Left in the Wake: Sandy’s Effects on Housing

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by Neil Reilly, CHPC Policy Analyst

Eighteen months after Superstorm Sandy most small homeowners are still waiting for assistance repairing or rebuilding their homes. Houses stand vacant—whether partially renovated or abandoned—as the New York City government struggles to get its recovery program in motion. As reflected in the testimony of residents before a recent City Council oversight hearing, the lack of help to rebuild their homes is destroying families, job opportunities, and once-thriving neighborhoods.

A New Dorp Beach house abandoned mid-repair. Photo: CHPC/Neil Reilly

To better examine the lingering effects of the storm CHPC analyzed notice of foreclosure filings (lis pendens) and below market sales (arm’s length sales at prices below 50% of the borough median) for the year prior to the storm and compared it to the year following the storm. Our study looked at these data Citywide, in the three boroughs most affected (Brooklyn, Queens, Staten Island), and in the ZIP codes that correspond to the areas along the shoreline most affected by the storm.

As with the storm itself, Staten Island has been hardest hit by both foreclosures and below market sales. Staten Island neighborhoods affected by Superstorm Sandy experienced a 61% jump in the rate of below-market home sales in the year following the storm. This finding stands out among other alarming trends that reflect the economic displacement facing residents in storm-affected areas of New York City.

The same areas of Staten Island also experienced a 50% increase in foreclosure filings, comparing the year after the storm to the year before.

A Queens home in foreclosure. Photo: AP/Frank Franklin II

These trends were especially strong across the storm-affected parts of Staten Island and Queens, though not prevalent in Brooklyn. Comparing statistics specifically for the flood-ravaged areas versus borough-wide shows that Sandy damage is driving the overall trends for Staten Island and Queens.

Our research examined the rates of foreclosure notice filings (known as lis pendens) by ZIP code in the year before the storm and the year after. Citywide, there was a 24% increase in foreclosure notices. In the residential areas affected by the storm, this increase was 35%. The following chart demonstrates pre-to-post-Sandy comparisons for the city as a whole; Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island overall; and the storm-affected areas within those three boroughs.

Sandy LPs chartPS

To illustrate what these numbers mean at the ground level in the ZIP code that covers Neponsit, Belle Harbor, and Rockaway Park on the Rockaway peninsula, there were 25 lis pendens filed in the year preceding Sandy and 37 in the year after—an increase of 48%. In the ZIP code corresponding to the Staten Island neighborhoods of New Dorp, Oakwood, and Midland Beach, notice of mortgage foreclosures jumped from 120 in the year before Sandy to 183 in the year after—a 53% increase.

Added to the foreclosure crunch is the fact that more homes in these areas are being sold at prices below 50% of the median sales price for their boroughs. In fact, our research shows that these below-market sales have been concentrated in Sandy-affected neighborhoods in Staten Island and Queens.

Across Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island altogether there was a 32% decline in below-market sales, but in the flood-affected ZIP codes of those boroughs there was a 2% increase. Staten Island alone saw a 33% increase in below-market sales, while in the storm-affected areas of the borough the increase was 61%. In the 10306 ZIP code in particular, the rate of these sales increased by 120%.

39 Center Place in New Dorp Beach sold for $59,428 in May 2013. Photo: CHPC/Neil Reilly

Queens saw a borough-wide decrease in below-market sales of 41%, yet the Sandy-affected ZIP codes saw a 4% increase. Brooklyn bucked this trend with a 33% decline in below-market sales from before to after Sandy and a decline within flood-affected ZIPs that kept pace with the borough-wide decrease.

The table below shows the comparison of pre- and post-Sandy rates of below sales for Brooklyn, Queens, and Staten Island, as well as their storm-affected ZIP codes.

CHPC will be monitoring the progress of the City’s Build it Back program. To see some of our recommendations about Sandy recovery, see our recent publication, Steering the New Course.

Housing New York plan is announced

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Mayors office

CHPC Executive Director Jerilyn Perine joined Mayor Bill de Blasio and other government officials in Downtown Brooklyn this morning for the release of the mayor’s Housing New York plan. We were so pleased to be invited to share our thoughts and congratulations at the announcement of the plan (which are copied below).

CHPC is excited to work with the mayoral administration and City agencies to advance practical policies to improve neighborhoods in all five boroughs. We applaud the inclusion of several of the plan’s proposals that CHPC has spent the past few years working on and compiled in our recent report, Steering the New Course.

