That Wasn't There Last Month!

A new house is built on 156th Street btwn. North Conduit Ave. and 140th Street (behind Burger King and across the street from Kennedy Plaza).

A house conversion (originally a ranch style home) on 144th Drive, at 175th Street.

Springfield Gardens or Carroll Gardens? $1775 for a 1-BR Rental @ The New Yorker

A one bedroom rental is going for almost $1800 a month at the new and finished New Yorker building. We're sorry we don't have pictures right now. But you've probably seen it already, since its grand opening around June. It's located at the intersection of South Conduit Avenue and Guy R. Brewer (177-50 South Conduit Avenue). It's the third in a series of luxury sister apartment complexes. The first building built was The Empire House several years ago, followed by The Liberty House

The New Yorker is the first out of the three to house residential and commercial space. Look out for more pictures of the finished New Yorker building, along with its sisters Liberty Building and Empire Building in our next post.

The New York Times Reports: LIVING IN SPRINGFIELD GARDENS

Check out the article that ran in this weekend's New York Times about SPRINGFIELD GARDENS.
Among some of the topics discussed: the influx of new housing, population increase and environmental awareness - all topics of focus since the creation of this weblog. Accurate? Inaccurate? Please post your thoughts.

An expanse of homes with a note of suburban calm, Springfield Gardens, like some other Queens neighborhoods, has also been the site of feverish development in recent years as investors have gobbled up and demolished single-family houses and replaced them with multiple-family dwellings. Many residents worry that the population increase ushered in by the larger buildings is more than the neighborhood’s infrastructure can accommodate.

“People care about their homes and look out for one another,” said Yvette Kearse, an agent with Century 21 Milestone Realty. “If you want a neighborhood with manicured lawns, larger homes and not a lot of problems in this section of Queens, a favorite is Springfield Gardens.”

More New Commercial Real Estate on Rockaway Blvd.

A small strip of newly constructed stores/offices for rent
(Rockaway Blvd. and 135th Ave.).

SUBPRIME EMBARRASSMENT: Jamaica-Rochdale Village Tops All of Queens with 450 Foreclosure Filings

The media has been talking about foreclosures and the state of the current housing market for the past week. Among the many, the Metro New York paper reported this morning on how officials are starting to step up the crackdown on predatory lenders. State Sen. Jeff Klein also revealed stats on the hardest hit neighborhoods in NYC. Sad to report that Jamaica/Rochdale Village (predominately black neighborhoods) filed for the most foreclosures for the borough of Queens.

“Unfortunately, instead of working with endangered homeowners,” (Sen. Charles) Schumer said, “unscrupulous lenders are going out of their way to push high risk loans and preventing mortgage holders from refinancing.”

“Especially in the black and Hispanic community, we’re trying to get the so-called American Dream,” said State Sen. Ruben Diaz of the Bronx. “And in our pursuit, we are being taken and now we are living this nightmare.”

To add, here are two heartbreaking foreclosure stories. Now, we may not know the whole story of Michele McIntosh from Far Rockaway and Helen Rice-Lyles of Staten Island, but after analyzing their situation, they were foreclosure cases waiting to happen. Someone lied to them. And they lied to themselves.

Retro Split-level Homes

These are actually more impressive on site.
(133rd Ave. & 150th St.)

Flip This House! Classic Colonial

A rare find around these parts. This New England styled Colonial sits on a quiet block, located on 175th Street, between 146th Ave. and 146th Road. Up close, the house screams out potential. Check out the wood shingles on the side! We would love to see what could be done to this house.

Storefront Renovations Across the Street from The Courtyard Marriott JFK

Two residential/commercial storefronts in the renovation phase. Not sure what will become of them. Located at Rockaway Blvd., between South Conduit Ave. and 144th Ave. - across the street from the Courtyard Marriott.

Raising the Roof

Exactly one year ago, this house used to look...


...like the house to the right of it.


