It's important we end the blogging year on a positive note. And remember - the people who are predicting a long, drawn-out recession are the same people who wrung their hands last summer worrying about $200 a barrel oil and $5 a gallon gasoline.
Mortgage applications mushroom on lower rates
Refinancings pace upsurge; ARMs all but disappear
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:00 a.m. EST Dec. 24
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- With mortgage rates approaching record lows, the volume of applications filed for mortgages jumped a seasonally adjusted 48% last week compared with the previous week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey.
Applications for the week ended Dec. 19 ran 124.6% ahead of the mortgage activity seen during the same week last year, the Washington-based MBA said. Its survey covers about half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
The boost in applications coincided with another drop in mortgage rates, as the government's efforts to thaw out the home-mortgage market show further signs of having the desired effect.
According to the MBA's survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.04% last week, down from 5.18% the previous week. This interest rate hasn't been lower since the 4.99% average rate seen for the week ended June 13, 2003.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 4.91%, down from 4.93% the week before.
And one-year ARMs averaged 6.36%, down from 6.63%.
Applications to refinance existing mortgages increased 62.6% on a week-to-week basis, while applications filed for mortgages to buy homes increased a seasonally adjusted 10.6%.
The four-week moving average for all mortgage applications was up 28.8%.
Refinancings made up 83.2% of all applications filed last week, up from 76.9% the previous week. The share of applications for ARMs decreased to 0.8%, down from 1.1%.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
Wednesday, December 24, 2008
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Central Islip in the New York Times
The New York Times' Lawrence Downes writes about Central Islipin today's New York Times. This could be a huge opportunity for the Long Island Builders Institute.
Editorial Observer
In a Reborn Corner of Long Island, Blight Comes Creeping Back
By LAWRENCE DOWNES
The foreclosure crisis has created a continent’s worth of disasters, so it might seem unfair to pick one out from all the others. But this one hits close to home, and it hurts. The epidemic of bad loans is threatening to unravel one of the brightest stories of community recovery that New York State has seen in decades: the rebirth of Central Islip.
Central Islip is a Long Island community of about 32,000 people — a modest place, right off the expressway, about as un-Hamptons as Long Island gets, without a quaint downtown or a beach. Its best-known landmark, the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, was for decades both the engine of its prosperity and the catalyst of its devastation.
It was once the country’s second-largest mental hospital, and Central Islip was a company town for thousands of workers and their families. But when the hospital emptied out from the 1960s through the ’80s, the neighborhoods around it did, too. Blocks of tidy houses fell prey to abandonment and rot. Families moved away. Drug dealers and absentee slumlords moved in.
Homegrown institutions kept things from falling apart. One of the most important has been the Central Islip Civic Council, a little nonprofit that has acted as a form of community glue for more than 40 years — building houses, offering loan counseling, managing rental properties and running a food pantry and newspaper.
Its executive director, Nancy Manfredonia, has seen the area fall and rise as master plans have come and gone, bringing new homes and businesses to fill the hole left by the hospital. For years, things have slowly been getting better. A county courthouse was built in the early ’90s, then a federal courthouse. A law school set up nearby. The New York Institute of Technology repaired and occupied many of the old hospital buildings. Then came a ballpark for the Long Island Ducks, shopping centers and housing developments with aspirational names like Islip Landing and Courthouse Commons.
The biggest achievement was College Woods, once a blighted neighborhood called Carleton Park, which the civic council and Town of Islip rebuilt from the ground up. Hundreds of new homes were sold at subsidized prices to low- and moderate-income families. “We recycled the neighborhood,” Ms. Manfredonia said proudly.
But all during the boom, predatory lenders were descending on Central Islip, just as they were next door in Brentwood and Bay Shore and in Wyandanch, Hempstead Village, Freeport, Roosevelt and other working-class places across Long Island. They pushed people into taking loans they couldn’t repay, sold the bad loans into the securitized abyss and disappeared.
Now the bottom has fallen out. Central Islip is a hot spot for defaults and foreclosures. Ms. Manfredonia’s organization regularly surveys abandoned homes. Last year in one neighborhood, the number fell to a historic low: only 11. Now it is rising again. I drove around with her last week, our heads turning left, right and left as we spied the telltale plywood and broken windows. Willow Street in particular was badly hit. “Geez,” she said. “This is really gruesome.”
Ms. Manfredonia knows that not everybody should be a homeowner. She’s hoping the crisis shakes Long Island into filling its desperate need for rental housing — for single people, old people, poor people and now for the people ruined by the burst housing bubble.
Central Islip’s master plans never included significant amounts of rentals because nobody wanted them. That’s typical for Long Island, which is trapped in old patterns of segregation where homeowners see renters as problem people. But now that homeownership itself is under siege, maybe that will change.
The solutions won’t necessarily come from the top down. New York’s state and local governments have lots of other problems besides housing. No one knows how much federal money will eventually flow to distressed homeowners, though it already seems clear that it won’t be enough. There is a dire need for creative ways to keep people in their homes — and those, too, are in short supply.
Grass-roots groups don’t have the luxury of waiting for the crisis to pass. There are banks to haggle with, houses to repair, homeowners to comfort and advise. We’ll figure it out ourselves, Ms. Manfredonia says, voicing the optimism that housing advocates on Long Island choose, as an alternative to despair.
Editorial Observer
In a Reborn Corner of Long Island, Blight Comes Creeping Back
By LAWRENCE DOWNES
The foreclosure crisis has created a continent’s worth of disasters, so it might seem unfair to pick one out from all the others. But this one hits close to home, and it hurts. The epidemic of bad loans is threatening to unravel one of the brightest stories of community recovery that New York State has seen in decades: the rebirth of Central Islip.
Central Islip is a Long Island community of about 32,000 people — a modest place, right off the expressway, about as un-Hamptons as Long Island gets, without a quaint downtown or a beach. Its best-known landmark, the Central Islip Psychiatric Center, was for decades both the engine of its prosperity and the catalyst of its devastation.
It was once the country’s second-largest mental hospital, and Central Islip was a company town for thousands of workers and their families. But when the hospital emptied out from the 1960s through the ’80s, the neighborhoods around it did, too. Blocks of tidy houses fell prey to abandonment and rot. Families moved away. Drug dealers and absentee slumlords moved in.
Homegrown institutions kept things from falling apart. One of the most important has been the Central Islip Civic Council, a little nonprofit that has acted as a form of community glue for more than 40 years — building houses, offering loan counseling, managing rental properties and running a food pantry and newspaper.
Its executive director, Nancy Manfredonia, has seen the area fall and rise as master plans have come and gone, bringing new homes and businesses to fill the hole left by the hospital. For years, things have slowly been getting better. A county courthouse was built in the early ’90s, then a federal courthouse. A law school set up nearby. The New York Institute of Technology repaired and occupied many of the old hospital buildings. Then came a ballpark for the Long Island Ducks, shopping centers and housing developments with aspirational names like Islip Landing and Courthouse Commons.
The biggest achievement was College Woods, once a blighted neighborhood called Carleton Park, which the civic council and Town of Islip rebuilt from the ground up. Hundreds of new homes were sold at subsidized prices to low- and moderate-income families. “We recycled the neighborhood,” Ms. Manfredonia said proudly.
But all during the boom, predatory lenders were descending on Central Islip, just as they were next door in Brentwood and Bay Shore and in Wyandanch, Hempstead Village, Freeport, Roosevelt and other working-class places across Long Island. They pushed people into taking loans they couldn’t repay, sold the bad loans into the securitized abyss and disappeared.
Now the bottom has fallen out. Central Islip is a hot spot for defaults and foreclosures. Ms. Manfredonia’s organization regularly surveys abandoned homes. Last year in one neighborhood, the number fell to a historic low: only 11. Now it is rising again. I drove around with her last week, our heads turning left, right and left as we spied the telltale plywood and broken windows. Willow Street in particular was badly hit. “Geez,” she said. “This is really gruesome.”
Ms. Manfredonia knows that not everybody should be a homeowner. She’s hoping the crisis shakes Long Island into filling its desperate need for rental housing — for single people, old people, poor people and now for the people ruined by the burst housing bubble.
Central Islip’s master plans never included significant amounts of rentals because nobody wanted them. That’s typical for Long Island, which is trapped in old patterns of segregation where homeowners see renters as problem people. But now that homeownership itself is under siege, maybe that will change.
The solutions won’t necessarily come from the top down. New York’s state and local governments have lots of other problems besides housing. No one knows how much federal money will eventually flow to distressed homeowners, though it already seems clear that it won’t be enough. There is a dire need for creative ways to keep people in their homes — and those, too, are in short supply.
Grass-roots groups don’t have the luxury of waiting for the crisis to pass. There are banks to haggle with, houses to repair, homeowners to comfort and advise. We’ll figure it out ourselves, Ms. Manfredonia says, voicing the optimism that housing advocates on Long Island choose, as an alternative to despair.
Monday, December 22, 2008
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
'New Deal for Nassau' for business owners is on the table
This Long Island Business News article appears on its web site - LIBN.com.
Nassau focuses on being builder friendly
by Michael H. Samuels
Published: December 17th, 2008
For years, Long Island’s builders and contractors have complained about the blockade that is Nassau County government.
In good times, builders took the problems, such as delays in issuing permits, discrepancies in the application process and slow payments, in stride, knowing there would, eventually, be a big payday ahead. But now as the country sits in a recession, those same builders are begging for expediency. Perhaps they’ll get it.
The county Legislature has launched what it expects will be a series of meetings with contractors, builders, Chamber of Commerce officials and others to help make Nassau County more builder friendly. Those groups joined the Long Island Housing Partnership, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, the county economic development department, Hofstra University and the Long Island Association, as the county seeks to fast-track development. More meetings with workers and municipalities are scheduled.
Already, some business leaders have weighed in and told Nassau officials what they probably already knew: Delays are costly and zoning laws are cumbersome and often difficult to make sense of.
Mark Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors Association, said companies he represents would be better off if county, town and village governments passed capital budgets when they are proposed in January. Often, capital budgets aren’t passed until March or later, leading to delays that affect contractors’ ability to bid on projects and increase planning costs.
Herbst added that government is slow to pay for work, which makes it less appetizing to work on public projects.
“Our suppliers demand to be paid in 30 to 60 days,” Herbst said. “They do not want an excuse that the town or county has not paid us.”
Michael Watt, executive vice president for the Long Island Builders’ Institute, said the new Nassau initiative shows political leaders are ready to put an end to the bureaucracy, which has led to delays in approving development and paying for work already done.
“We have to believe the Nassau leaders are sincere,” Watt said.
Watt said Nassau should speed up the permitting and application process for builders. He said agencies in Nassau, regardless of the municipality, should have a similar application process.
Watt added that Brookhaven and Islip have already streamlined the building application process.
“Builders need to plan their costs,” Watt said. “For instance, they estimate that they will need to borrow a certain amount of money and pay it back in six months. But when six months turns in to 18 months, you’re screwed.”
Many of these complaints are not new. But a booming real estate business made the mess more tolerable.
Lewis Yevoli, the former Oyster Bay supervisor who is now a consultant with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, said the county needs to spearhead an effort to get towns and villages to change their zoning laws to make it easier for builders to increase density and build affordable, work-force housing.
He said many of the density figures are arbitrary and can be easily raised.
But not everyone has grievances.
Jim Castellane, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, said he has a good working relationship with both counties.
He suggested Nassau look into implementing a policy similar to Huntington’s, which fast tracks permits for companies that use a state-approved apprenticeship program. He also said Nassau could hire a labor adviser similar to Suffolk’s. A Suffolk adviser acts as a liaison between the unions and the county.
Otherwise, Castellane said, builders and contractors are going to have to ride through a rough economy. There’s only so much government can do.
“Everybody is going to run into problems now,” Castellane said. “That’s expected with the way the economy is.”
Nassau focuses on being builder friendly
by Michael H. Samuels
Published: December 17th, 2008
For years, Long Island’s builders and contractors have complained about the blockade that is Nassau County government.
In good times, builders took the problems, such as delays in issuing permits, discrepancies in the application process and slow payments, in stride, knowing there would, eventually, be a big payday ahead. But now as the country sits in a recession, those same builders are begging for expediency. Perhaps they’ll get it.
The county Legislature has launched what it expects will be a series of meetings with contractors, builders, Chamber of Commerce officials and others to help make Nassau County more builder friendly. Those groups joined the Long Island Housing Partnership, the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, the county economic development department, Hofstra University and the Long Island Association, as the county seeks to fast-track development. More meetings with workers and municipalities are scheduled.
Already, some business leaders have weighed in and told Nassau officials what they probably already knew: Delays are costly and zoning laws are cumbersome and often difficult to make sense of.
Mark Herbst, executive director of the Long Island Contractors Association, said companies he represents would be better off if county, town and village governments passed capital budgets when they are proposed in January. Often, capital budgets aren’t passed until March or later, leading to delays that affect contractors’ ability to bid on projects and increase planning costs.
Herbst added that government is slow to pay for work, which makes it less appetizing to work on public projects.
“Our suppliers demand to be paid in 30 to 60 days,” Herbst said. “They do not want an excuse that the town or county has not paid us.”
Michael Watt, executive vice president for the Long Island Builders’ Institute, said the new Nassau initiative shows political leaders are ready to put an end to the bureaucracy, which has led to delays in approving development and paying for work already done.
“We have to believe the Nassau leaders are sincere,” Watt said.
Watt said Nassau should speed up the permitting and application process for builders. He said agencies in Nassau, regardless of the municipality, should have a similar application process.
Watt added that Brookhaven and Islip have already streamlined the building application process.
“Builders need to plan their costs,” Watt said. “For instance, they estimate that they will need to borrow a certain amount of money and pay it back in six months. But when six months turns in to 18 months, you’re screwed.”
Many of these complaints are not new. But a booming real estate business made the mess more tolerable.
Lewis Yevoli, the former Oyster Bay supervisor who is now a consultant with the Nassau County Industrial Development Agency, said the county needs to spearhead an effort to get towns and villages to change their zoning laws to make it easier for builders to increase density and build affordable, work-force housing.
He said many of the density figures are arbitrary and can be easily raised.
But not everyone has grievances.
Jim Castellane, president of the Building and Construction Trades Council of Nassau and Suffolk counties, said he has a good working relationship with both counties.
He suggested Nassau look into implementing a policy similar to Huntington’s, which fast tracks permits for companies that use a state-approved apprenticeship program. He also said Nassau could hire a labor adviser similar to Suffolk’s. A Suffolk adviser acts as a liaison between the unions and the county.
Otherwise, Castellane said, builders and contractors are going to have to ride through a rough economy. There’s only so much government can do.
