Bronx. The buildings are Section 8 affordable housing complexes which were built in 1973. In that case, property owner West Farms Square HDFC, an affiliate of the Catholic Archdiocese, partnered with Fordham Bedford Housing Corp. and University Neighborhood Housing Program to obtain more than $20.7 million in a tax credits to help rehab the buildings, said Enterprise, which is a partner in the deal. J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. was also involved in the deal.

[ Read More...]

Industrial And Commercial Abatement Program (ICAP)

CAP legislation that expired on March 1, 2011 was extended on May 18, 2011 and remains in effect until March 1, 2015.

Please note: The Industrial and Commercial Exemption Program (ICIP) ended in 2008 and was replaced with ICAP. Previously approved ICIP benefits were not affected. Applicants that successfully submitted their preliminary application within the ICIP timeframe can use the combined Final ICIP/ICAP application which you can link to on this page.

Otherwise, all documents and information below are in reference to ICAP unless specifically noted.

ICAP provides abatements for real property taxes for varying periods up to 25 years. Eligible industrial and commercial buildings must be built, modernized, expanded, or otherwise physically improved.

One of the most important things to note regarding the application process for an ICAP benefit is that the final application must be filed no later than one year after the effective date of eligibility. The effective date of eligibility is the date of the first building permit that allowed construction to proceed, or if no permit is required, no later than one year from the date that construction started. Construction does not need to be complete to submit a final application, so there are no exceptions. If a final application is submitted after one year, the application will be automatically denied.

Source: NYC Finance

Westchester's Housing Efforts Faulted in Lawsuit

A New York City nonprofit housing group on Tuesday asked a district court in Manhattan to step in and enforce a 2009 consent decree that settled a lawsuit over Westchester County's alleged failure to enforce federal fair-housing laws.

The Anti-Discrimination Center—which as part of the 2009 settlement received $7.5 million from the county and was subsequently dismissed from overseeing the settlement's implementation—now wants to jump back in the fray.

It claims Westchester County is skirting its obligations to enforce fair-housing laws, pointing to missed deadlines and a failure to provide sufficient planning documents. (Read more...)

Budget Threatens 'Affordable' Goal

The Bloomberg administration is proposing to cut $285 million from its housing department's capital budget, raising questions over whether the city will be able to meet the goals of a signature program to create or preserve 165,000 "affordable" units by 2014.

The initiative has been one of the more ambitious and costly of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's tenure. If the cut is finalized, the overall cost would be reduced to about $8.2 billion from $8.5 billion.

[ Read full story...]

Rent or Buy, a Matter of Lifestyle

Real estate agents across the country are aggressively making the case that now is a good time to buy a house. Mortgage rates are near record lows and will probably rise in coming years. Home prices may not be done falling, but they probably don’t have much further to go in most places either. Rents, on the other hand, seem set to increase, thanks to low vacancy rates.

“Renters beware,” warned a newsletter that I recently received from a real estate agents’ group.
Individually, each of these points is unobjectionable. But it’s important to remember the source. Real estate agents, like mortgage brokers and home builders, have a big financial stake in persuading people to buy homes. That’s why many agents are always pushing home buying, whatever the rationale of the moment happens to be. [Continue Reading]

Federal Retreat on Bigger Loans Rattles Housing

MONTEREY, Calif. — By summer’s end, buyers and sellers in some of the country’s most upscale housing markets are slated to lose one their biggest benefactors: the deep pockets of the federal government. In this seaside community of pricey homes, the dread of yet another housing shock is already spreading. [ Read More]

Life In A Landmark: Pioneering Public Housing Site Shows Its Age

First-generation New Yorkers are more likely to reside in rent-regulated housing than the rest of us. So as Albany weighs weakening or strengthening rent rules, some immigrants are raising their voices.

Read more...

Multigenerational Housing Is a Real Estate Growth Niche

Taylor Morrison, a housing developer based in Arizona, was set to break ground on a 304-unit condominium development in Sunnyvale, near San Jose, when the bottom fell out of the housing market in 2007.


The company went back to the drawing board, and last month it gained approval for a drastically different plan: a town house project aimed at extended families, where children, parents and grandparents can all live comfortably under one roof.

Such multigenerational housing is specifically aimed at the booming immigrant population in the Bay Area, and is emerging as one of the few growth niches in a moribund housing market.