The Housing New York plan offers a broad vision for improving New York City’s neighborhoods. Its thoughtful approach to government intervention in housing policy is welcome. We look forward to working with the City to make its vision a reality.

Jerilyn Perine’s public comments at the Housing New York announcement:

This is New York, and here we know that housing and our neighborhoods determine our prosperity and whether they support our aspirations that we all have for ourselves, for our neighbors, and for those who woke up this morning in another place completely—but who have the same dream—of a future that will be better here in New York.

Mayor de Blasio and the amazing team he has put together understand that it is the private sector that builds our housing but it is the city’s public policies that will ensure there will be room for everyone.

It’s a hard thing to drive a housing policy through a large bureaucracy and across 5 boroughs, but this plan strives to tackle the difficult issues, not just by relying on new construction and ribbon cuttings, but also by undertaking the hard work of reshaping our building code and zoning regulations, working with residents and landlords in new ways and figuring out how to put the resources of government to use in the most effective ways. It’s not easy to create a strategy that recognizes that our population is changing – and that people are shaping their lives in ways that don’t easily fit within a housing stock that has largely been built before World War II.

By recognizing the challenges of high costs—affected not just by the shortage of supply but also by the entanglement of regulation that drives up the cost of housing—and recognizing that demand for housing is not just numbers but has become more complex and will continue to grow, this plan seeks not just to recreate more housing and preserve what we have, but transform it for a 21st century New York that will be bigger, better, and have a housing market that will make room for everyone.

Congratulations to all of you who worked so hard to put this together.

 

Over 900 guests at CHPC’s Annual Luncheon!

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CHPC’s 55th Annual Luncheon was our most successful fundraising event in decades! Many thanks to everyone who made it possible!

Over 900 guests were in attendance and we had an impressive group of awardees. We were also honored to have some very special guests present two of our awards: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer and actor Wendell Pierce, who has also played an important role rebuilding in New Orleans after hurricane Katrina. CHPC’s Executive Director, Jerilyn Perine, gave an update on our most recent work, which was compiled into Steering the New Course, and announced a feature soon to be on our website as part of our Making Neighborhoods project which will allow users to see how New York neighborhoods are changing.

Deputy Mayor for Housing and Economic Development Alicia Glen delivered the keynote address, in which she announced to an expectant crowd the guiding principles of the housing plan that the administration unveiled just a few days later. View Deputy Mayor Glen’s keynote address below:

Keynote address by Deputy Mayor Alicia Glen, introduced by CHPC Chair Richard Roberts:

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Below you can view video segments of the rest of the luncheon and a photo gallery of the event.

Marvin Markus, Lifetime Achievement Award, presented by CHPC Chair Richard Roberts:

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TD Bank, Mathew Schatz, Vice President, Impact Award for Community Investment, presented by Joe Lynch:

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Jerilyn Perine’s update on CHPC’s work:

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WNYC, Laura Walker, President, Insight Award, presented by CHPC President Mark Ginsberg:

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Raffle of Scala Zero, cherry wood convertible chair:

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Laura Jervis, West Side Federation for Senior and Supportive Housing, Roger Starr Public Service Award, presented by Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer:

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Ismene Speliotis, Mutual Housing Association of New York, Ibo Balton Community Planner Award, presented by Jerilyn Perine, Lucille McEwan, Robert Ezrapour, Chris Cirillo and Ron Moelis:

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BRP Development, Meredith Marshall and Geoff Flournoy, Co-founders, Impact Award for Housing, introduced by Margaret Anadu and presented by Wendell Pierce:

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Photo gallery of CHPC’s 55th Annual Luncheon:

 

 

Slow growth but high home prices

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Single-family home prices continued to rise more slowly in New York than they did nationwide, according to the most recent figures of the Case-Shiller Home Price Index. In February prices increased 0.2% in the Big Apple metropolitan area compared to 0.8% for the national 20-city composite index. Year-to-year increases were 6.1% and 12.9%, respectively.

Increases in the national price index continue to be driven largely by the markets in Las Vegas, San Francisco, San Diego and Los Angeles, while price increases in New York are among the lowest in the country. Only the three California cities and Washington, DC, however, exceed New York in actual home prices, suggesting this market has been less subject to price variations over time.

Jan00-Feb14

 

 

Special Guests at our Luncheon! April 30, 2014

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Invite2 2014

Registration is now open for our Annual Luncheon – the premier event for industry leaders working to improve housing and neighborhoods for all New Yorkers.