“Everybody is going to run into problems now,” Castellane said. “That’s expected with the way the economy is.”
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Like everybody else, Long Island business owners in general and the Long Island building community in particular will pay close attention to the Governor’s budget message this morning. Here are some thoughts we have on the matter.
• New York State government should strive to "do more with less" as the thousands of NYS businesses dealing with this economic crisis have done already.
• Raising prices is not an option for us, so increasing the already onerous tax burden on NYS residents and business owners should not be an option for the state. We do support such creative measures as expanding the number of venues where wine can be sold and blocking the sale of untaxed cigarettes to non-Native Americans.
• A more efficient and effective NYS - i.e. taking less time to approve permits -- would mean more business activity, which in turn generates more tax revenues. One of my developers had to wait 10 weeks to get the permits he needed for a development and it almost cost him the deal. That's tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenues that were delayed and almost lost.
• The Governor has vowed to re-visit DEC regulations that are un-enforceable because of a lack of manpower and other programs that inhibit the development process. This would be helpful.
• The Governor should re-visit well-intentioned but flawed land preservation practices that take huge chunks of property off the property tax rolls. Rather than purchase whole blocks of land and rendering them sterile, for instance, it should allow a portion of that land to be developed with higher densities than currently allowed so that the developer can contribute the unused portion of that land back to the community at no charge to the taxpayer.
• New York State government should strive to "do more with less" as the thousands of NYS businesses dealing with this economic crisis have done already.
• Raising prices is not an option for us, so increasing the already onerous tax burden on NYS residents and business owners should not be an option for the state. We do support such creative measures as expanding the number of venues where wine can be sold and blocking the sale of untaxed cigarettes to non-Native Americans.
• A more efficient and effective NYS - i.e. taking less time to approve permits -- would mean more business activity, which in turn generates more tax revenues. One of my developers had to wait 10 weeks to get the permits he needed for a development and it almost cost him the deal. That's tens of thousands of dollars in tax revenues that were delayed and almost lost.
• The Governor has vowed to re-visit DEC regulations that are un-enforceable because of a lack of manpower and other programs that inhibit the development process. This would be helpful.
• The Governor should re-visit well-intentioned but flawed land preservation practices that take huge chunks of property off the property tax rolls. Rather than purchase whole blocks of land and rendering them sterile, for instance, it should allow a portion of that land to be developed with higher densities than currently allowed so that the developer can contribute the unused portion of that land back to the community at no charge to the taxpayer.
Monday, December 8, 2008
Are public works projects the answer?
According to a story in this morning's Newsday, some federal lawmakers have estimated that 47,000 jobs are created for every $1 billion spent on infrastructure.
The Newsday story goes on to delineate different construction projects under consideration for the region. To see the complete story, click here.
The Newsday story goes on to delineate different construction projects under consideration for the region. To see the complete story, click here.
Friday, December 5, 2008
Washington’s New Tack: Helping Homeowners
The New York Times presents some interesting insight as to what's happening in Washington to help stimulate home buying across the country. Click here to read the article.
Thursday, December 4, 2008
Home loan applications doubled last week
Newsday's Ellen Yan reports today that mortgage applications are up and keeping mortgage brokers busy. Click here to check it out or read it below.
Newsday.com
After rates drop, mortgage brokers get busy
BY ELLEN YAN
ellen.yan@newsday.com
11:48 PM EST, December 3, 2008
On an average day, Gregory Frank's Woodbury mortgage brokerage would get 20 new inquiries, but lately phones and e-mails have been tied up with about 100 new inquiries a day.
Yesterday, he reversed an interest rate lock, from 6.5 percent to 61/8 percent, when a client set to close Friday on a $1.2-million loan asked him to renegotiate with the bank.
"My loan officers are very active now, writing new deals and pricing out new deals," said Frank, president of Blackstone Mortgage Corp. "We're definitely feeling the heartbeat."
It's been a Thanksgiving to remember for many brokers and lenders as a cornucopia of calls and loans has spilled open. The federal government said last week it would start buying up to $600 billion in bad loans and mortgage-backed securities. That caused home-loan interest rates to fall. They were hovering around 5.5 percent yesterday for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. The drop, in turn, led to borrowers' calling about refinancing, homeowners' trying to turn their adjustable rates into fixed ones, house hunters' committing to buying and others' asking to be notified if rates dropped more.
Home loan applications last week doubled despite the shortened workweek, the Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday. Refinancing last week accounted for 69.1 percent of all mortgage activity, up from 49.3 percent the week before, the trade group said, while home purchase loans increased 38 percent.
That report backed claims from lenders of banner times. The day after the federal announcement, a top-20 home mortgage lender, Ohio-based AmTrust Bank, said in an e-mail that rates had been locked on $1.5 billion in mortgages for the day, "historic levels" for the company. In its e-mail to mortgage brokers before the holiday, Wells Fargo said it had a "remarkable day" with "huge activity."
Borrowers learned a lesson when they missed locking onto rates that went down briefly in September after the federal government took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said Orawin Velz, the trade group's associate vice president of economic forecasting. With the federal government's latest move, he said, "many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound."
At a Westbury-based mortgage banker, Financial Equities, there's been a 30 percent to 40 percent jump in calls from stable borrowers who carry a 6.5 percent or higher interest rate and now want the current rate of 5.5 percent and lower.
"Over the last year, maybe 20 percent of my business was refinancing, now today it's probably closer to 40 to 50 percent," said company president Walter Stashin.
But he said house hunters have not inundated phones lines and probably won't until early next year, when federal loan purchases free up cash for lenders and the impact trickles down to consumers.
For one thing, Stashin said, the National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday confirmed that the country is in a recession, and that countered optimism over the federal government's loan buybacks. Also, he said, standards for federally backed mortgages, which is mostly what's available now, have not eased much, with fully documented loans required for the most part. On top of that, many house hunters in high-cost places such as Long Island need jumbo loans, which are more than $417,000, but these loans carry higher interest rates of 7 percent and are harder to get, he said.
"We have quite a bit of pre-approvals," Stashin said. "But have people found a home yet? No. People don't know if it's the bottom yet as far as the housing market, and with the way the economy's going, people are talking recession."
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Newsday.com
After rates drop, mortgage brokers get busy
BY ELLEN YAN
ellen.yan@newsday.com
11:48 PM EST, December 3, 2008
On an average day, Gregory Frank's Woodbury mortgage brokerage would get 20 new inquiries, but lately phones and e-mails have been tied up with about 100 new inquiries a day.
Yesterday, he reversed an interest rate lock, from 6.5 percent to 61/8 percent, when a client set to close Friday on a $1.2-million loan asked him to renegotiate with the bank.
"My loan officers are very active now, writing new deals and pricing out new deals," said Frank, president of Blackstone Mortgage Corp. "We're definitely feeling the heartbeat."
It's been a Thanksgiving to remember for many brokers and lenders as a cornucopia of calls and loans has spilled open. The federal government said last week it would start buying up to $600 billion in bad loans and mortgage-backed securities. That caused home-loan interest rates to fall. They were hovering around 5.5 percent yesterday for 30-year fixed-rate mortgages. The drop, in turn, led to borrowers' calling about refinancing, homeowners' trying to turn their adjustable rates into fixed ones, house hunters' committing to buying and others' asking to be notified if rates dropped more.
Home loan applications last week doubled despite the shortened workweek, the Mortgage Bankers Association said yesterday. Refinancing last week accounted for 69.1 percent of all mortgage activity, up from 49.3 percent the week before, the trade group said, while home purchase loans increased 38 percent.
That report backed claims from lenders of banner times. The day after the federal announcement, a top-20 home mortgage lender, Ohio-based AmTrust Bank, said in an e-mail that rates had been locked on $1.5 billion in mortgages for the day, "historic levels" for the company. In its e-mail to mortgage brokers before the holiday, Wells Fargo said it had a "remarkable day" with "huge activity."
Borrowers learned a lesson when they missed locking onto rates that went down briefly in September after the federal government took over mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said Orawin Velz, the trade group's associate vice president of economic forecasting. With the federal government's latest move, he said, "many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound."
At a Westbury-based mortgage banker, Financial Equities, there's been a 30 percent to 40 percent jump in calls from stable borrowers who carry a 6.5 percent or higher interest rate and now want the current rate of 5.5 percent and lower.
"Over the last year, maybe 20 percent of my business was refinancing, now today it's probably closer to 40 to 50 percent," said company president Walter Stashin.
But he said house hunters have not inundated phones lines and probably won't until early next year, when federal loan purchases free up cash for lenders and the impact trickles down to consumers.
For one thing, Stashin said, the National Bureau of Economic Research on Monday confirmed that the country is in a recession, and that countered optimism over the federal government's loan buybacks. Also, he said, standards for federally backed mortgages, which is mostly what's available now, have not eased much, with fully documented loans required for the most part. On top of that, many house hunters in high-cost places such as Long Island need jumbo loans, which are more than $417,000, but these loans carry higher interest rates of 7 percent and are harder to get, he said.
"We have quite a bit of pre-approvals," Stashin said. "But have people found a home yet? No. People don't know if it's the bottom yet as far as the housing market, and with the way the economy's going, people are talking recession."
Copyright © 2008, Newsday Inc.
Wednesday, December 3, 2008
A Ray of Sunshine? Mortgage Applications Up. Way Up
This article was posted to Marketwatch.com today.
Borrowers rush to refinance
Mortgage applications up 112.1% last week, due to drop in rates: MBA
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:38 a.m. EST Dec. 3, 2008CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage applications filed last week rose a seasonally adjusted 112.1%, compared with the week before, as borrowers rushed to lock in lower rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, released on Wednesday.
"Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship," said Orawin Velz, associate vice president of economic forecasting for the association. GSEs refer to government-sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
"When rates plummeted following the Fed's announcement that it would buy GSE debt and MBS [mortgage-backed securities], many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound."
The Federal Reserve announced last week that it would purchase up to $100 billion in direct debt of Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks, along with up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae.
The move caused mortgage rates to drop.
According to the MBA survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.47% for the week ending Nov. 28, a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The mortgage averaged 5.99% the previous week.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.13% last week, down from 5.78%. And one-year ARMs averaged 6.61% last week, down from 6.87%.
Applications to refinance an existing loan rose 203.3% last week, compared with the week before. Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose a seasonally adjusted 38.0%.
The four-week moving average for all loans was up 29.7%. Still, application volume last week was down 21.9% compared with the same week in 2007.
Refinance applications made up 69.1% of all activity, up from a 49.3% share the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share was 1.4%, down from 3.0% the week before.
The MBA survey covers about half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
Borrowers rush to refinance
Mortgage applications up 112.1% last week, due to drop in rates: MBA
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:38 a.m. EST Dec. 3, 2008CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- Mortgage applications filed last week rose a seasonally adjusted 112.1%, compared with the week before, as borrowers rushed to lock in lower rates, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association's weekly survey, released on Wednesday.
"Many borrowers missed an opportunity to take advantage when rates dropped sharply for a brief period when the GSEs were placed under conservatorship," said Orawin Velz, associate vice president of economic forecasting for the association. GSEs refer to government-sponsored enterprises Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae.
"When rates plummeted following the Fed's announcement that it would buy GSE debt and MBS [mortgage-backed securities], many of those on the sidelines decided to quickly jump in and take advantage of lower rates before they began to rebound."
The Federal Reserve announced last week that it would purchase up to $100 billion in direct debt of Fannie, Freddie and the Federal Home Loan Banks, along with up to $500 billion of mortgage-backed securities backed by Fannie, Freddie and Ginnie Mae.
The move caused mortgage rates to drop.
According to the MBA survey, rates on 30-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.47% for the week ending Nov. 28, a shortened week due to the Thanksgiving holiday. The mortgage averaged 5.99% the previous week.
Fifteen-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 5.13% last week, down from 5.78%. And one-year ARMs averaged 6.61% last week, down from 6.87%.
Applications to refinance an existing loan rose 203.3% last week, compared with the week before. Mortgage applications to purchase a home rose a seasonally adjusted 38.0%.
The four-week moving average for all loans was up 29.7%. Still, application volume last week was down 21.9% compared with the same week in 2007.
Refinance applications made up 69.1% of all activity, up from a 49.3% share the previous week. The adjustable-rate mortgage share was 1.4%, down from 3.0% the week before.
The MBA survey covers about half of all U.S. retail residential mortgage applications.
Amy Hoak is a MarketWatch reporter based in Chicago.
Tuesday, December 2, 2008
Holiday Parties
Last night I attended a holiday soiree hosted by a major law firm on Long Island. It was packed and apparently the firm is doing well, because there was no skimping on the food and drink. Unfortunately I get the sense that this will be the exception rather than the rule for the rest of Long Island.
I find the whole process fascinating. As the month drags on I am sure I will hear complaints from folks who "have" to attend these things. Quite frankly I see the events as terrific networking opportunities. I have perfected the art of seeing who I have to see at these things and then skedaddling home in time to see my son before he retires for the evening.
Put another way: in light of current events, "having" to attend a function where free food and drink is at your disposal and there are ample opportunities to meet new people is a nice problem to have.
I find the whole process fascinating. As the month drags on I am sure I will hear complaints from folks who "have" to attend these things. Quite frankly I see the events as terrific networking opportunities. I have perfected the art of seeing who I have to see at these things and then skedaddling home in time to see my son before he retires for the evening.
Put another way: in light of current events, "having" to attend a function where free food and drink is at your disposal and there are ample opportunities to meet new people is a nice problem to have.
Monday, December 1, 2008
The Return of the Blog
The first day back to work after a long weekend is always an interesting challenge. Not as big a challenge as NOT having a job to go back to, of course, and that reality gets you out of bed in a hurry.
But as we wind down 2008 - say good riddance, really - and get ready for 2009, it's only natural to wonder if next year will represent something better or worse. We'll spend the rest of this month gearing up to put us in a position to make it as good a year as possible, obviously, but if 2008 taught us anything it's that we're not always in control of what transpires over time. Just ask Eliot Spitzer, Joe Bruno and anyone else for whom this year did not go exactly as planned.
But as we wind down 2008 - say good riddance, really - and get ready for 2009, it's only natural to wonder if next year will represent something better or worse. We'll spend the rest of this month gearing up to put us in a position to make it as good a year as possible, obviously, but if 2008 taught us anything it's that we're not always in control of what transpires over time. Just ask Eliot Spitzer, Joe Bruno and anyone else for whom this year did not go exactly as planned.
Thursday, November 20, 2008
We'll let this op-ed piece which appears on the Long Island Business News Web site speak for itself.
Durso: A fresh start for America and LI
by John R. Durso
Published: November 20th, 2008
In an unlikely quest that began 20 months ago in Iowa, Sen. Barack Obama’s transforming election as our 44th president offers America a fresh start.
