Neighborhood Nightmare - Addabbo Releases Report on Impact of Foreclosure Crisis on SD 15 Broken Down by Zip Code

Queens, NY-Standing outside of a boarded up and garbage strewn house currently in foreclosure proceedings, Councilman Joe Addabbo joined with CB 10 Chairwoman Betty Braton and local community members to release an analysis of the exact break down of foreclosed, pre-foreclosed, and bank owned properties in the 15th senate district. In addition, Addabbo blasted the Republican Senate for failing to pass the NEIGHBORHOOD PRESERVATION BILL S. 7028 in May, which would’ve allowed a municipality to clean up a property and bill the foreclosing bank for the cost.

“As the foreclosure crisis spreads, we’re seeing a ripple effect as property values plummet and surrounding neighborhoods experience an increase in quality of life issues like graffiti and crime. Unfortunately, the Republican Senate prefers to stall along party lines rather than pass comprehensive legislation, which would allow the City to clean up blighted properties and bill the bank. It’s wrong that our communities should suffer because of the Senate Republican’s dysfunction,” said Councilman Addabbo.

Billions of dollars continue to be drained from the tax base, and Queens neighborhoods are feeling the effects of the foreclosure crisis firsthand as homes fall into disrepair, attract trespassers and illegal activity. Currently, there are 23,093 houses in the foreclosure process in NYC, with 9,297 in Queens, 7,816 in Brooklyn, 2,682 in the Bronx, 2,296 in Staten Island and 1,002 in Manhattan. Queens accounts for 8.8% of the state's foreclosure filings this year and 34.2% of filing for New York City. In addition, according to PropertyShark, foreclosure rates in Queens jumped 91% in the first quarter of this year. As a result, the median home price in Queens plummeted over $100,000 from Feb 2007 to Feb 2008, from $390,000 to $283,665.

Bank owned properties not only drag down property values, but directly correspond to an increase in neighborhood violent crime by approximately 6.7%. Homeowners living near foreclosed properties will see their property values decrease by $5,000 on average per each foreclosed home. Whereas foreclosure rates for the entire city jumped 60% in the third quarter of 2008, New York City property values overall are likely to decline by 20-25% in the next 12 to 18 months.

In the 15th Senate District alone there are a combined total of 1,808 bank owned, foreclosed, and pre-foreclosed properties.

According to the Center for Responsible Lending and a report released by Senator Jeff Klein in May, 2008, in New York State alone, there are 3,552,642 homes which have experienced devaluation in 2007 due to subprime foreclosures. The resulting combined monetary decrease in home values/tax base in New York State is $36.841 billion dollars. As of October, 2008 there are a total of 1,954 bank owned properties in NYC, with 1,209 in Queens, 313 in Brooklyn, 160 in the Bronx, and 17 in Manhattan. Kings County (Brooklyn) ranks 3rd in the first in the United States but 1st in the NY Metro region with 740,141 neighboring homes devalued at a total cost to the tax base of $12.743 billion. Queens County is a close contender at 5th place (411,929/$9,254 billion), followed by Bronx County at 7th (398,746/$4.903 billion), New York County at 10th (398,746/$3.845 billion), and finally Richmond County at 33rd (141,174/$1.086 billion).