Croton Heights Brings New Vitality to Yonkers

Gregory Watson, Director of DHCR's New York City Regional Office, welcomes residents back into the neighborhood at the Croton Heights opening on December 15, 2008.

A ribbon cutting ceremony was recently held to celebrate Croton Heights Apartments, a new 60-unit affordable housing rental community that will help stabilize and revitalize Yonkers. The project is part of the larger HOPE VI Revitalization Plan which seeks to replace severely distressed public housing projects, occupied exclusively by poor families, with redesigned mixed-income housing. Former tenants of nearby Mulford Gardens, one of the first public housing projects built in the nation, will receive first preference for HOPE VI housing in Yonkers.

Gregory Watson, director of the NYC Regional Office, participated in the event, and noted that the complex was built on the site of an abandoned parking lot, putting the unutilized land to good use. Residents of Croton Heights will be just five minutes from City Hall, the Metro North train station, city bus transportation, the city's new waterfront, as well as other redevelopment projects in Yonkers central business district.

The collaboration between the New York State Division of Housing, State Housing Finance Agency (HFA), Richman Group and the City of Yonkers made this development a reality for low and middle-income residents, said Deborah VanAmerogen, commissioner of DHCR. Croton Heights stabilizes and rejuvenates the Yonkers community.

View Full Story

DHCR Grants Will Help Seniors Repair Dangerous Conditions in Their Homes

The state Division of Housing and Community Renewal has announced $3 million in grants from the Residential Emergency Service to Offer Repairs to the Elderly (RESTORE) program which provides assistance to elderly residents who need but cannot afford to make emergency repairs to their homes.

DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen said "We have unfortunately seen instances in which low-income seniors cannot make immediate repairs to hazardous conditions in their home. The RESTORE program helps to eliminate those threats to health and safety and allow effected senior citizens to live independently and safely in their own homes."

The 28 RESTORE grants are part of an unprecedented second funding round administered by DHCR this year, which provided $37 million under a variety of programs designed to build and improve affordable housing in New York State. In addition to RESTORE grants, funding was also available for the Low-Income Housing Trust Fund program, the Urban Initiatives program and the Rural Area Revitalization Projects Program.

View Full Announcement with Grants

DHCR Commissioner Joins Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn
to Announce Foreclosure Prevention Efforts

Mayor Michael Bloomberg welcomes DHCR Commissioner Deborah VanAmerongen to Thursday's event
announcing State and City efforts to address the foreclosure crisis.

Commissioner VanAmerongen joined Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn and members of the NYC Council to discuss State and City efforts to help families at risk of foreclosure.

DHCR has become a national leader in addressing the foreclosure crisis. The agency's Subprime Foreclosure Prevention Program has awarded more than $18 million to not-for-profit agencies around the state to provide outreach, education, counseling and legal services. More than $10 million of those awards have gone to agencies in the five boroughs of NYC, which have been particularly hard hit by the foreclosure epidemic.

Officials also announced that the Center for NYC Neighborhoods (CNYCN) headed by executive director Michael Hickey, would be establishing a dedicated call center that will handle foreclosure-related calls and connect threatened homeowners with not-for-profit service providers. A $645,000 grant from DHCR is a major source of funding for the call center.

The new call center will not only direct homeowners to the appropriate service provider, but will also track each case and follow up on what services were provided and the status of those who need assistance. Operators of the new call center will also proactively reach out to New Yorkers that may be particularly at risk of foreclosure to let them know what services are available to them. The call center will be operational by the end of January 2009.

View Full Story