Despite a deteriorating economy and two wars, on Long Island and across our nation the mood is ebullient. Yes, labor unions are ecstatic.
Labor’s outreach effort for Obama touched 13 million households in 24 battleground states, helping unleash a record-breaking turnout of Hispanics, Asians, blacks and young people – an electorate as diverse as the labor movement itself.
Fresh leadership in Washington, D.C., has sparked a sense of hope, of moving forward. On Election Day, Suffolk County passed a budget that funded needed services and doesn’t raise property taxes. Long Island Realtors are cautiously upbeat, telling us we’re doing OK so far compared to other parts of the country.
Polls show that Americans are demanding long-term, structural solutions to the deep economic problems we face. A Time magazine survey found that 82 percent favor government-funded, public work projects to jump-start the economy. That’s just what Obama has in mind.
The nation’s unemployment rate soared to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were lost. Obama will make grants to state and local governments that have been hard hit by revenue losses from the economic downturn – Mayor Bloomberg’s new budget cuts 3,000 jobs in New York City. On Long Island, a federal stimulus package will energize projects already underway and open the door for new opportunities.
Creating jobs and rebuilding America’s middle class is what Obama’s presidential campaign was all about and voters gave him the most lopsided election victory for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson whomped Barry Goldwater in 1964.
With that mandate, he can pursue the aggressive agenda America needs. And that includes the Employee Free Choice Act. Workers know that a union is their ticket to the middle class. The EFCA will give them the freedom to make their own decision about whether and how to form a union. There is no better economic stimulus – unions allow more people to bargain for better wages, which helps rebuild our middle class and create a prosperous economy.
Democrats didn’t have enough votes in the Senate last year to pass the EFCA, but the election changed all that. No need to tiptoe around the issue this time. Six newly elected senators strongly support the bill that President-elect Obama co-sponsored.
The legislation is overdue to raise the standard of living for workers, an essential ingredient of America’s fresh start.
John R. Durso is president of RWDSU Local 338 and international vice president of the United Food & Commercial Workers. He is also president of the Long Island Federation of Labor.
Durso: A fresh start for America and LI
by John R. Durso
Published: November 20th, 2008
In an unlikely quest that began 20 months ago in Iowa, Sen. Barack Obama’s transforming election as our 44th president offers America a fresh start.
Despite a deteriorating economy and two wars, on Long Island and across our nation the mood is ebullient. Yes, labor unions are ecstatic.
Labor’s outreach effort for Obama touched 13 million households in 24 battleground states, helping unleash a record-breaking turnout of Hispanics, Asians, blacks and young people – an electorate as diverse as the labor movement itself.
Fresh leadership in Washington, D.C., has sparked a sense of hope, of moving forward. On Election Day, Suffolk County passed a budget that funded needed services and doesn’t raise property taxes. Long Island Realtors are cautiously upbeat, telling us we’re doing OK so far compared to other parts of the country.
Polls show that Americans are demanding long-term, structural solutions to the deep economic problems we face. A Time magazine survey found that 82 percent favor government-funded, public work projects to jump-start the economy. That’s just what Obama has in mind.
The nation’s unemployment rate soared to a 14-year high of 6.5 percent in October as another 240,000 jobs were lost. Obama will make grants to state and local governments that have been hard hit by revenue losses from the economic downturn – Mayor Bloomberg’s new budget cuts 3,000 jobs in New York City. On Long Island, a federal stimulus package will energize projects already underway and open the door for new opportunities.
Creating jobs and rebuilding America’s middle class is what Obama’s presidential campaign was all about and voters gave him the most lopsided election victory for a Democrat since Lyndon Johnson whomped Barry Goldwater in 1964.
With that mandate, he can pursue the aggressive agenda America needs. And that includes the Employee Free Choice Act. Workers know that a union is their ticket to the middle class. The EFCA will give them the freedom to make their own decision about whether and how to form a union. There is no better economic stimulus – unions allow more people to bargain for better wages, which helps rebuild our middle class and create a prosperous economy.
Democrats didn’t have enough votes in the Senate last year to pass the EFCA, but the election changed all that. No need to tiptoe around the issue this time. Six newly elected senators strongly support the bill that President-elect Obama co-sponsored.
The legislation is overdue to raise the standard of living for workers, an essential ingredient of America’s fresh start.
John R. Durso is president of RWDSU Local 338 and international vice president of the United Food & Commercial Workers. He is also president of the Long Island Federation of Labor.
Sometimes Symbolism is Everything
If your brother-in-law showed up at your house looking to borrow a ton of money, and as he was talking you noticed his Mercedes Maybach in the driveway, you might not be too sympathetic to his cause, would you?
That's pretty much what happened yesterday in Washington, D.C. The leaders of the Big Three automakers came to Washington looking for their share of the federal government's bail out money. Each of the leaders flew to Washington in their respective company's private, corporate jet. The cost of these individual flights are estimated to be $20,000 each - and that does not even take into the consideration the environmental impacts.
Strong, effective arguments have been made about the use of corporate jets. Warren Buffett railed about them for years until he actually used one, and then he had an epiphany: An executive's time is better spent being whisked in and out of airports so he or she can focus on making major, money-making decisions.
An argument can also be made that politics focuses too much on the symbolic. President-elect Obama's campaign was almost derailed by the flag-pin-on-the-lapel controversy, for instance.
But in this case, Congressman Gary Ackerman was correct to point out the Big Three executives' collective hubris. We get that the automakers are hurting, and that the demise of these companies will lead to the demise of many others. We're all hurting. Wouldn't a demonstration that the executives are feeling that pain have been the proper thing to do? Can you blame Congress for turning its back? Would you lend money to someone tooling around in a Maybach?
That's pretty much what happened yesterday in Washington, D.C. The leaders of the Big Three automakers came to Washington looking for their share of the federal government's bail out money. Each of the leaders flew to Washington in their respective company's private, corporate jet. The cost of these individual flights are estimated to be $20,000 each - and that does not even take into the consideration the environmental impacts.
Strong, effective arguments have been made about the use of corporate jets. Warren Buffett railed about them for years until he actually used one, and then he had an epiphany: An executive's time is better spent being whisked in and out of airports so he or she can focus on making major, money-making decisions.
An argument can also be made that politics focuses too much on the symbolic. President-elect Obama's campaign was almost derailed by the flag-pin-on-the-lapel controversy, for instance.
But in this case, Congressman Gary Ackerman was correct to point out the Big Three executives' collective hubris. We get that the automakers are hurting, and that the demise of these companies will lead to the demise of many others. We're all hurting. Wouldn't a demonstration that the executives are feeling that pain have been the proper thing to do? Can you blame Congress for turning its back? Would you lend money to someone tooling around in a Maybach?
Monday, November 17, 2008
Thriving In Real Estate
As a change of pace from the downbeat of bad news so pervasive today LIBI presents the gems linked below. As Mr. Citarelli likes to say, "When life hands you a lemon, make a lemonade." A cliche? Of course. But true nonetheless.
Click here to read Marcelle Fischler's story from yesterday's real estate section in the New York Times about Lawrence Citarelli and his aggressive real estate plans.
Click here to view the upbeat outlook presented by R. Donald Peebles, real estate maven and adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, on how he's finding opportunities in this vexing economy.
Click here to read Marcelle Fischler's story from yesterday's real estate section in the New York Times about Lawrence Citarelli and his aggressive real estate plans.
Click here to view the upbeat outlook presented by R. Donald Peebles, real estate maven and adviser to President-elect Barack Obama, on how he's finding opportunities in this vexing economy.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Miracles Do Happen
It took ten years, but Trammel Crow got the go-ahead to demolish the Courtesy Hotel in West Hempstead and replace it with a beautiful new project.
You would think it wouldn't take ten years to replace something bad (by all accounts the Courtesy Hotel is a blight on the community) with something good, especially when that something good HAD THE FULL BACKING OF THE LOCAL CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS.
But Long Island being Long Island, it still took 10 years.
Going forward, I would love to see an ongoing dollar ticker on sites like this that demonstrate how much tax money is lost through municipal foot-dragging - a money clock along the lines of the one in Manhattan that tracks our national debt.
You would think it wouldn't take ten years to replace something bad (by all accounts the Courtesy Hotel is a blight on the community) with something good, especially when that something good HAD THE FULL BACKING OF THE LOCAL CIVIC ASSOCIATIONS.
But Long Island being Long Island, it still took 10 years.
Going forward, I would love to see an ongoing dollar ticker on sites like this that demonstrate how much tax money is lost through municipal foot-dragging - a money clock along the lines of the one in Manhattan that tracks our national debt.
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
Balancing the Budget
There is an excellent op-ed piece in this morning's Newsday. The author, former Gov. George Pataki spokesman Christopher Chichester, warns of the sturm und drang to be caused by the budget slashing Governor Paterson is sure to propose.
Perhaps Governor Paterson should call on our builders for guidance. There's not a LIBI member who hasn't made some painful decisions in the past year or so. Very few people enjoy tightening their belts. But it has to be done. Nobody wants to return to the 1970s, where New York City and New York State stood on the precipice of financial ruin because nobody had the political courage to cut spending. This is why we have elected officials - just like this is why we have bosses. We need leaders to keep an eye on the big picture and to make decisions that are in the best interests of the greatest number of people. And we need people to understand that sometimes you have to bear a little pain in life.
In other words, suck it up New York.
Perhaps Governor Paterson should call on our builders for guidance. There's not a LIBI member who hasn't made some painful decisions in the past year or so. Very few people enjoy tightening their belts. But it has to be done. Nobody wants to return to the 1970s, where New York City and New York State stood on the precipice of financial ruin because nobody had the political courage to cut spending. This is why we have elected officials - just like this is why we have bosses. We need leaders to keep an eye on the big picture and to make decisions that are in the best interests of the greatest number of people. And we need people to understand that sometimes you have to bear a little pain in life.
In other words, suck it up New York.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Business Lessons Learned
I was working for an Internet company when the "tech bubble" of the late 1990s burst in 2000. The company conducted manager meetings around the same table the founding partners used as a desk during the day and, all too often, as something to sleep on during the night when the demands of running a start up called for an all-nighter.
At the end of one of the meetings the CEO announced that the company, Invision.com, would be getting new conference room furniture. "It's really nice stuff, too," he said. "One of the companies that owes us money is going out of business. The best they can do in terms of paying us is to give us their conference room furniture. Of course, if they hadn't wasted so much money on fancy conference room furniture they might still be in business."
Based on what I read in the newspapers of late, I have to wonder if that business lesson has been forgotten or was never learned by the men and women running some of America's biggest corporations. As I watch companies everybody thought would be around forever fade from the corporate landscape, I become more convinced that the bigger the company is, the more likely it is that it succeeds despite itself.
Take General Motors, for instance. How does a company with so many resources at its disposal find itself in a situation where it can't last much longer without government assistance?
What's truly amazing, however, is the talk we hear of how the "Wall Street bonuses" won't be as large this year, and also about how the executives who ran AIG, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are entitled to billions of dollars in exit fees. Excuse me for sounding naive, but shouldn't bonuses and exit fees be tied to performance? How can anyone involved in creating the mess we find ourselves in today even THINK about taking an extra dime?
Those business people who take risks and succeed are entitled to whatever it is they can get, legally. It's the rewarding of failure, incompetence and quite possibly criminal behavior, however, that best explains how we find ourselves on the precipice of economic doom today.
At the end of one of the meetings the CEO announced that the company, Invision.com, would be getting new conference room furniture. "It's really nice stuff, too," he said. "One of the companies that owes us money is going out of business. The best they can do in terms of paying us is to give us their conference room furniture. Of course, if they hadn't wasted so much money on fancy conference room furniture they might still be in business."
Based on what I read in the newspapers of late, I have to wonder if that business lesson has been forgotten or was never learned by the men and women running some of America's biggest corporations. As I watch companies everybody thought would be around forever fade from the corporate landscape, I become more convinced that the bigger the company is, the more likely it is that it succeeds despite itself.
Take General Motors, for instance. How does a company with so many resources at its disposal find itself in a situation where it can't last much longer without government assistance?
What's truly amazing, however, is the talk we hear of how the "Wall Street bonuses" won't be as large this year, and also about how the executives who ran AIG, Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch are entitled to billions of dollars in exit fees. Excuse me for sounding naive, but shouldn't bonuses and exit fees be tied to performance? How can anyone involved in creating the mess we find ourselves in today even THINK about taking an extra dime?
Those business people who take risks and succeed are entitled to whatever it is they can get, legally. It's the rewarding of failure, incompetence and quite possibly criminal behavior, however, that best explains how we find ourselves on the precipice of economic doom today.
Thursday, November 6, 2008
Hoping for the best
Maybe a fresh start is what we all need.
Maybe the new guard will deliver the goods and turn the local, state and national economies around.
We certainly hope so.
There's an old saying: "Be careful what you pray for, because you might get it."
The Democrats prayed to be in control and, God bless them, now they are. Now we are going to find out if their ideas and their direction provide the answers. It's a lot easier to sit in the back of the room and shoot spitballs than it is to actually govern. The Democrats believe they are capable of running New York State better than their Republican counterparts and so did a majority of New Yorkers, apparently.
Again: we certainly hope so.
LIBI supports any effort that seeks to maintain a healthy balance of economic development and quality of life. We plan to support any elected official who proposes legislation with that end goal in mind. LIBI members live here and want to see our children stay here. We want what's best for our fellow New Yorkers just as much as everyone else.
The long, hard campaign is over. The even harder task of governing lies ahead. Let's have at it and let's make Long Island and New York healthy again!
Maybe the new guard will deliver the goods and turn the local, state and national economies around.
We certainly hope so.
There's an old saying: "Be careful what you pray for, because you might get it."
The Democrats prayed to be in control and, God bless them, now they are. Now we are going to find out if their ideas and their direction provide the answers. It's a lot easier to sit in the back of the room and shoot spitballs than it is to actually govern. The Democrats believe they are capable of running New York State better than their Republican counterparts and so did a majority of New Yorkers, apparently.
Again: we certainly hope so.
LIBI supports any effort that seeks to maintain a healthy balance of economic development and quality of life. We plan to support any elected official who proposes legislation with that end goal in mind. LIBI members live here and want to see our children stay here. We want what's best for our fellow New Yorkers just as much as everyone else.
The long, hard campaign is over. The even harder task of governing lies ahead. Let's have at it and let's make Long Island and New York healthy again!
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Hail to the Victors!
The results are in. History has been made. Congratulations to those who were victorious last night.
The Long Island Builders Institute looks forward to working with our elected officials. The challenges are great and time is short. Let's have it!
