Yassky: Townhouse Lottery a Taxpayer Ripoff
The government is about to give away some prime Brooklyn real estate and David Yassky ain’t happy about it. Here’s the story: 381 Baltic Street and 381-A Baltic Street in Boerum Hill were part a failed federal housing program in the 1990s. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took ownership of the…
The government is about to give away some prime Brooklyn real estate and David Yassky ain’t happy about it. Here’s the story: 381 Baltic Street and 381-A Baltic Street in Boerum Hill were part a failed federal housing program in the 1990s. The federal Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) took ownership of the properties after a contractor defrauded the government. In December 2006, after sitting on the properties, HUD transferred them to a private developer with the proviso that he rehabilitate and sell them at a fixed price. The prices?They were set at $540,000 for 381 Baltic and $440,000 for 381-A Baltic, a fraction of their current market value.
According to Yassky, HUD is claiming that these properties are affordable housing. The problem? They will be sold by a lottery that any New York resident, regardless of financial status. If you’re already salivating, it gets better: Now the City Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) wants to give both properties a 20-year exemption from property taxes, a move that the Councilman (who is gearing up to fight the lottery) estimates will cost taxpayers at least $500,000.
“This is almost better than playing the Mega Millions lotto,” said Julie Miles, executive director of Housing Here and Now!, an advocacy group. “There’s really no need for New York City taxpayers to be subsidizing any buildings in Boerum Hill.” So where do we sign up?
Deals of a Lifetime [NY Daily News] GMAP P*Shark
Anonymous-8:40, you must be a miserable old bastard. You are so negative about this building, the bodega, the projects, the dog owners, malt liquor, and everything else. If I were you, I would not post that I live right next door. It makes you sound schizo. Move out or shut the f..kup.
There is a house for sale in FORT GREENE that was part of the same housing development program. The family received the brownstone at a reduced rate with taxpayer dollars and now corcoran is selling the building for a lotto prize. It gets better…corcoran is advertising the tax abatements that will be transferred to the new owner. Do the public, who financed this scheme have any say-so?
The building(s) look smallish, don’t they?
Okay, Here’s a little inside info about this place. I can give you the inside scoop because I live right next to it and have been able to look right inside of this mess for the past couple of months. It’s a dump, it will always be a dump. Its not worth a cent, and the idea that they are auctioning it off is a crime, they should just knock it down and try staring over again.
The construction work on this building and all of the buildings on this block for that matter are the most bottom of the barrel, piss poor, uninspired disasters I have ever witnessed. At 381, it is one band-aid after another, from the structure to the brick that was recently covered up with vinyl siding (lovely!)The whole block practically looks like public housing! I have seen these guys put frame work up, and days later, tear it back down again. They don’t have a clue as to what they are doing on these sites, windows put in crooked only to be taken out 1, 2, 3 times over, shoddy brick and mortar work…I swear they are making it up as they go along. FYI, the goal for our place was to overlook every detail right down to the most basic of elements.
I thought a big selling point for real estate was location…location…location? Yes, Smith street is wonderful. However, if living directly across the street from the Hoyt Street projects, trudging through garbage and dog poo on your daily walk and residing right next to a bodega that blasts Puerto Rican dance music and apparently gives 40’s out to all of the local homeless guys is your idea of a great location, then welcome home! And all for the low, low price of $540K – I can think of many more places that you would better off spending your hard earned half million.
The only benefit of the construction has been the removal of the 4 squatters that were previously living there. If you are thinking of putting in a bid, I hope that your intent is to rent it out. You do not want to live here! If you insist, then I hope you enjoy your brand new fixer-upper!
wow, i know folks who have won the lottery and i know for sure they dont work at HUD nor HPD. Not everything and everyone is a scam.
sounds like sour grapes to me.I would like to know how many people have stolen property anywhere. So when you talk about givaways, talk what you know
HUD and HPD are scams!!! Trust me, the people winning the lottery,if there ever is one, are all working at 100 Gold street (HPD Headquarters)!!
i called yasskys office the other day. they said they had no further information regarding the house or the lottery. i also called hpd and they said if its not publicized yet then maybe they are not ready for the lottery.
the mansion in crown heights is my house. while we paid over 500,000 for the home and put in another 100,000 for extras the neighborhood still has a ways to go. we have endured much since living here. trust me, the house was far from given away.