Wednesday, April 30
New York Marriott Marquis Times Square
11.30am-2pm

This event brings together over 800 for-profit and not-for-profit housing developers, government officials, bankers, economists, planners, attorneys, and other involved in the affordable housing and planning industries to network, and celebrate outstanding achievements in the field.

 

We are delighted to be welcoming our very special guests:

Alicia Glen, Deputy Mayor
for Housing and Economic Development
will present our Keynote Speech

Wendell Pierce
TONY, Emmy, Obie and Peabody winning actor
will present our Impact Award for Housing
to BRP Development

CHPC Luncheon Invitation-2

 

register now button

CHPC_393_luncheon_2013_web

 

Platinum Circle $10,000         ($9,000 tax deductible)

  • 10 seats with premium table placement
  • A full page ad in the Luncheon program
  • Prominent placement of company logo with link on CHPC’s website for one year
  • Acknowledgement with company logo
    • on giant screens in the ballroom
    • on signage in the registration area
    • on all printed materials
    • on tent cards on all tables

Gold Circle $8,000      ($7,000 tax deductible)

  • 10 seats with preferred table placement
  • A half page ad in the Luncheon program (upgrade available for an additional fee)
  • Acknowledgement
    • on signage in the registration area
    • on all printed materials
    • on tent cards on all tables
    • with link on CHPCs website

Silver Circle $5,000     ($4,000 tax deductible)

  • 10 seats to the Luncheon
  • A quarter page ad in the Luncheon program (upgrade available for an additional fee)
  • Acknowledgement
    • on signage in the registration area
    • on all printed materials
    • on tent cards on all tables
    • with link on CHPCs website

Individual Tickets $450     ($350 tax deductible)

 

Contact Ilene Popkin at 212 286 9211 ext. 115 to discuss sponsorship opportunities.

The 1951 Slum Clearance Plan for Lenox Terrace

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Slum clearance

Our archives contain original copies of over one dozen slum clearance plans proposed in the 1950’s by the Committee on Slum Clearance Plans, whose Chairman was Robert Moses. These plans were proposed following the passage of the National Housing Act of 1949, which provided that areas with “slum conditions” could be seized, cleared and made available to private parties for redevelopment. Cleared land could be sold at a loss to induce developers to redevelop the sites, with the federal government taking two-thirds of the loss and local government one-third.

These plans contain detailed descriptions of slum conditions and photographs of the affected areas, which today provide a glimpse into what people’s lives must have been like in these neighborhoods before these areas were cleared. Renderings of the proposed developments to be built on the cleared land also help us understand the thinking of the time regarding what constituted a desirable living environment.

We look here at the 1951 plan for three blocks in Harlem from West 132nd to 135th Streets between Lenox and 5th Avenues, where Lenox Terrace stands today. The “Harlem site” included tenement houses described as “gloomy” with “overcrowded buildings so poorly lighted they are unsafe after dark”. 1,683 families lived in 164 buildings, of which 89% were categorized as “run-down” according to a survey of residents. Many of the buildings were found to have “inadequate courts and air shafts”. View select pages of the plan.

The proposal for the site included razing the three blocks and incorporating the “uneconomic street areas” into the superblock that exists today. Seven 20-story towers containing 1,113 units were to be built in a park with “landscaped sitting areas and playgrounds reserved solely for the tenants and their small children”. Parking would be provided and stores –until then located in converted basements and first floors in residential tenement buildings– would be replaced with dedicated commercial spaces along Lenox Avenue, separate from the residential areas.

Reducing overcrowding was central to slum clearance. The population at the Harlem site had increased by 22.5% between 1940 and 1950, reaching 803 persons per net acre of residential use according to the plan. The new development would reduce density to 440 persons per net acre of residential use, requiring the relocation of hundreds of residents. 1,010 families (60% of those living on the site) would be eligible to relocate to some of the 50,000+ units of public housing that were planned at the time; it was hoped that the rest would “prefer to relocate themselves”, although the City would offer relocation services to help those unable to find an apartment on their own.

Today the Lenox Terrace development appears largely as Robert Moses envisioned it over 60 years ago: tall residential towers stand in the middle of a superblock while separate commercial spaces front the avenues. Parking lots and driveways, however, occupy most of what Moses envisioned as playgrounds and landscaped areas. View aerial photograph of the area.