The Long Island Builders Institute looks forward to working with our elected officials. The challenges are great and time is short. Let's have it!
Tuesday, November 4, 2008
Pondering the Imponderables
If you're in the building industry there's a good chance you have dealt with lay-offs within your organization over the past year. At no point, however, would you let on to your customer base that you are "cutting back on services."
So why, then, it is accepted without comment that government layoffs will result on fewer government services? Why can't government workforces do more with less just like the private sector? When was the last time you heard a governor, mayor, county executive or town supervisor say he or she is going to cut costs within his or her bureauacy by asking their employees to work a little harder and maybe a little longer? Most likely the next time you hear such a thing will be the first time.
Just something to think about as we watch our elected officials deal with the financial mess created in no small part by the anti-development forces that have stifled the building industry on Long Island.
So why, then, it is accepted without comment that government layoffs will result on fewer government services? Why can't government workforces do more with less just like the private sector? When was the last time you heard a governor, mayor, county executive or town supervisor say he or she is going to cut costs within his or her bureauacy by asking their employees to work a little harder and maybe a little longer? Most likely the next time you hear such a thing will be the first time.
Just something to think about as we watch our elected officials deal with the financial mess created in no small part by the anti-development forces that have stifled the building industry on Long Island.
Monday, November 3, 2008
Dirty Dancing Change Is Coming
Remember the scene toward the end of "Dirty Dancing," where the fellow who's running the resort turns to his staffer and says something to the effect of, "I can't put my finger on it, but I feel we are coming to the end of an era. Change is coming and there is nothing we can do about it."
One can't help but feel that tomorrow's election - regardless of the outcome - is going to bring that kind of change. Perhaps that's stating the obvious, given that we will have new president after 20 years of Bush & Clinton. But the sense I get is painfully reminiscent of 1976, when Americans said they had had enough of Watergate, Vietnam and presidents they could not trust and admire and wholesale changes were made in Washington. Unfortunately the change was not for the better and the leadership void of the late 1970s created the vacuum that led to the Reagan Revolution of 1980, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
Anyone who claims he or she knows where the next few years are going to take us is full of soup. Most likely the people projecting where we are headed are the same people who told us over the summer that oil was headed to $200 a barrel and $5 a gallon gasoline was going to be part of our everyday lives.
I do know this: the banks better get their collective acts together and straighten out the foreclosure mess. If this situation is not resolved soon the four leaders on Mount Rushmore could morph into one and come back to run the country and it would do a lick of good because the economy will be a complete mess.
One can't help but feel that tomorrow's election - regardless of the outcome - is going to bring that kind of change. Perhaps that's stating the obvious, given that we will have new president after 20 years of Bush & Clinton. But the sense I get is painfully reminiscent of 1976, when Americans said they had had enough of Watergate, Vietnam and presidents they could not trust and admire and wholesale changes were made in Washington. Unfortunately the change was not for the better and the leadership void of the late 1970s created the vacuum that led to the Reagan Revolution of 1980, but we're getting ahead of ourselves here.
Anyone who claims he or she knows where the next few years are going to take us is full of soup. Most likely the people projecting where we are headed are the same people who told us over the summer that oil was headed to $200 a barrel and $5 a gallon gasoline was going to be part of our everyday lives.
I do know this: the banks better get their collective acts together and straighten out the foreclosure mess. If this situation is not resolved soon the four leaders on Mount Rushmore could morph into one and come back to run the country and it would do a lick of good because the economy will be a complete mess.
Friday, October 31, 2008
Long Island's Future Votes With Its Feet, Part 2
Yesterday's blog dealt with the ramifications of failed Long Island policies and mindsets that are driving the region's young people away in droves. Today we present some numbers that point out just how drastic and dangerous the situation is.
According to the Long Island Association, the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that from 2000 through 2007 Long Island''s population between the ages of 25 and 44 declined by 157,424, a rate of 18.99 percent. Through 2006, the loss had been 122,477, a rate of 14.8 percent.
Those are some scary numbers.
Apparently our elected officials are not concerned about these people because they have left the Island and therefore are in no position to cast votes. Since the name of the game is getting re-elected, the Powers That Be will continue to cater to those who are still here - people who shoot down every attempt to create a situation that would encourage young people to establish roots here - no matter how short-sighted this line of thinking is. Let somebody else worry about what's going to happen a few years from now when the companies start leaving - and taking their jobs with them - because there's an insufficient workforce to support them here.
We need to develop our downtowns and we need to do it now. In Suffolk we need sewers to allow for this density.
Here are some more numbers and thoughts from the LIA: From 2000 through 2007, the ACS estimates that the overall population of Long Island grew by only 5,849. By way of contrast, the ACS estimate for 2000 through 2006, showed a population increase of 41,464. So, the new estimate suggests a significant one-year decline in population growth.
Long Island continues to have the highest rate of decline in the 25 to 44 group in New York State, and in the metropolitan area. The average rate of decline in New York City was 2.24 percent, and in the other New York City suburbs it was 14.43 percent. In all New York City suburbs collectively (New Jersey and Connecticut included) it was 10.64 percent. In upstate New York, the decline was 11.57 percent. No single upstate statistical area had a rate of decline as high as Long Island''s, including Erie County. For national demographic context, the rate of decline in the 25 to 44 year old age group was 1.93 percent, about one-tenth of the rate of decline experienced on Long Island.
Reflecting the decline in people of childbearing years, the ACS estimates that Long Island's population of children from birth through 9 years of age declined by 55,599 from 2000 through 2007.
The population decline in an age group can be attributed to past birthrates and aging, as well as to out-migration. To assess the decline of Long Island''s younger population, it is important to look at the relative trends. Demographics affect all areas. If Long Island's relative rate of decline is significantly higher than other comparable areas, that suggests that there is more at work than just birth rates.
The American Community Survey of the Census Bureau annually estimates population for many areas of the country using the official methodology that will be used in the decennial census. That methodology has been approved by all major organizations of statistical professionals in the nation. It is not without its critics in public office, however. Both county executives have decided to challenge the ACS estimates using a different methodology, which in part draws upon LIPA's way of estimating population. That method uses an analysis of electrical meters and population assumptions relating to them. LIPA''s estimates have always been higher than the Census Bureau's count.
According to the Long Island Association, the American Community Survey conducted by the U.S. Census Bureau estimates that from 2000 through 2007 Long Island''s population between the ages of 25 and 44 declined by 157,424, a rate of 18.99 percent. Through 2006, the loss had been 122,477, a rate of 14.8 percent.
Those are some scary numbers.
Apparently our elected officials are not concerned about these people because they have left the Island and therefore are in no position to cast votes. Since the name of the game is getting re-elected, the Powers That Be will continue to cater to those who are still here - people who shoot down every attempt to create a situation that would encourage young people to establish roots here - no matter how short-sighted this line of thinking is. Let somebody else worry about what's going to happen a few years from now when the companies start leaving - and taking their jobs with them - because there's an insufficient workforce to support them here.
We need to develop our downtowns and we need to do it now. In Suffolk we need sewers to allow for this density.
Here are some more numbers and thoughts from the LIA: From 2000 through 2007, the ACS estimates that the overall population of Long Island grew by only 5,849. By way of contrast, the ACS estimate for 2000 through 2006, showed a population increase of 41,464. So, the new estimate suggests a significant one-year decline in population growth.
Long Island continues to have the highest rate of decline in the 25 to 44 group in New York State, and in the metropolitan area. The average rate of decline in New York City was 2.24 percent, and in the other New York City suburbs it was 14.43 percent. In all New York City suburbs collectively (New Jersey and Connecticut included) it was 10.64 percent. In upstate New York, the decline was 11.57 percent. No single upstate statistical area had a rate of decline as high as Long Island''s, including Erie County. For national demographic context, the rate of decline in the 25 to 44 year old age group was 1.93 percent, about one-tenth of the rate of decline experienced on Long Island.
Reflecting the decline in people of childbearing years, the ACS estimates that Long Island's population of children from birth through 9 years of age declined by 55,599 from 2000 through 2007.
The population decline in an age group can be attributed to past birthrates and aging, as well as to out-migration. To assess the decline of Long Island''s younger population, it is important to look at the relative trends. Demographics affect all areas. If Long Island's relative rate of decline is significantly higher than other comparable areas, that suggests that there is more at work than just birth rates.
The American Community Survey of the Census Bureau annually estimates population for many areas of the country using the official methodology that will be used in the decennial census. That methodology has been approved by all major organizations of statistical professionals in the nation. It is not without its critics in public office, however. Both county executives have decided to challenge the ACS estimates using a different methodology, which in part draws upon LIPA's way of estimating population. That method uses an analysis of electrical meters and population assumptions relating to them. LIPA''s estimates have always been higher than the Census Bureau's count.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Long Island's Future Votes With Its Feet
I was asked to write a recommendation for a former colleague this morning who now lives in Washington D.C. She choose to live in Washington because there she can "live in an apartment and take the train to work," two things she can not do on Long Island unless she wants to live in Western Nassau County and work in Manhattan.
This young lady is bright, talented, hard-working. She loves Long Island and was committed to do whatever it takes to make her native region a better place. Long Island, on the other hand, has done nothing to requite that love. As a region we have blocked efforts to create workforce or affordable housing, our infrastructure renders inter-community mass transit impossible and our tax structure is so onerous that the few young people willing to try to make it here start out behind a huge financial 8-ball.
On top of all that, there are painfully few entertainment options on this Island if you are under 30.
According to the Long Island Association, more than 157,000 Long Islanders between the ages of 18 and 34 have left Long Island since 2000. This represents a significant depletion of the Long Island workforce and without workers companies cannot and will not stay on the Island. As companies move off the Island and take their jobs with them, the tax burden on the remaining families will grow even greater - to the point where Long Island will become an economic ghost town.
The Long Island Builders Institute will endeavor to make sure this does not happen. We will continue to champion the cause of building suitable housing for the next generation while at the same time doing everything we can to ensure the quality of life that makes this region so special.
I do not want to write any more recommendations for talented Long Islanders living off-Island.
This young lady is bright, talented, hard-working. She loves Long Island and was committed to do whatever it takes to make her native region a better place. Long Island, on the other hand, has done nothing to requite that love. As a region we have blocked efforts to create workforce or affordable housing, our infrastructure renders inter-community mass transit impossible and our tax structure is so onerous that the few young people willing to try to make it here start out behind a huge financial 8-ball.
On top of all that, there are painfully few entertainment options on this Island if you are under 30.
According to the Long Island Association, more than 157,000 Long Islanders between the ages of 18 and 34 have left Long Island since 2000. This represents a significant depletion of the Long Island workforce and without workers companies cannot and will not stay on the Island. As companies move off the Island and take their jobs with them, the tax burden on the remaining families will grow even greater - to the point where Long Island will become an economic ghost town.
The Long Island Builders Institute will endeavor to make sure this does not happen. We will continue to champion the cause of building suitable housing for the next generation while at the same time doing everything we can to ensure the quality of life that makes this region so special.
I do not want to write any more recommendations for talented Long Islanders living off-Island.
Wednesday, October 29, 2008
What Else Don't We Know About?
Governor Paterson is making a clarion call to anyone who will listen that New York State is in desperate financial straits. Mayor Bloomberg is making a case that New York City needs to skirt the law calling for term limits that will force him out of office because the city needs his guidance through the financial difficulties that lay ahead. Elected officials at the county, town and village levels are singing the blues.
It would seem to make sense that they are. Everybody is hurting - why shouldn't government be feeling the pinch?
Then you read a story like the one Juan Gonzalez wrote in today's Daily News. Apparently the New York City Board of Education sees nothing wrong with spending $5 million in 2008 for private couriers - more than double the messenger tab before Schools Chancellor Joel Klein took over in 2002. Apparently the couriers are paid to pick up the tests from all schools and deliver them to the Department of Education's computer center in Queens. There is no explanation as to why using an overnight delivery service is not good enough.
There is also the $80 million contract NYC DOE awarded to CTB McGraw-Hill a few years ago to design all of the new assessment tests and score them. Or the $80 million contract to IBM for ARIS, the new computer database that will track all information about students, including all those test scores.
The point is this: Is anyone in government paying attention to spending that's going on? What other out-of-control spending is going on that we don't know about?
In business you watch every dime because what goes out the door comes out of the owner's pocket. Not so in government. The LIRR's disability scandal is another case in point. LIRR officials claim to be outraged that this is going on, but nobody would have done anything if the New York Times hadn't looked into the situation. And Newsday's probe of attorneys and elected officials helping themselves to state pensions that they should not be entitled to is also quite scary.
Don't even get me started about the state, the county and the Town of East Hampton lining the pockets of Dick Cavett to the tune of $18 million - buying property that no private developer would touch.
Who's looking out for the taxpayer? Who in government is going to recognize that we the taxpaying public can no longer afford to just keep feeding the cash trough? When will the we the taxpayer rise up as one and say ENOUGH!
I can only hope that this difficult economic climate we are enduring right now will result in greater scrutiny of government spending. It is incumbent upon us as taxpayers to demand the same lean and mean operations from government that we are required to maintain as business people.
It would seem to make sense that they are. Everybody is hurting - why shouldn't government be feeling the pinch?
Then you read a story like the one Juan Gonzalez wrote in today's Daily News. Apparently the New York City Board of Education sees nothing wrong with spending $5 million in 2008 for private couriers - more than double the messenger tab before Schools Chancellor Joel Klein took over in 2002. Apparently the couriers are paid to pick up the tests from all schools and deliver them to the Department of Education's computer center in Queens. There is no explanation as to why using an overnight delivery service is not good enough.
There is also the $80 million contract NYC DOE awarded to CTB McGraw-Hill a few years ago to design all of the new assessment tests and score them. Or the $80 million contract to IBM for ARIS, the new computer database that will track all information about students, including all those test scores.
The point is this: Is anyone in government paying attention to spending that's going on? What other out-of-control spending is going on that we don't know about?
In business you watch every dime because what goes out the door comes out of the owner's pocket. Not so in government. The LIRR's disability scandal is another case in point. LIRR officials claim to be outraged that this is going on, but nobody would have done anything if the New York Times hadn't looked into the situation. And Newsday's probe of attorneys and elected officials helping themselves to state pensions that they should not be entitled to is also quite scary.
Don't even get me started about the state, the county and the Town of East Hampton lining the pockets of Dick Cavett to the tune of $18 million - buying property that no private developer would touch.
Who's looking out for the taxpayer? Who in government is going to recognize that we the taxpaying public can no longer afford to just keep feeding the cash trough? When will the we the taxpayer rise up as one and say ENOUGH!
I can only hope that this difficult economic climate we are enduring right now will result in greater scrutiny of government spending. It is incumbent upon us as taxpayers to demand the same lean and mean operations from government that we are required to maintain as business people.