(Full Story,,,,)

Community Agriculture Goes Global With Coffee

Rather than buy produce at a store, members of community-supported agriculture programs, known as C.S.A.’s, pick up their vegetables in a neighbor’s garage, right where a local farmer leaves them. This direct grower-to-consumer relationship has become so popular that it has inspired meat and egg C.S.A.’s among Northern California ranchers and farmers, as well as grain C.S.A.’s and even C.S.F.’s — community- supported fisheries — elsewhere.  (Read Full Story...)

Penn South Votes Yes on Financing Deal

Free market be damned.
That was the overwhelming sentiment at the Penn South co-ops, the low-priced complex in Chelsea where highly coveted apartments can be had for $30,000. Residents voted on Thursday whether to accept a city financing deal that would extend the complex’s affordability by eight years, keeping units out of private hands until at least 2030. According to Brendan Keany, the site’s general manager, 87 percent of people voted to accept the deal, while 13 percent voted no. (Continue reading...)

Developers Scale Back Ambitions

DENSITY is often the deal-breaker. Planners and developers emphasize the need for it; residents and zoning boards balk at the prospect of a more urbanized suburbia. Which may be why some developers who have failed to win long-sought approvals for megaprojects are scaling back their ambitions.

In Plainview, Michael Dubb, the principal and founder of the Beechwood Organization, is working on a site plan for Country Pointe, a residential enclave with a mix of mid-$400,000s to $800,000-plus single- and multifamily units. It features a clubhouse with indoor and outdoor pools, a sports bar, a movie theater, a beauty salon, a spa and a gym. Additionally, 54 of Country Pointe’s 140 acres will be set aside for ball fields, walking trails and open space.  

Read More

Record number of New Yorkers sleep in homeless shelters

A record number of New Yorkers were forced into city homeless shelters last year, a new report says.
The Coalition for the Homeless says that in the 12 months ending last June 30, 113,553 New Yorkers slept in city shelters.

That's a 37% increase since 2002 when Mayor Bloomberg took office.
"A big part of this problem is caused by the failed policies of this administration," said Patrick Markee, a senior policy analyst at the coalition.

Although the annual figure is 10 months old, the coalition says the problem hasn't gotten better: In February, the number of people in homeless shelters in a single night hit an all-time high of 39,542.

Full Story...

Identifying City’s Worst Landlords via Craigslist, and Trying to Penalize Them

It is almost second nature for some New York City tenants to suspect their landlords of cutting corners when it comes to fixing a balky heater or securing dangling light fixtures.


But now tenants can find out a lot more about any landlord’s portfolio by clicking a link, “NYC’s worst landlords,” on the apartment search pages on Craigslist. It provides information that highlights, with the help of Google Maps, landlords with the worst inspection records.

Continue reading...

Deal on Stalled Condo Project Is First Under a City Program

In the summer of 2009, city officials began a $20 million program that would allow developers to convert stalled condominium sites into moderate-income housing. The initial response was tepid, as many developers and investors clung to the hope that the New York housing market would rebound. [ Read More...]

Idle Land Finds a Purpose as Farms for Solar Power

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Since the economic downturn, residents and businesses have been looking for ways to use real estate that may no longer appeal to mall developers or home builders. One option is to build solar energy farms, where thousands of solar panels convert the sun’s energy into electricity. [ Read More...]

UAI's Historic Restoration of 87th Precinct in Brooklyn Published in Period Homes Magazine

Historic 43 Herbert Street in the Greenpoint neighborhood of Brooklyn has existed since 1881 under several guises. Until the 1970s, the red-brick Romanesque Revival structure was used as the station house for the NYPD's 87th precinct, and then until the end of 1999, as a base for police narcotics operations. To the community's dismay, the landmarked George Ingram-designed building was then abandoned, despite remaining under the jurisdiction of Citywide Administrative Services. It gradually fell into disrepair over the next decade, so much so that it became a favorite location for crime dramas.  ( Read more....)

In first, stalled condos reborn as cheap rentals

 Nearly two years after unveiling its $20 million Housing Asset Renewal Program, the city announced Tuesday that it has closed on its first deal to convert a stalled condo project in Brooklyn into affordable housing units.
The project at 382 Lefferts Ave. was designed as a 26-unit condo building, but like many others it hit the rocks during the financial collapse in the fall of 2008. Under HARP, the building will now become a 46-unit affordable rental building, open to renters with an annual income of up to $55,000 for a single person, or $79,200 for a family of four. The project is now expected to be completed in 2013. (Continue Reading...)