Someone bought the originally ranch-styled house, raised the roof, added a second floor, and is now RESELLING it. The workmanship is awful. The house is located on 155th Street, between 137th and 140th Avenues. Even if you're not a building contractor, you can spot at least five errors. Click the pics for the details. It's not a pretty home at all.

The Bungalows on 129th Ave

between 161 St. & Guy R. Brewer Blvd.

Observation: A Real Estate Prediction

HAPPY SUMMER to all! Enjoy what summer has to give in our neighborhood. Don't forget to check out Baisley Pond Park. It's wildlife in your backyard.

Here's a house on the corner of 129 Ave and 160 St. that's for sale and needs some TLC. PREDICTION: By this time next year, this house will be totally renovated and refurbished into a Southeast Queens "McMansion."

Flip This House! Corner Cape

This large Cape Cod corner property beauty has so much potential and is in desperate need of a makeover. A plus that the owner keeps the lawn mowed. When it's not, the house looks totally abandonded.

(134th Avenue and 156th Street)

Foreclosure Town Hall Meeting - Tuesday, May 31st

South Jamaica residents are well aware of the major problems of predatory lending (and who they target and who usually are the victims). To say modestly, dozens of Southeast Queens homeowners will lose their home this year because they won't be able to pay their mortgage. There will be a foreclosures forum this Tuesday at York College. We want to be homeowners, but we must do our homework. Read more about this neighborhood problem in the article below, as published in the Times Ledger this week.


SE Queens foreclosures set stage for York forum
By Craig Giammona
05/24/2007

The white piece of paper on the desk in front of state Sen. Shirley Huntley (D-Jamaica) tells a troubling story. Labeled "Foreclosure Patterns - 2006," the map is of Queens County and the dots, each representing a mortgage default, are tightly clustered in her district, which comprises a large swath of southeast Queens.

There were foreclosures throughout the borough in 2006, the map shows. But in areas of America's most diverse county, where the population is more than 50 percent black or Hispanic, the problem is particularly severe.

Outside of southeast Queens, there is dense pack of red dots in Corona on the 2006 map."People go basically and buy homes they can't afford," Huntley said. "I'm not saying they're not smart, but they're not experts in this area and they're taken advantage of."The issue of foreclosures has risen to the forefront in Queens in the last few months, shining a light on the so-called predatory mortgage brokers and real estate agents that many believe are fueling the problem.

The Website PropertyShark.com released a report in April indicating that foreclosures had skyrocketed in Queens during the first three months of 2007. In fact, the report said that more homes had been sold at auction in Queens than in the four other boroughs combined during the first quarter.In addition, PropertyShark, an online clearinghouse for real estate information, said of the 20 zip codes in New York City with the most foreclosures for January through May, 16 were in Queens and 12 were in 114, an area that includes Jamaica, Hollis, Laurelton, St. Albans, Cambria Heights and Queens Village.

Overall there were 554 foreclosures in the first three month of 2007 in New York and 319 were in Queens. "Something needs to be done," Huntley said, acknowledging that she is still working to determine the best route for lawmakers to take in combatting the problem.

The first step will be a town hall meeting at York College on May 31 that will bring together several state and city agencies for a discussion with area politicians, including Huntley and Councilmen Eric Gioia (D-Sunnyside) and Leroy Comrie (D-St. Albans).The office of Queen District Attorney Richard Brown and state Attorney General Andrew Cuomo will also be represented, Huntley said.

The event will take place at York's Performing Arts Center at 94-20 Guy R. Brewer Boulevard and is scheduled to being at 6:30 p.m.Reach reporter Craig Giammona by e-mail at news@timesledger.com or by phone at 718-229-0300, Ext. 146.

©Times Ledger 2007

UPDATE on Development: 125th Ave & Merrill Street

What a difference a week makes! We posted pictures of this very house exactly a week ago. Roofing, windows and siding has been added. Another new two-family home to add to the South Jamaica private home renaissance.

Development: 125th Ave & Merrill Street

This corner patch of land was vacant for awhile. Signs of change came last month, when the land was cleared and an excavator was on site. Location is one block over from Merrick Blvd.