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
No rest (stop) for the weary
No situation epitomizes the mindset that makes it so hard to get anything done on Long Island better than the seemingly annual attempt to build a small rest stop at exit 51 on the Long Island Expressway.
Generating $6 billion-plus annually tourism is Long Island's larget industry. Yet nowhere on Long Island will you find a road-side rest stop. Drive anywhere else in the United States and you will come across a rest area where you can relax, stretch your legs, use a clean bathroom and perhaps learn more about the attractions the area has to offer. And spend money, especially if you have kids along for the ride. Not on Long Island. Here the mentality seems to be, "Welcome to Long Island; You're on your own."
According to an article in "The Long Islander", a local civic association official addressed legislators at a recent reception held by the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau to garner legislative support for such a basic tourist-attraction tool. The civic leader said, "If they want to have a rest stop that's fine but don't put it in people's backyards." Bear in mind, folks, that the rest stop is proposed to be right alongside the LIE and that these "backyards" abut an Interstate highway.
Assemblyman Andrew Raia suggested that the rest stop belonged "further out east," but you can be sure the "Out East" folks will fight that just as strenously.
Will Long Island's tourism industry crumble because there's no rest stop on the LIE? Most likely no. But Long Island's lack of hospitality and common courtesy - as well as its 'I got mine so everybody else be damned' mindset is disturbing. So is the lack of an Island-wide government entity that can step up and say, "Hey, this is good for the region so if a few people are inconvenienced so be it."
What rules on Long Island is the notion that the civic association who can make the most noise will get whatever he or she wants, just as long as the elected official in charge can be reassured of getting re-elected. I don't see this changing anytime soon. I just hope it does not lead to the ruination of the region.
Generating $6 billion-plus annually tourism is Long Island's larget industry. Yet nowhere on Long Island will you find a road-side rest stop. Drive anywhere else in the United States and you will come across a rest area where you can relax, stretch your legs, use a clean bathroom and perhaps learn more about the attractions the area has to offer. And spend money, especially if you have kids along for the ride. Not on Long Island. Here the mentality seems to be, "Welcome to Long Island; You're on your own."
According to an article in "The Long Islander", a local civic association official addressed legislators at a recent reception held by the Long Island Convention and Visitors Bureau to garner legislative support for such a basic tourist-attraction tool. The civic leader said, "If they want to have a rest stop that's fine but don't put it in people's backyards." Bear in mind, folks, that the rest stop is proposed to be right alongside the LIE and that these "backyards" abut an Interstate highway.
Assemblyman Andrew Raia suggested that the rest stop belonged "further out east," but you can be sure the "Out East" folks will fight that just as strenously.
Will Long Island's tourism industry crumble because there's no rest stop on the LIE? Most likely no. But Long Island's lack of hospitality and common courtesy - as well as its 'I got mine so everybody else be damned' mindset is disturbing. So is the lack of an Island-wide government entity that can step up and say, "Hey, this is good for the region so if a few people are inconvenienced so be it."
What rules on Long Island is the notion that the civic association who can make the most noise will get whatever he or she wants, just as long as the elected official in charge can be reassured of getting re-elected. I don't see this changing anytime soon. I just hope it does not lead to the ruination of the region.
Monday, October 27, 2008
Welcoming the bottom
An analyst was quoted on the radio this morning saying that the last Monday in October has served as "the bottom" of several the most recent bear markets. One can only hope he is correct.
Getting this election season behind us - regardless of who wins - should also serve as the cathartic release we need to get going again. Between now and next week, however, we can expect the onslaught of cutbacks and concerns aired publicly to continue because so many corporations will seize this opportunity to unload deadwood.
That said, it should be noted the Associated Press is reporting this morning that sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in September as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years. The Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales would drop from the August level.
So hang in there is the message of the day. Heck - it's the message of the year. Better times are ahead.
Getting this election season behind us - regardless of who wins - should also serve as the cathartic release we need to get going again. Between now and next week, however, we can expect the onslaught of cutbacks and concerns aired publicly to continue because so many corporations will seize this opportunity to unload deadwood.
That said, it should be noted the Associated Press is reporting this morning that sales of new homes recorded an unexpected increase in September as median home prices dropped to the lowest level in four years. The Commerce Department reported Monday that sales of new single-family homes rose by 2.7 percent last month to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 464,000 homes. Economists had expected sales would drop from the August level.
So hang in there is the message of the day. Heck - it's the message of the year. Better times are ahead.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Hooray for Hollywood!
Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy was quoted in the Sunday New York Times as saying, "We'll bend over backward and roll out a red carpet...it's a clean industry that gets a major infusion into the economy." He added that he has put before the county legislature a proposal that would "spare" this industry's representatives "the hassle of getting separate permits from villages and towns."
Has Mr. Levy gotten religion and suddenly realized how difficult local municipalities make things for home builders? That solving the housing problems plaguing the region is the most crucial step he can take to turn around the local economy?
Alas and alack, my friends, he has not. Mr. Levy was referring to attracting Hollywood production companies to Long Island. Apparently television and movies are the answer to Suffolk County's future.
To be fair, Mr. Levy has made housing a priority and demonstrated his commitment to that priority by giving Affordable Housing guru Jim Morgo such a dominant role in his administration. But for the love of God, man, if you are going to take such bold steps to help an industry jump-start the economy, why not focus on the industry that is already here and in a position to create the housing so sorely needed to keep the next generation of workers on Long Island. Those workers will determine whether the thousands of companies already here get to stay here, not the glamour of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt sightings at the local Starbucks while they shoot their next great cinema classic.
Why not create a county-wide permitting procedure so our builders do not have to endure the time-consuming paper chase that creates costly delays in the construction process? Why not expedite matters so our builders can start building and putting hundreds of tradesmen and women to work - work that generates economy activity and tax dollars?
Granted, watching a young family move into their first home may not have the sex appeal of Lindsay Lohan strutting down the red carpet at a Hollywood premier but in the grand scheme of things it means a lot more to the future of Long Island.
Has Mr. Levy gotten religion and suddenly realized how difficult local municipalities make things for home builders? That solving the housing problems plaguing the region is the most crucial step he can take to turn around the local economy?
Alas and alack, my friends, he has not. Mr. Levy was referring to attracting Hollywood production companies to Long Island. Apparently television and movies are the answer to Suffolk County's future.
To be fair, Mr. Levy has made housing a priority and demonstrated his commitment to that priority by giving Affordable Housing guru Jim Morgo such a dominant role in his administration. But for the love of God, man, if you are going to take such bold steps to help an industry jump-start the economy, why not focus on the industry that is already here and in a position to create the housing so sorely needed to keep the next generation of workers on Long Island. Those workers will determine whether the thousands of companies already here get to stay here, not the glamour of Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt sightings at the local Starbucks while they shoot their next great cinema classic.
Why not create a county-wide permitting procedure so our builders do not have to endure the time-consuming paper chase that creates costly delays in the construction process? Why not expedite matters so our builders can start building and putting hundreds of tradesmen and women to work - work that generates economy activity and tax dollars?
Granted, watching a young family move into their first home may not have the sex appeal of Lindsay Lohan strutting down the red carpet at a Hollywood premier but in the grand scheme of things it means a lot more to the future of Long Island.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Opportunities are available for builders to rehab foreclosed homes
This item is from this week's NAHB bulletin.
HUD is distributing nearly $4 billion to states and local communities to help them remove foreclosed and abandoned properties from the market in a process aimed at stabilizing neighborhoods that have been hit hard by the housing crisis. As part of the new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) that was included in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act passed by Congress this summer.
Following rules established by HUD, such homes can be purchased and rehabilitated, or if they are too deteriorated, they can be demolished and redeveloped. The funds may also be used to provide financing for eligible households to purchase these properties. States and localities may choose to administer the NSP program directly or by contracting with a third party. While the law does not permit any entity to make a profit on the sale of these homes, builders may earn developer fees as part of the rehabilitation or redevelopment costs.
NAHB members should contact their local or state government to find out how the program will be implemented and what opportunities may be available for builders. For an NAHB summary of the program rules,click here. For information about the program from HUD, click here..
HUD is distributing nearly $4 billion to states and local communities to help them remove foreclosed and abandoned properties from the market in a process aimed at stabilizing neighborhoods that have been hit hard by the housing crisis. As part of the new Neighborhood Stabilization Program (NSP) that was included in the Housing and Economic Recovery Act passed by Congress this summer.
Following rules established by HUD, such homes can be purchased and rehabilitated, or if they are too deteriorated, they can be demolished and redeveloped. The funds may also be used to provide financing for eligible households to purchase these properties. States and localities may choose to administer the NSP program directly or by contracting with a third party. While the law does not permit any entity to make a profit on the sale of these homes, builders may earn developer fees as part of the rehabilitation or redevelopment costs.
NAHB members should contact their local or state government to find out how the program will be implemented and what opportunities may be available for builders. For an NAHB summary of the program rules,click here. For information about the program from HUD, click here..
Now I am really mad!
I received an email this morning from a LIBI member who shall remain anonymous for obvious reasons. He shared with me that the "due to the 'slow down' the Town of Brookhaven has apparently cancelled their Nov. 17th Planning Board meeting and is not sure about the Dec. 15th."
The LIBI member has applications that could and should be heard but the Town can't be bothered. This is a town that is hurting financially because its tax revenues are down. And yet they can't be bothered to meet. The LIBI member writes, "the Supervisor, Town Board, and Department heads could not possibly be any more cavalier about their role in exacerbating an already difficult climate." THe LIBI member could not be more spot on.
The LIBI member also informed me that he has been given the run-around by the Town of Smithtown. He is concerned that his contracts may elapse due to bureaucratic malaise. Again, egregious behavior on the part of local government officials at a time when every dollar is crucial to both the local economy and local municipalities.
LIBI will step up its efforts to draw attention to this completely unacceptable treatment of the building community. This nonsense has got to stop.
The LIBI member has applications that could and should be heard but the Town can't be bothered. This is a town that is hurting financially because its tax revenues are down. And yet they can't be bothered to meet. The LIBI member writes, "the Supervisor, Town Board, and Department heads could not possibly be any more cavalier about their role in exacerbating an already difficult climate." THe LIBI member could not be more spot on.
The LIBI member also informed me that he has been given the run-around by the Town of Smithtown. He is concerned that his contracts may elapse due to bureaucratic malaise. Again, egregious behavior on the part of local government officials at a time when every dollar is crucial to both the local economy and local municipalities.
LIBI will step up its efforts to draw attention to this completely unacceptable treatment of the building community. This nonsense has got to stop.
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Nice Work If You Can Get It
One look at the news of the day and you have a much better understanding of why things are in such bad shape.
For starters, according to published reports a NYS Parole Board commissioner and former NYS Assemblyman was charged yesterday with trying to lure two pre-teen sisters to an Albany-area hotel room for sex. If that isn't bad enough - and it is pretty bad - the man gets paid $102,000 a year for his part-time work on the Parole Board. Think about that the next time you sign a check to the New York State Tax Department.
And just to add insult to injury, the top brass at AIG were at it again. Four top AIG executives spent $86,000 on a partridge hunt at an English country manor as the feds gave their struggling firm billions to stay afloat, according to a story in the New York Daily News.
What a better place the world would be if we all just stuck to doing an honest day's work for an honest dollar.
For starters, according to published reports a NYS Parole Board commissioner and former NYS Assemblyman was charged yesterday with trying to lure two pre-teen sisters to an Albany-area hotel room for sex. If that isn't bad enough - and it is pretty bad - the man gets paid $102,000 a year for his part-time work on the Parole Board. Think about that the next time you sign a check to the New York State Tax Department.
And just to add insult to injury, the top brass at AIG were at it again. Four top AIG executives spent $86,000 on a partridge hunt at an English country manor as the feds gave their struggling firm billions to stay afloat, according to a story in the New York Daily News.
What a better place the world would be if we all just stuck to doing an honest day's work for an honest dollar.
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Workforce Housing Rally Thursday at Farmingdale College
Action Long Island is co-hosting a Workforce Housing rally on Thursday, October 16, from 5:30 pm to 7 pm at Farmingdale State College's Roosevelt Hall Little Theater.
ENCOURAGE YOUR YOUNG WORKFORCE, CLIENTS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY TO REGISTER FOR THIS IMPORTANT EVENT... ITS FREE!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER -
Panelists will discuss the initiative to create a voice for young adults and provide political support to put in place diverse housing stock on LI. Panelists include: Michael White, LI Reg. Planning, Shannon Wall, President LIJC, and Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri.
ENCOURAGE YOUR YOUNG WORKFORCE, CLIENTS, FRIENDS, AND FAMILY TO REGISTER FOR THIS IMPORTANT EVENT... ITS FREE!
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER -
Panelists will discuss the initiative to create a voice for young adults and provide political support to put in place diverse housing stock on LI. Panelists include: Michael White, LI Reg. Planning, Shannon Wall, President LIJC, and Patchogue Mayor Paul Pontieri.
Monday, October 13, 2008
A Call to Arms
The Long Island Business Institute plans to be an active participant in the Town of Brookhaven’s Brookhaven 2030 charettes this weekend. If your life and/or livelihood is tied in any way to the future of Brookhaven you need to participate, as well. LIBI will host a meeting on Tuesday afternoon (5:30 pm) in the LIBI office to discuss specific issues and questions that will need to be asked of the charrette organizers.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE CHARETTE ORGANIZERS – IF ADOPTED BY THE BROOKHAVEN TOWN BOARD – WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR ZONING CHANGES OVER THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS.
The concerns of the building community are the concerns of Long Island, quite frankly. Without more housing on the Island our companies will not be able to sustain themselves and be forced to leave. With them go the jobs that keep our economy working.
This issue is too important to leave to our elected officials to figure out on their own. Please be sure to attend the meeting at LIBI on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 pm. Feel free to call me at the LIBI office if you have any questions – 631-232-2345.
THE RECOMMENDATIONS MADE BY THE CHARETTE ORGANIZERS – IF ADOPTED BY THE BROOKHAVEN TOWN BOARD – WILL BE USED AS THE BASIS FOR ZONING CHANGES OVER THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS.
The concerns of the building community are the concerns of Long Island, quite frankly. Without more housing on the Island our companies will not be able to sustain themselves and be forced to leave. With them go the jobs that keep our economy working.
This issue is too important to leave to our elected officials to figure out on their own. Please be sure to attend the meeting at LIBI on Tuesday afternoon at 5:30 pm. Feel free to call me at the LIBI office if you have any questions – 631-232-2345.