Citywide Foreclosure Rates Highest In Brooklyn, Study Finds

The city's foreclosure rate last year was highest in the East New York and Starrett City sections of Brooklyn, a new study finds, spotlighting a troubling growth in foreclosed properties across the state.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli says that while the number of properties involved in new foreclosures across the state dropped from 2009 to 2010, the number of properties remaining in some stage of the process still continues to grow. 

[ Read More ]

A Trend-Setting Building With a Small Carbon Footprint Grows in Brooklyn

A contemporary, gray apartment house on Grand Street in Brooklyn is one of the most energy-efficient buildings in the city -- and may be a symbol of the future of New York architecture. The recently completed building in Williamsburg is the first of its kind in New York City.

Carbon emissions from buildings account for 75 percent of the city's total carbon emissions, but so-called Passive Houses make use of a new architectural trend that relies on thick insulation, air-tightness and warmth from the sun to significantly reduce the carbon footprint of buildings, cutting energy usage by 90 percent. [ Read More ]

A Red Flag on Reverse Mortgages

It is the saddest of paradoxes: a government-backed financial maneuver intended to free up extra money for struggling older people turns out to have left some widows and widowers on the brink of foreclosure.
This week, AARP sued the Housing and Urban Development Departmentover a handful of reverse mortgagesgone awry. Lenders, following the letter of one of HUD’s rules, are requiring newly widowed people who want to stay in their homes to pay off the balance of their loans quickly, even if it is much more than the value of the home. Because they can’t (or won’t), the lenders are foreclosing. 


[ Continue Reading...]

New Worries for Buyers Seeking Mortgages

After months of having her hopes dashed as swiftly as they were raised, viewing nearly 40 apartments and cycling through three different brokers, Deborah Herman finally found the perfect New York City home.

The moment she stepped into the two-bedroom apartment at 59th Street and First Avenue, with its oversized windows and sweeping views of the Queensboro Bridge, she just knew. [ Read More ]

Obama's Proposed Budget Changes

Enterprise recently reviewed the Obama budget and noted the proposed budget changes to housing and community development programs. [ View Budget ]

No Vacancy: Why Empty Condos Aren't Becoming Affordable Housing

In May 2009 City Council Speaker Christine Quinn and New York City’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (HPD) unveiled the Housing Asset Renewal Plan (HARP). Politically, it sounded great. The idea was to kill two birds with one stone: Build much-needed affordable housing while at the same time heading off the potential blight represented by what Quinn described as “tarnished trophies of the building boom.” The $20 million initiative provides developers and banks incentives to turn unused condo units into middle-income housing. [ Continue Reading... ]

The Promise of Seward Park: SPURA Takes a Step Forward

Community leaders recently voted overwhelmingly to support a development plan for the area.  Considered the largest tract of fallow land within the Lower East Side and possibly all of Manhattan, the site has long been a symbol of urban planning gone wrong.  For the first time in decades, the promise of fulfilling the plan's original mandate - to build affordable housing - is real.  Read More.

President Obama proposes panels to sell off unnecessary government real estate.

Today, 14,000 government buildings and structures are considered excess.  President Barack Obama is proposing the creation of a panel that will recommend how the federal government can sell off properties it no longer needs, an administration official said Wednesday.  The board's work will bring in $15 billion in its first three years. Read More.

Tax breaks on real estate deals for people like A-Rod cost city 900M a year

Yankees star Alex Rodriguez will pay virtually no property tax for a $6 million apartment he is buying on the upper West Side.

Rodriguez will be billed around $1,200 this year in real estate tax for his 3,000-square-foot, five-bedroom penthouse with spectacular views of the Hudson River.

Over the next 10 years Rodriguez and his fellow residents will continue to receive huge discounts on their tax, a city housing official said.

For Rodriguez, a full tax bill would be at least $60,000 annually, the latest city assessment records show.

[ Read More...]

Affordable Housing Policies May Spur Gentrification, Segregation

Manuel Zuniga has lived in Greenpoint since 1982. Back then the neighborhood was plagued with high crime, vacant buildings and a shortage of basic government services. But Zuniga was won over by the ease of the commute to Manhattan, the affordability and the close-knit immigrant community of mostly Latino and Polish residents.