Friday, October 10, 2008
The Dowling Report and Brookhaven 2030
This past week the Long Island Institute of Social and Economic Policy at Dowling College released a white paper entitled "Long Island Government Land Acquisition: Can Long Island Taxpayers and the Regional Economy Still Afford It?"
This report details how $859 million has been spent over the last 30+ years in Suffolk County - not including Brookhaven - to take 30,000+ acres of property off the tax rolls. It also outlines the economic impact of all that land preservation.
It makes for fascinating - and outrageous - reading.
LIBI members with a vested interest in the Town of Brookhaven need to explore the web site Brookhaven2030.org. There are charettes coming up on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 at Town Hall. See the web site for specific times and outlines of the workshops on Saturday. What happens at these workshops will determine how (or if!) we do business in Brookhaven for the next 20 years.
There will be a meeting on Tuesday - time to be determined - at the LIBI office to discuss how many LIBI members we can get to attend these charettes. Please call the LIBI office (631-232-2345) for a specific time.
This report details how $859 million has been spent over the last 30+ years in Suffolk County - not including Brookhaven - to take 30,000+ acres of property off the tax rolls. It also outlines the economic impact of all that land preservation.
It makes for fascinating - and outrageous - reading.
LIBI members with a vested interest in the Town of Brookhaven need to explore the web site Brookhaven2030.org. There are charettes coming up on Friday, October 17 and Saturday, October 18 at Town Hall. See the web site for specific times and outlines of the workshops on Saturday. What happens at these workshops will determine how (or if!) we do business in Brookhaven for the next 20 years.
There will be a meeting on Tuesday - time to be determined - at the LIBI office to discuss how many LIBI members we can get to attend these charettes. Please call the LIBI office (631-232-2345) for a specific time.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Let's Party Like It's 1999?
Perhaps AIG had it right. Some folks high up in management must have figured, "We're all doomed anyway so let's go out with a bang and blow half-a-million dollars on facials and massages at a posh resort. Then we'll draw straws to see who has to sit in front of Congress and take the public whipping." At least they did something to stimulate the economy, or at least the economy around the resort.
AIG's actions remind me of that scene from "Animal House," when the frat boys realize Dean Wormer has it out for them regardless of what they do. So they go out and have one final blast - nearly destroying the local town in the process.
LIBI's builders, remodelers and associate members would never resort to such tactics, of course. For one thing, the collective sense of decency and work ethic our members demonstrate time and again would prevent them from doing anything as heinous as partying on the public dime. Our members instead will opt to continue to work hard, cut back and hunker down until economic sanity returns and progress prevails. Let's just hope this happens sooner rather than later.
AIG's actions remind me of that scene from "Animal House," when the frat boys realize Dean Wormer has it out for them regardless of what they do. So they go out and have one final blast - nearly destroying the local town in the process.
LIBI's builders, remodelers and associate members would never resort to such tactics, of course. For one thing, the collective sense of decency and work ethic our members demonstrate time and again would prevent them from doing anything as heinous as partying on the public dime. Our members instead will opt to continue to work hard, cut back and hunker down until economic sanity returns and progress prevails. Let's just hope this happens sooner rather than later.
Wednesday, October 8, 2008
Newsday Misses The Point
So Newsday's editorial today questions the wisdom of the Long Island real estate community spending $20,000 to fund a brutally important study by The Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute at Dowling College but ignores the folly of Long Island taxpayers shelling out more than $1 billion to purchase land that can be put to tax-generating use. That's rich.
It also ignores how important housing is to the Long Island economy. Companies doing business on Long Island want to stay here but they can't stay if they can't grow and they can't grow if they can't keep young people as employees. Long Islanders between the ages of 18 and 35 are voting with their feet and leaving the Island in droves, mainly because they can't find the kind of housing that meets their needs. And they can't find the housing they need because the entrenched elite on Long Island have theirs and they don't want the next generation of Long Islanders to have the same opportunities they benefitted from back in the 1960s and 1970s.
Long Island needs more housing, not more vacant space.
It also ignores how important housing is to the Long Island economy. Companies doing business on Long Island want to stay here but they can't stay if they can't grow and they can't grow if they can't keep young people as employees. Long Islanders between the ages of 18 and 35 are voting with their feet and leaving the Island in droves, mainly because they can't find the kind of housing that meets their needs. And they can't find the housing they need because the entrenched elite on Long Island have theirs and they don't want the next generation of Long Islanders to have the same opportunities they benefitted from back in the 1960s and 1970s.
Long Island needs more housing, not more vacant space.
Tuesday, October 7, 2008
They're At It Again
You read the papers and listen to the news and you wonder where the bottom is and how painful it's going to be when we hit it, assuming we have not hit it already.
And then you learn that yet another municipality - this time the Town of Oyster Bay - is looking to enact legislation that will stymie construction activity. Specifically, Town Councilman Anthony Macagnone - a carpenter by trade - is proposing to reduce the maximum gross floor area ratio allowed. In other words, the economy is down, workers are idle and consumers are sitting on their hands. What does government want to do? Discourage any kind of economic activity!
These are the worst of times for homebuilders and potential homebuyers. Home values are declining in the midst of a major financial crisis. The importance of maintaining solid values should be a top priority for all levels of government. During this credit crisis only the most credit worthy buyers can be approved for mortgages. The values of owned lots could be an important source of collateral and down payment for a mortgagor. Oyster Bay is reducing the value of buildable lots at precisely the wrong time.
Today’s housing market prefers homes of at least 3,000 sq ft due to existing lot prices and the fact that families are using their home as more than a bedroom. The overall effect of the size reduction would be to create a 1970s look to all new housing in a 2010 market. Innovation and architectural style and design would be inhibited.
Most of the Town has 7,000 square ft lots and the proposal has a lot coverage requirement of 25% max which would allow a 3,500 sq ft home (that’s 1750 sq ft x 2 floors). The proposal adds a floor area ratio (FAR). Within the FAR is the garage. The proposal drops the potential 3,500 sq ft to 3,200 sq ft. When you exclude a garage of 400 sq ft the maximum living space becomes 2,800.
LIBI understands the Town’s desire to avoid oversized homes on infill lots. Exclusion of the garage from the FAR would be one solution and this would allow a reasonably sized home, consistent with today’s market needs and modest sheds or outbuildings. Perhaps the Town could consider limiting this new requirement to infill lots and not new subdivisions or lots surrounded by larger properties where the size of the home is less important.
Any single sale of a new home generates employment and spending in the Town. For the sake of reducing home size for a few hundred square feet, an action that will inhibit buyers is pure folly in this recession. Simply state, the economy needs every new home sale that occurs.
And then you learn that yet another municipality - this time the Town of Oyster Bay - is looking to enact legislation that will stymie construction activity. Specifically, Town Councilman Anthony Macagnone - a carpenter by trade - is proposing to reduce the maximum gross floor area ratio allowed. In other words, the economy is down, workers are idle and consumers are sitting on their hands. What does government want to do? Discourage any kind of economic activity!
These are the worst of times for homebuilders and potential homebuyers. Home values are declining in the midst of a major financial crisis. The importance of maintaining solid values should be a top priority for all levels of government. During this credit crisis only the most credit worthy buyers can be approved for mortgages. The values of owned lots could be an important source of collateral and down payment for a mortgagor. Oyster Bay is reducing the value of buildable lots at precisely the wrong time.
Today’s housing market prefers homes of at least 3,000 sq ft due to existing lot prices and the fact that families are using their home as more than a bedroom. The overall effect of the size reduction would be to create a 1970s look to all new housing in a 2010 market. Innovation and architectural style and design would be inhibited.
Most of the Town has 7,000 square ft lots and the proposal has a lot coverage requirement of 25% max which would allow a 3,500 sq ft home (that’s 1750 sq ft x 2 floors). The proposal adds a floor area ratio (FAR). Within the FAR is the garage. The proposal drops the potential 3,500 sq ft to 3,200 sq ft. When you exclude a garage of 400 sq ft the maximum living space becomes 2,800.
LIBI understands the Town’s desire to avoid oversized homes on infill lots. Exclusion of the garage from the FAR would be one solution and this would allow a reasonably sized home, consistent with today’s market needs and modest sheds or outbuildings. Perhaps the Town could consider limiting this new requirement to infill lots and not new subdivisions or lots surrounded by larger properties where the size of the home is less important.
Any single sale of a new home generates employment and spending in the Town. For the sake of reducing home size for a few hundred square feet, an action that will inhibit buyers is pure folly in this recession. Simply state, the economy needs every new home sale that occurs.
Monday, October 6, 2008
We Paid How Much?????????
If you have not read Rick Brand's column in yesterday's Newsday - do so right away! In fact, I have posted it below. It's must reading.
The numbers are staggering. Dick Amper can say all he wants about deer not going to school but the facts remain clear: Suffolk County has preserved plenty of property at an extreme cost to the Suffolk County taxpayer. Sadly, some of the money that went to taking property off the tax rolls could have been used to sewer the 70 percent of Suffolk County that is without sewers. Had this taken place, Suffolk County could have progressed in such a way that the developers could have built with the kind of density that would have enabled local municipalities to preserve nearly as much acreage - AT NO COST TO THE TAXPAYER!
Think about that as you contemplate just how much money $3.5 billion is.
Newsday.com
Cost of Suffolk land preservation programs questioned
Rick Brand
October 5, 2008
After three decades, Suffolk's smorgasbord of land preservation programs have delivered 34,000 acres into the public domain, but they've come at an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 billion. Or so says Martin Cantor, head of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute.
Cantor says it may be time to rethink new land purchases, especially in these tough economic times. Warning Long Island is at a crossroads, Cantor says government should redirect far more money to sewers to protect groundwater and bays and allow downtowns to develop more densely for young and old.
Those are the controversial conclusions of a new 29-page report, which Cantor acknowledged was funded with $20,000 from the real estate industry.
"The numbers we're talking about are very big," said Cantor. "And there should be a public debate before we take the next step. Up to now, we've only had discussion from people who want to buy land."
Environmentalists, who telephone conferenced Friday over Cantor's impending report, called the findings superficial, skewed and bought and paid for.
"Tobacco companies tell you smoking is good for you, oil companies say 'don't go renewable' and developers say 'don't save land,'" said Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "Marty Cantor is the Darth Vader of Dowling. He's gone to the dark side."
However, some are taking notice. "The findings are certainly eye-opening," said Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, who was briefed by Cantor on preliminary findings. "And they have to cause any official to pause and seriously analyze how much deeper we want to go in purchasing open space, particularly with the economic crisis we are facing."
The Dowling report, which will get its first public airing Friday at a breakfast on the college's Oakdale campus, is likely to create an intense and lasting debate. The report is a new offensive by the real estate industry, which had success last year in helping to defeat a proposal to create a preservation fund in Brookhaven based on a real estate transfer tax. It was the first environmental defeat in 24 local land referendums.
In his report, Cantor maintains Suffolk and its towns have spent $1.3 billion in property, sales and real estate transfer taxes to borrow the money to acquire 34,000 acres - about the same acreage as Long Island's state parks. - and has lost an estimated $700 million in property taxes from lands taken off the tax rolls.
Cantor adds the county legislature has authorized $366.8 million for open space purchases through 2013, costing another $1.1 billion in property taxes.
The preservation, he said, will cost the average Suffolk household at least $10,000. When the county completes its plan to buy another 35,000 vacant acres by 2031, it will have cost the average homeowner an additional $71,000 and remove nearly 32,000 homebuyers from the residential marketplace.
But Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, called Cantor's numbers "ridiculous," saying land purchases so far have cost $1.2 billion, and that when divided by Suffolk's population the cost is only $454.61 per person. He called Cantor's projections of lost tax revenues wrongheaded.
"The reason Long Islanders are paying 2 1/2 times the national average in taxes is the cost of government greatly exceeds the taxes collected from residential development," he said. "Preserving open space controls taxes because deer do not go to school."
Amper said the reason developers have gone on the offensive is to protect themselves amid the financial crisis. "They are flat on their back and don't want the land to disappear before they can get up off the canvas," said Amper.
Cantor said he expected controversy but feels the region needs to reinvent itself for the good of the next generation, especially when there's no federal money for sewers, and experts say land already saved can protect the water supply into the next century.
"We're not against open space," said Cantor, "But you have to ask the hard questions."
THE PLAYERS
Dowling institute's Martin Cantor
Environmentalists Richard Amper and Adrienne Esposito
THE ISSUE
Cost and future of public land preservation
WHAT NEXT
Roundtable forum Friday in Oakdale
The numbers are staggering. Dick Amper can say all he wants about deer not going to school but the facts remain clear: Suffolk County has preserved plenty of property at an extreme cost to the Suffolk County taxpayer. Sadly, some of the money that went to taking property off the tax rolls could have been used to sewer the 70 percent of Suffolk County that is without sewers. Had this taken place, Suffolk County could have progressed in such a way that the developers could have built with the kind of density that would have enabled local municipalities to preserve nearly as much acreage - AT NO COST TO THE TAXPAYER!
Think about that as you contemplate just how much money $3.5 billion is.
Newsday.com
Cost of Suffolk land preservation programs questioned
Rick Brand
October 5, 2008
After three decades, Suffolk's smorgasbord of land preservation programs have delivered 34,000 acres into the public domain, but they've come at an eye-popping price tag of $3.5 billion. Or so says Martin Cantor, head of Dowling College's Long Island Economic and Social Policy Institute.
Cantor says it may be time to rethink new land purchases, especially in these tough economic times. Warning Long Island is at a crossroads, Cantor says government should redirect far more money to sewers to protect groundwater and bays and allow downtowns to develop more densely for young and old.
Those are the controversial conclusions of a new 29-page report, which Cantor acknowledged was funded with $20,000 from the real estate industry.
"The numbers we're talking about are very big," said Cantor. "And there should be a public debate before we take the next step. Up to now, we've only had discussion from people who want to buy land."
Environmentalists, who telephone conferenced Friday over Cantor's impending report, called the findings superficial, skewed and bought and paid for.
"Tobacco companies tell you smoking is good for you, oil companies say 'don't go renewable' and developers say 'don't save land,'" said Adrienne Esposito of Citizens Campaign for the Environment. "Marty Cantor is the Darth Vader of Dowling. He's gone to the dark side."
However, some are taking notice. "The findings are certainly eye-opening," said Suffolk Comptroller Joseph Sawicki, who was briefed by Cantor on preliminary findings. "And they have to cause any official to pause and seriously analyze how much deeper we want to go in purchasing open space, particularly with the economic crisis we are facing."
The Dowling report, which will get its first public airing Friday at a breakfast on the college's Oakdale campus, is likely to create an intense and lasting debate. The report is a new offensive by the real estate industry, which had success last year in helping to defeat a proposal to create a preservation fund in Brookhaven based on a real estate transfer tax. It was the first environmental defeat in 24 local land referendums.
In his report, Cantor maintains Suffolk and its towns have spent $1.3 billion in property, sales and real estate transfer taxes to borrow the money to acquire 34,000 acres - about the same acreage as Long Island's state parks. - and has lost an estimated $700 million in property taxes from lands taken off the tax rolls.
Cantor adds the county legislature has authorized $366.8 million for open space purchases through 2013, costing another $1.1 billion in property taxes.
The preservation, he said, will cost the average Suffolk household at least $10,000. When the county completes its plan to buy another 35,000 vacant acres by 2031, it will have cost the average homeowner an additional $71,000 and remove nearly 32,000 homebuyers from the residential marketplace.
But Richard Amper, executive director of the Long Island Pine Barrens Society, called Cantor's numbers "ridiculous," saying land purchases so far have cost $1.2 billion, and that when divided by Suffolk's population the cost is only $454.61 per person. He called Cantor's projections of lost tax revenues wrongheaded.
"The reason Long Islanders are paying 2 1/2 times the national average in taxes is the cost of government greatly exceeds the taxes collected from residential development," he said. "Preserving open space controls taxes because deer do not go to school."
Amper said the reason developers have gone on the offensive is to protect themselves amid the financial crisis. "They are flat on their back and don't want the land to disappear before they can get up off the canvas," said Amper.
Cantor said he expected controversy but feels the region needs to reinvent itself for the good of the next generation, especially when there's no federal money for sewers, and experts say land already saved can protect the water supply into the next century.
"We're not against open space," said Cantor, "But you have to ask the hard questions."
THE PLAYERS
Dowling institute's Martin Cantor
Environmentalists Richard Amper and Adrienne Esposito
THE ISSUE
Cost and future of public land preservation
WHAT NEXT
Roundtable forum Friday in Oakdale
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Perhaps This is Why The Country is Such a Mess
The country finds itself in the midst of a financial crisis that harkens back to the days of the Great Depression. So what do our esteemed Members of Congress do? Some of them hold out their votes until the Powers That Be lard on the pork. Now, all of the sudden the Congressmen who were vehemently against the so-called bail out are all for it. Nice.
What kind of pork?
The New York Post reports this morning that the special provisions include tax breaks for:
* Manufacturers of kids' wooden arrows - $6 million.
* Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum producers - $192 million.
* Wool research.
* Auto-racing tracks - $128 million.
* Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million.
* Small-to-medium budget film and television productions - $10 million.
Also, according to the Post, another measure inserted into the bill appears to be a bid aimed at winning the support of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who voted against the original version when it went down in flames in the House on Monday.
That provision - a $223 million package of tax benefits for fishermen and others whose livelihoods suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill - has been the subject of fervent lobbying by Alaska's congressional delegation.
Unfortunately for the country our elected officials are often measured by how much "government support" they bring home to their respective districts. This best explains why Washington has turned into a bottomless ATM where just about everybody has the PIN. It also explains why the government is running up scary debts, debts that future generations of Americans are going to have to pay.
Kudos to our local Congressional representatives for doing the right thing - voting for the bailout without holding the country for ransom. It's incumbent on the rest of us, however, to start making a stink about the pork that is going to choke this country.
What kind of pork?
The New York Post reports this morning that the special provisions include tax breaks for:
* Manufacturers of kids' wooden arrows - $6 million.
* Puerto Rican and Virgin Islands rum producers - $192 million.
* Wool research.
* Auto-racing tracks - $128 million.
* Corporations operating in American Samoa - $33 million.
* Small-to-medium budget film and television productions - $10 million.
Also, according to the Post, another measure inserted into the bill appears to be a bid aimed at winning the support of Rep. Don Young (R-Alaska), who voted against the original version when it went down in flames in the House on Monday.
That provision - a $223 million package of tax benefits for fishermen and others whose livelihoods suffered as a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill - has been the subject of fervent lobbying by Alaska's congressional delegation.
Unfortunately for the country our elected officials are often measured by how much "government support" they bring home to their respective districts. This best explains why Washington has turned into a bottomless ATM where just about everybody has the PIN. It also explains why the government is running up scary debts, debts that future generations of Americans are going to have to pay.
Kudos to our local Congressional representatives for doing the right thing - voting for the bailout without holding the country for ransom. It's incumbent on the rest of us, however, to start making a stink about the pork that is going to choke this country.
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
Speak Your Peace
The National Association of Home Builders is asking its members to call your U.S. Senator and ask for a "yes" vote on the new bailout bill with energy tax credits.
The revised financial rescue bill comes up for voting tonight in the Senate and includes a renewal of existing home energy tax credits that expired in 2007.
According to the new provision, the tax credits will be retroactive to January 2008 and will continue through 2009.
The National Association of Home Builders has been advocating for renewal of the existing home energy tax credits as it will provide incentives for home owners to remodel for increased energy efficiency.
For more information on the financial rescue bill and to obtain contact information for your Senator, visit Builder Link
The revised financial rescue bill comes up for voting tonight in the Senate and includes a renewal of existing home energy tax credits that expired in 2007.
According to the new provision, the tax credits will be retroactive to January 2008 and will continue through 2009.
The National Association of Home Builders has been advocating for renewal of the existing home energy tax credits as it will provide incentives for home owners to remodel for increased energy efficiency.
For more information on the financial rescue bill and to obtain contact information for your Senator, visit Builder Link
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Just Empty The Damn Dishwasher Already
The drama unfolding in our nation's capitol yesterday reminded me of watching my two teenage sons argue over whose turn it was to empty the dishwasher. Each boy presents passionate explanations and defenses as to why he should not have to sully his hands with such a menial task as lifting dishes, glasses and silverware from the appliance under the counter to the cabinet and drawer above the counter.
As you listen to the arguments made individually you might even find yourself siding with one boy over the other. But you don't because you're the parent and you just want the damn dishwasher emptied and you don't see what the big deal is, seeing as both boys live rent free and eat rather well. If the world made sense, if it were fair and just, the boys would be fighting over who would show their parents just how grateful they are for the largesse of living under someone else's roof.
If the world were fair and just and made sense our elected officials would welcome the opportunity to do the right thing for the country. Instead we get "This is all his fault" and "I'm not going to vote for this if she's going to take that attitude."
The only way to settle the dishwasher debate is for the parent to step in and say, "Enough! You both live here, you both have to empty the dishwasher. Figure it out and get it done." Then you walk away and come back a few minutes later to make sure the deed is done.
That's what we as voters need to do. Call our representatives in Congress and say, "Enough already. Get it done." To their credit, all five Congressional representatives from Long Island - Peter King, Steve Israel, Tim Bishop, Carolyn McCarthy and Gary Ackerman - voted for the bailout. They need to convince their Congressional brethren, however, of the gravity of the situation, that this is not the federal government bailing out the "fat cats" of Wall Street but rather the government doing what it is supposed to do - step in where needed to ensure that the country can function.
The longer we wait, the deeper the hole. Get it done already.
As you listen to the arguments made individually you might even find yourself siding with one boy over the other. But you don't because you're the parent and you just want the damn dishwasher emptied and you don't see what the big deal is, seeing as both boys live rent free and eat rather well. If the world made sense, if it were fair and just, the boys would be fighting over who would show their parents just how grateful they are for the largesse of living under someone else's roof.
If the world were fair and just and made sense our elected officials would welcome the opportunity to do the right thing for the country. Instead we get "This is all his fault" and "I'm not going to vote for this if she's going to take that attitude."
The only way to settle the dishwasher debate is for the parent to step in and say, "Enough! You both live here, you both have to empty the dishwasher. Figure it out and get it done." Then you walk away and come back a few minutes later to make sure the deed is done.
That's what we as voters need to do. Call our representatives in Congress and say, "Enough already. Get it done." To their credit, all five Congressional representatives from Long Island - Peter King, Steve Israel, Tim Bishop, Carolyn McCarthy and Gary Ackerman - voted for the bailout. They need to convince their Congressional brethren, however, of the gravity of the situation, that this is not the federal government bailing out the "fat cats" of Wall Street but rather the government doing what it is supposed to do - step in where needed to ensure that the country can function.
The longer we wait, the deeper the hole. Get it done already.
Monday, September 29, 2008
$700 Billion Is A Lot of Money
During the "Weekend Update" segment of "Saturday Night Live" this past weekend, anchorman Seth Meyers reported that "$700 billion is so much money that I can't even but it into perspective as to how much money it is," or something like that.
The point is, it is a lot of money. Of course, nobody knows if that is the actual amount this bailout program will cost the American taxpayer - or even how the American government will come up with the scratch. But it is a nice round number and Americans love round numbers so everybody is running with it.
I could not even begin any kind of authoritative discussion regarding the merits of this bailout program in this space. I do know, however, that the country in general and Long Island in particular needs to move on, and quickly. The sooner we can be in a position to say, "Well, if you think this is bad, you should have been there in 2008!" the better off we all will be.
Unfortunately, just as there is no rewind button in life there is no fast-forward control either. We must do what we can with what we have, even as we read about New York State controller Thomas DiNapoli ruling last week that workers must be on the job six hours a day in order to be considered a full-time employee of the State. Six hours! Most LIBI members work six hours before they take lunch. Then, in this morning's Newsday, several local municipalities revealed that they are trimming their budgets by not filling job vacancies caused by retirement. If those jobs do not need to be filled, then how important were they in the first place? Why wait for the people to retire? If the position is unnecessary, then why not eliminate the positions now?
That won't happen, of course, because governments operate with Monopoly money. Unfortunately, landing on Free Parking with $700 billion is not an option. We'll just have to pass "Go" 3,500,000 times before we can pay off the debt.
The point is, it is a lot of money. Of course, nobody knows if that is the actual amount this bailout program will cost the American taxpayer - or even how the American government will come up with the scratch. But it is a nice round number and Americans love round numbers so everybody is running with it.
I could not even begin any kind of authoritative discussion regarding the merits of this bailout program in this space. I do know, however, that the country in general and Long Island in particular needs to move on, and quickly. The sooner we can be in a position to say, "Well, if you think this is bad, you should have been there in 2008!" the better off we all will be.
Unfortunately, just as there is no rewind button in life there is no fast-forward control either. We must do what we can with what we have, even as we read about New York State controller Thomas DiNapoli ruling last week that workers must be on the job six hours a day in order to be considered a full-time employee of the State. Six hours! Most LIBI members work six hours before they take lunch. Then, in this morning's Newsday, several local municipalities revealed that they are trimming their budgets by not filling job vacancies caused by retirement. If those jobs do not need to be filled, then how important were they in the first place? Why wait for the people to retire? If the position is unnecessary, then why not eliminate the positions now?
That won't happen, of course, because governments operate with Monopoly money. Unfortunately, landing on Free Parking with $700 billion is not an option. We'll just have to pass "Go" 3,500,000 times before we can pay off the debt.
Friday, September 26, 2008
Builders to the rescue, face flak anyway
Amidst the reports this past week about the economic turmoil and financial chaos that looms on the horizon were two news stories about builders looking to develop significant housing projects on Long Island.
Given the Island's well-documented housing shortage - not to mention the utter lack of building activity of late that has idled every aspect of the industry as well as dried up several revenue streams for local municipalities - you would think that such announcements would be greeted with huzzahs, if not a parade down Main Street.
But no - this is Long Island. Both stories featured headlines highlighting the fact that local civic groups plan to fight the development.
The first, "Groups to fight planned development in Middle Island", appeared in Newsday on Wednesday. The following day saw this article, "Hicksville developer struggles to win over Islandia neighbors", appear in the Long Island Business News Flash Report.
There is hope, however. To her credit, Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert supports the project. She gets it, if you will, and is quoted in the article as saying, "the 39-acre project would be a boon for Brookhaven's tax base and fit into the town's development plan for Middle Island. She said the project includes about 18 acres of open space and would be a walkable, urban alternative to typical Long Island sprawl."
The article also mentions that the developer, Frank Weber of Sandy Hollow Estates, has the right to build 34 single-family homes on the property under the current zoning. Kepert smartly points out the sewage treatment plant planned for the development would release less nitrogen than 34 homes built without the plant.
The developer plans to leave 18 acres for open, walkable space at no cost to the local taxpayer. That fact is buried six paragraphs into the story, however, and is conveniently ignored by Dick Amper, the leader of the groups vowing to fight the effort.
The second article reports on Pinewood Development Corp.'s plans to build a condo community where a horse farm now stands. The neighbors say the "traffic will be a nightmare," even though the horse farm itself at one time accommodated hundreds of customers and tractor-trailers coming and going all week long. The owner of the horse farm, according to the article, can no longer keep his farm operating at a profit and is perfectly within his right to sell his property to Pinewood.
The Long Island Builders Institute will keep a close eye on both projects. We salute Councilwoman Kepert for her willingness to consider the big picture, although we fear in doing so we will make her a target of Amper's Army. Of course, her day job involves teaching teenagers in high school so we have no doubts about her ability to deal with the angst Amper plans to send her way.
Given the Island's well-documented housing shortage - not to mention the utter lack of building activity of late that has idled every aspect of the industry as well as dried up several revenue streams for local municipalities - you would think that such announcements would be greeted with huzzahs, if not a parade down Main Street.
But no - this is Long Island. Both stories featured headlines highlighting the fact that local civic groups plan to fight the development.
The first, "Groups to fight planned development in Middle Island", appeared in Newsday on Wednesday. The following day saw this article, "Hicksville developer struggles to win over Islandia neighbors", appear in the Long Island Business News Flash Report.
There is hope, however. To her credit, Brookhaven Councilwoman Connie Kepert supports the project. She gets it, if you will, and is quoted in the article as saying, "the 39-acre project would be a boon for Brookhaven's tax base and fit into the town's development plan for Middle Island. She said the project includes about 18 acres of open space and would be a walkable, urban alternative to typical Long Island sprawl."
The article also mentions that the developer, Frank Weber of Sandy Hollow Estates, has the right to build 34 single-family homes on the property under the current zoning. Kepert smartly points out the sewage treatment plant planned for the development would release less nitrogen than 34 homes built without the plant.
The developer plans to leave 18 acres for open, walkable space at no cost to the local taxpayer. That fact is buried six paragraphs into the story, however, and is conveniently ignored by Dick Amper, the leader of the groups vowing to fight the effort.
The second article reports on Pinewood Development Corp.'s plans to build a condo community where a horse farm now stands. The neighbors say the "traffic will be a nightmare," even though the horse farm itself at one time accommodated hundreds of customers and tractor-trailers coming and going all week long. The owner of the horse farm, according to the article, can no longer keep his farm operating at a profit and is perfectly within his right to sell his property to Pinewood.