Now with two kids in high school, Zuniga is thankful for the many improvements in the neighborhood over the last decade. "In Greenpoint, my kids got a shot at a good education … and safety-wise, the crime is almost non-existent in the neighborhood, now you can walk around at night without a problem," he said.

[ Read full story...]

Tenants of 'worst building in Bronx' may soon get answer to prayers in form of new landlords

Gladys Gonzalez, a resident of 1553 Bryant Ave., prays each night that the ceiling in her bedroom does not collapse on her before morning.

"I'm afraid....I know the Lord is with me and I pray every night for him to watch over this building," said the 49-year-old Gonzalez. "I know it's the only reason the place hasn't collapsed already."
Her prayers may finally have been answered.

The residents of "the worst building in the Bronx," with the most open housing code violations - 1,255 - may soon find an escape from the horror.Two ex-Wall Street bankers have combined their savings with low-interest city and federal loans to buy the notorious address in Fairmont.[ Read More...]

E-mail May Be Binding, State Court Rules

Naldi v. Grunberg, a recently decided case that reached the New York State Court of Appeals, involved a breach of contract in a commercial real estate transaction.  The court justices ruled that E-mails are binding in real estate negotiations.  Lawyers say that the ruling expands the state's Statute of Frauds, a law that requires all property deals to be agreed in writing.  Read more...

CITY UNVEILS DEVELOPMENT PLAN FOR HUNTER'S POINT SOUTH IN QUEENS

The city has unveiled plans for the largest affordable housing complex since the 1970s.

Phipps Houses, Related Companies and Monadnock Construction were recently designated the developers of the project, worth an estimated $360 million in mixed-use development along waterfront in Queens. The development plan for Hunter's Point South includes two mixed-use buildings comprising more than 900 housing units and roughly 20,000 square feet of new retail space.

According to the administration, at least 75 percent of the housing will be permanently targeted to low-, moderate- and middle-income families, up from the 60 percent required by the Request for Proposals. The administration says the first phase of the project would be completed in 2014. [ Read More...]

CITY PROPOSES TO BAILOUT SPECULATIVE DEVELOPERS

Last Thursday, elected officials and advocates came together to express their concerns about HPD’s proposal to extend 421-a tax breaks to thousands of stalled residential development projects. HPD claims the extension is necessary to spur construction and create jobs. Leaders of the city’s affordable housing community, however, see the extension as an expensive giveaway at a time when the city is making deep cuts to essential services.

At a press conference outside HPD headquarters, Council Member Brad Lander raised questions about the merits of the proposal, which would cost the city upwards of $420 million in foregone tax revenue without a single unit of affordable housing being built. Council Member Jumaane Williams and several advocates, including ANHD, sent a similar message to Mayor Bloomberg, saying, “We need affordable housing. No more bailouts!” [Continue Reading...]

All-American Streetcar Boom Fuels Urban Future

President Obama spent the past week talking about his plans to improve America's infrastructure. These speeches sometimes sound like something out of The Jetsons, when the president talks about high-speed rail, futuristic airports and nationwide, broadband Internet.

One growing part of America's infrastructure, however, has a distinctly 19th-century feel. It's the return of the streetcar.

Like so many urban development stories in America, this one begins in Portland, Ore.
Outside the famous Powell's bookstore, a 21st-century streetcar glides to a stop, opens its doors, and lets out a mix of tourists and locals. Modern streetcars have been running in this city for about a decade, and Chandra Brown lives right along their route. [ Continue Reading...]

Mortgage Interest Tax Break No Longer Sacred?

A growing number of experts are calling for an end to a massive tax break for homeowners — the mortgage interest tax deduction.

The tax break puts money into the pockets of millions of American homeowners. Getting rid of it has been politically unthinkable. But a growing number of economists and a deficit-cutting commission are telling Congress the time has come to phase out this sacred tax break for homeowners. [ Read More ]

Governor Cuomo Announces Appointment

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced the following appointment to a senior position within state government.

Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns will be appointed to serve as Commissioner and C.E.O. of New York State Homes and Community Renewal (HCR). Under the consolidation of New York state housing programs the Commissioner also serves as chief executive of the State’s major housing and community renewal agencies, including the Housing Finance Agency and State of New York Mortgage Agency. [ Continue Reading...]

City Weighs Extending a Tax-Break Deadline

The City’s housing department is hoping to kick-start construction at the lots by extending a deadline by which developers must finish their projects to qualify for 421-a tax benefits. Read More...

Tax Credits For The Poor End Up Going To Luxury Hotels, Big Banks

Taxpayer dollars that were intended to help poor communities are instead being used to finance luxury hotels, according to a new story inBloomberg Markets magazine.

A Federal program, called New Market Tax Credits, gives a substantial tax refund to institutions that bankroll development projects in poor neighborhoods, according to Bloomberg. But in practice, it hasn't always worked out that way. Developers use 10-year-old Census data to claim a neighborhood is low-income and deserving of a jobs-creating development. Many of the neighborhoods receiving taxpayer assistance have since become upscale. Some of the projects being financed are among the most luxurious of their kind. [ Continue Reading ]

Win a $10,000 Prize in Sustainable Housing Challenge!

In Support of the Energy and Climate Partnership of the Americas (ECPA), the Ashoka Changemakers is sponsoring in partnership with the U.S. Department of State, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the American Planning Association to launch the Sustainable Urban Hosing: Collaborating for Livable and Sustainable Communities Challenges. 

This Global challenge seeks to identify promising housing development strategies that are sustainable for low-income areas.  Winning challenge strategies will be awarded a total of $10,000 in June 2011. [ Read More]

Walking Away: Inside The Nevada Foreclosure Crisis

Almost 1 in 4 of Nevada's foreclosures involved a decision to walk away from the mortgage even though the homeowners could pay, according to a new study.

The practice is called a strategic default, and it's at the heart of the ongoing foreclosure crisis in Nevada — the state that leads the nation in the number of foreclosures.

Nationwide, the number of Americans who are losing their homes due to foreclosure also continues to mount.
Joel Searby, author of the Nevada Association of Realtors' new report, "The Face of Foreclosure," says the decision to walk away is a financial one that people arrive at after examining the value of their home.

[ Read full article from NPR ]

The Latest Victims Of The Foreclosure Crisis: Low-Income Apartment Renters

First, a heating pipe broke in the adjacent apartment, sending a powerful blast of steam into his home along with an unrelenting stench. Then, chunks of the ceiling started falling into his bathroom, and black mold began creeping up the walls. Cockroaches thrived in the suddenly tropical apartment. In December, mice popped up from the gaps between the walls and the baseboards. But each time Sergio Cuevas sought the attention of the landlord, hoping to arrest the deterioration of his apartment in the Bronx, he got nowhere. It was like the management company had ceased to exist. [ Read full story ]

Troubled Bronx Buildings Spur City Crackdown

Concourse — For years, New York City's housing enforcement regime learned about bad buildings only when they got so bad someone complained about them. Under a program launched last week, the city will look for signs that a property is slipping into distress, and act to stop it—hopefully with the negligent owners paying the bill. [ Continue Reading ]

The Legal and Business Case for LEED Certification in the Post-Recession World

As the real estate market begins to recover, property owners, contractors, business tenants, and consumers will be looking for more guidance on what it means to own, build, or occupy a LEED certified building or home.

Before the Great Recession and the near collapse of the commercial real estate market, one of the hottest trends in development was the desire for sustainable buildings and the advent of the private sustainability rating system known as LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design), which was created by the United States Green Building Council (USGBC). LEED quickly caught on not only with private builders, but also local governments looking at ways to encourage sustainable design and practice. Of course, when commercial and residential construction came to a standstill, the LEED discussion shifted and those involved looked to find ways to maintain its vigor. As we discuss later in the article, the USGBC has responded to that need by expanding its rating system and continuing to make revisions to existing systems in order to improve the overall LEED product. [ Click to read full article ]

Addressing the Issue of Home Affordability

DR. BRUCE STILLMAN, the president of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, hires a lot of scientists. But most of the 1,130 postdoctoral fellows, graduate students, medical doctors and others don’t live on the Island. They commute from Brooklyn or Manhattan.

“They don’t want to live on the two acres or the quarter acre” that typifies suburban plots, Dr. Stillman said. The 24- to 32-year-olds entering the work force after a decade in higher education aren’t ready to “spend their weekends mowing the lawn.”

Instead, this global cache of high-tech workers “want to live in other communities with people like them,” cities or villages with “cool downtowns.” On the Island, such places are scarce. [ Read Full NY Times article ]