The Long Island Builders Institute will keep a close eye on both projects. We salute Councilwoman Kepert for her willingness to consider the big picture, although we fear in doing so we will make her a target of Amper's Army. Of course, her day job involves teaching teenagers in high school so we have no doubts about her ability to deal with the angst Amper plans to send her way.
Thursday, September 25, 2008
Races Worth Watching - Trunzo in the Lead
A Newsday article this morning points out that a Siena Market Research study shows the races across the state for New York Senate positions are still very much up for grabs.
According to the article, written by Rick Brand, "Veteran Republican state Sen. Caesar Trunzo, facing the toughest race in his 36-year career, has a 6-point lead in a new poll, but his foe, Brookhaven's Democratic Supervisor Brian Foley, says the survey shows he's "within striking distance" and that Trunzo has "already peaked."
The article goes on to report: "The Siena Research Institute poll of 405 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, shows Trunzo leading Foley 46-40 in a race where Senate Democrats have so far spent $291,000, their most money statewide. The poll also showed Long Island's newest state senator, Democrat Craig Johnson, leads Plandome Manor Mayor Barbara Donno 49 percent to 25 percent."
The Senate races bear watching because the Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a number of bills that were detrimental to the building industry. These bills - listed below - died in the Republican controlled Senate. This is why LIBI co-hosted with the New York State Builders Association a fund-raising event for NYS Senate Majority Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre. We know we can count on Dean to keep a watchful eye on matters that could present problems for Long Islanders in general and builders in particular.
LIBI encourages all of its members to do what they can to support the elected officials who understand how valuable the building community is to the economic well-being of Long Island. We will spotlight these officials in this space as time goes on. Stay tuned.
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS APPROVED BY THE DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED ASSEMBLY:
• Allows a person to institute an action for a violation of the provisions of the environmental quality review even if the injury does not affect the public at large.
• Prohibits home improvement contractors from also acting on behalf of mortgage brokers; prohibits a mortgage broker from paying a home improvement contractor directly unless they perform their own inspection of the completed work
• Authorizes the commissioner of labor to implement rules and regulations regarding the removal of lead, asbestos, and other hazardous waste
• Provides for riparian/littoral property lines to be shown on subdivision maps that are contiguous to water bodies of the state.
• Requires the commissioner of health to take action when areas of lead poisoning are designated; the commissioner of health is also required to provide written notice instructing such condition be discontinued within a specified period of time
• Directs the department of environmental conservation to update any forms or documentation prepared by such department which are designed to assist applicants and lead agencies in determining whether certain projects or actions have a significant effect on the environment; and provides such updates shall ensure the consideration of certain changes, including, impacts on sensitive populations such as children
• Establishes requirements for notice, access to information and public comment period with respect to uniform procedures for pending environmental protection agency projects and regulation.
• Requires applicants seeking land use approval from a municipal corporation to certify compliance with applicable state zoning and building procedures and requirements.
• Relates to requiring notice to neighboring landowners of intention to develop in wetland areas.
• Requires agencies to post contractor utilization plans on the agency website
• Requires state agencies, departments or authorities which let more than ten million dollars in service and construction contracts to establish mentor-protege programs to enable the development and success of small, minority, and women-owned businesses.
• Enacts the "New York State fair pay act"; provides that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, race and/or national origin by paying different wages.
According to the article, written by Rick Brand, "Veteran Republican state Sen. Caesar Trunzo, facing the toughest race in his 36-year career, has a 6-point lead in a new poll, but his foe, Brookhaven's Democratic Supervisor Brian Foley, says the survey shows he's "within striking distance" and that Trunzo has "already peaked."
The article goes on to report: "The Siena Research Institute poll of 405 likely voters with a margin of error of plus or minus 4.9 percentage points, shows Trunzo leading Foley 46-40 in a race where Senate Democrats have so far spent $291,000, their most money statewide. The poll also showed Long Island's newest state senator, Democrat Craig Johnson, leads Plandome Manor Mayor Barbara Donno 49 percent to 25 percent."
The Senate races bear watching because the Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a number of bills that were detrimental to the building industry. These bills - listed below - died in the Republican controlled Senate. This is why LIBI co-hosted with the New York State Builders Association a fund-raising event for NYS Senate Majority Dean Skelos of Rockville Centre. We know we can count on Dean to keep a watchful eye on matters that could present problems for Long Islanders in general and builders in particular.
LIBI encourages all of its members to do what they can to support the elected officials who understand how valuable the building community is to the economic well-being of Long Island. We will spotlight these officials in this space as time goes on. Stay tuned.
LEGISLATIVE PROPOSALS APPROVED BY THE DEMOCRAT-CONTROLLED ASSEMBLY:
• Allows a person to institute an action for a violation of the provisions of the environmental quality review even if the injury does not affect the public at large.
• Prohibits home improvement contractors from also acting on behalf of mortgage brokers; prohibits a mortgage broker from paying a home improvement contractor directly unless they perform their own inspection of the completed work
• Authorizes the commissioner of labor to implement rules and regulations regarding the removal of lead, asbestos, and other hazardous waste
• Provides for riparian/littoral property lines to be shown on subdivision maps that are contiguous to water bodies of the state.
• Requires the commissioner of health to take action when areas of lead poisoning are designated; the commissioner of health is also required to provide written notice instructing such condition be discontinued within a specified period of time
• Directs the department of environmental conservation to update any forms or documentation prepared by such department which are designed to assist applicants and lead agencies in determining whether certain projects or actions have a significant effect on the environment; and provides such updates shall ensure the consideration of certain changes, including, impacts on sensitive populations such as children
• Establishes requirements for notice, access to information and public comment period with respect to uniform procedures for pending environmental protection agency projects and regulation.
• Requires applicants seeking land use approval from a municipal corporation to certify compliance with applicable state zoning and building procedures and requirements.
• Relates to requiring notice to neighboring landowners of intention to develop in wetland areas.
• Requires agencies to post contractor utilization plans on the agency website
• Requires state agencies, departments or authorities which let more than ten million dollars in service and construction contracts to establish mentor-protege programs to enable the development and success of small, minority, and women-owned businesses.
• Enacts the "New York State fair pay act"; provides that it shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employer to discriminate between employees on the basis of sex, race and/or national origin by paying different wages.
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
Do The Right Thing
Builders know better than anyone that there are no shortcuts when it comes to doing things properly. You might get away with a cut corner in the short term, but eventually it will catch up to you.
In the late 1990s / early 2000s I worked for an Internet company trying to launch a regional search engine (longisland.com). From a distance we watched as investors poured ridiculous amounts of money into Web sites that were more-often-than-not little more than "a good idea" hatched from the brain of a poorly-shaven 20-something. My favorite site was boo.com. Back then it was going to set the fashion world on its ear with its new "business dynamic" of selling designer clothes over the Internet. It burned through $188 million in six months. Its subsequent crash in May, 2000 proved to be a precursor of the tech-bubble bursting that launched the country into the economic troubles of the early 2000s.
Lately we have been learning quite a bit about mortgage brokers and lending institutions taking shortcuts and, quite frankly, providing mortgages for people who had no right signing on the bottom line. There's lots of blame to go around for this fiasco, and as expected our friends on Capitol Hill are lining up for the opportunity to get on camera so they can "demand answers" well past the point where those answers will do us any good.
Had everyone done their job when they were supposed to, of course, we would not find ourselves in this economic mess. If the lenders did their due diligence, if the regulators paid attention to what the lenders were doing and if the folks getting the mortgages had exercised responsibility and not signed for something they could not reasonably expect to pay back, then we would still be plodding along - perhaps not as busy as we were during the "boom years" but certainly not floundering as we are now, wondering just where the bottom is.
But they didn't and now we have a mess to clean up. Clean it up we will - hopefully soon - and when we do we will go back to building houses. Sturdy, well built houses that will stand for decades to come. Because when LIBI builders build, you can be sure they will do the right thing.
In the late 1990s / early 2000s I worked for an Internet company trying to launch a regional search engine (longisland.com). From a distance we watched as investors poured ridiculous amounts of money into Web sites that were more-often-than-not little more than "a good idea" hatched from the brain of a poorly-shaven 20-something. My favorite site was boo.com. Back then it was going to set the fashion world on its ear with its new "business dynamic" of selling designer clothes over the Internet. It burned through $188 million in six months. Its subsequent crash in May, 2000 proved to be a precursor of the tech-bubble bursting that launched the country into the economic troubles of the early 2000s.
Lately we have been learning quite a bit about mortgage brokers and lending institutions taking shortcuts and, quite frankly, providing mortgages for people who had no right signing on the bottom line. There's lots of blame to go around for this fiasco, and as expected our friends on Capitol Hill are lining up for the opportunity to get on camera so they can "demand answers" well past the point where those answers will do us any good.
Had everyone done their job when they were supposed to, of course, we would not find ourselves in this economic mess. If the lenders did their due diligence, if the regulators paid attention to what the lenders were doing and if the folks getting the mortgages had exercised responsibility and not signed for something they could not reasonably expect to pay back, then we would still be plodding along - perhaps not as busy as we were during the "boom years" but certainly not floundering as we are now, wondering just where the bottom is.
But they didn't and now we have a mess to clean up. Clean it up we will - hopefully soon - and when we do we will go back to building houses. Sturdy, well built houses that will stand for decades to come. Because when LIBI builders build, you can be sure they will do the right thing.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
Where's the Accountability?
If LIBI members ran their businesses the way the government goes about its daily operations, the world would be in a lot more trouble than it is in right now.
Take these news items, for instance.
This morning's New York Daily reports that "despite enacting a state hiring freeze, the Paterson administration created a $140,000-a-year job for a recently retired Queens assemblyman. Ivan Lafayette, 78, was named deputy superintendent for community affairs at the state Insurance Department...The higher pay will also help him boost his pension, which is based on the combined average of the last three years of a person's salary."
Closer to home, the North Shore Sun has a cover story this week detailing how the Suffolk County Deparment of Public Works changed the speed limit signs on the William Floyd Parkway to 45 miles per hour from 55 mph. What's newsworthy about that? Funny you should ask.
Turns out the Brookhaven Town Board voted to lower the speed limit in 1992! It took 16 years but SC DPW finally got around to posting the new limits!
Or how about this one from the Sunday New York Times: "Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The New York Times has found. Since 2000, those records show, about a quarter of a billion dollars in federal disability money has gone to former L.I.R.R. employees, including about 2,000 who retired during that time.
"The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate suggests it is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to work. Yet in four of the last five years, the railroad has won national awards for improving worker safety."
Now, I don't know Ivan Lafayette from Marquis de Lafayette, I rarely drive on the William Floyd and I know my brother in-law works real hard at his job at the LIRR. I mention these items because they epitomize why Long Islanders get socked with some of the highest taxes in the region. Inefficiencies and government officials "taking care of each other" have been the norm for way too long. Long Islanders have to start holding our elected officials more accountable because we can no longer afford business as usual.
Years ago I attended an LIA breakfast featuring the two county executives reporting on the state of their respective economies. One of them went on and on about how he had reduced the number of "non-essential" employees on the county payroll. One of the business owners at my table looked around at his table mates and wondered aloud, "How many 'non-essential' employees do you have on your payroll?"
LIBI members have all taken measures to stay "lean and mean," and more often than not these measures required painful decisions involving valued employees. It's time we started demanding the same painful decisions - and lean and mean results - from our elected officials.
Take these news items, for instance.
This morning's New York Daily reports that "despite enacting a state hiring freeze, the Paterson administration created a $140,000-a-year job for a recently retired Queens assemblyman. Ivan Lafayette, 78, was named deputy superintendent for community affairs at the state Insurance Department...The higher pay will also help him boost his pension, which is based on the combined average of the last three years of a person's salary."
Closer to home, the North Shore Sun has a cover story this week detailing how the Suffolk County Deparment of Public Works changed the speed limit signs on the William Floyd Parkway to 45 miles per hour from 55 mph. What's newsworthy about that? Funny you should ask.
Turns out the Brookhaven Town Board voted to lower the speed limit in 1992! It took 16 years but SC DPW finally got around to posting the new limits!
Or how about this one from the Sunday New York Times: "Virtually every career employee — as many as 97 percent in one recent year — applies for and gets disability payments soon after retirement, a computer analysis of federal records by The New York Times has found. Since 2000, those records show, about a quarter of a billion dollars in federal disability money has gone to former L.I.R.R. employees, including about 2,000 who retired during that time.
"The L.I.R.R.’s disability rate suggests it is one of the nation’s most dangerous places to work. Yet in four of the last five years, the railroad has won national awards for improving worker safety."
Now, I don't know Ivan Lafayette from Marquis de Lafayette, I rarely drive on the William Floyd and I know my brother in-law works real hard at his job at the LIRR. I mention these items because they epitomize why Long Islanders get socked with some of the highest taxes in the region. Inefficiencies and government officials "taking care of each other" have been the norm for way too long. Long Islanders have to start holding our elected officials more accountable because we can no longer afford business as usual.
Years ago I attended an LIA breakfast featuring the two county executives reporting on the state of their respective economies. One of them went on and on about how he had reduced the number of "non-essential" employees on the county payroll. One of the business owners at my table looked around at his table mates and wondered aloud, "How many 'non-essential' employees do you have on your payroll?"
LIBI members have all taken measures to stay "lean and mean," and more often than not these measures required painful decisions involving valued employees. It's time we started demanding the same painful decisions - and lean and mean results - from our elected officials.
Monday, September 22, 2008
The Truth Shall Set Us Free - or At Least Shed Some Light on the Situation
Good morning!
There was some interesting reading over the weekend pertaining to the home building and home remodeling industries.
First was this week's Long Island Business Newscover story: "sex, lies and property taxes". David Winzelberg's well-researched piece debunks the notion that housing development equals over-whelmed school districts. It's must reading for anyone planning to seek approval(s) for a housing project in the near future.
The second article "Debating How Green to Go" was written by Marcelle Fischler and appeared in the real estate section of the Sunday New York Times. It draws attention to Southampton's well-intentioned-but-flawed attempts to became the first town in the nation to tie HERS ratings to the size of the house (in other words, the bigger house the more energy efficient it has to be).
The third article was by Mark Harrington in Newsday. It reported on a study issued by the Network for New Energy Choices. The study examines how the trend toward local municipalities demanding more energy accountability is further encumbering the permit approval process.
Hopefully these articles will help shed some light on the realities of home building and remodeling on Long Island. LIBI members strive to do the right thing - especially when it comes to energy efficiencies. Sometimes the "right thing" gets muddled in the process, however, especially when other factions' idea of what the "right thing" is impossible to achieve.
I would to hear your comments on these pieces.
There was some interesting reading over the weekend pertaining to the home building and home remodeling industries.
First was this week's Long Island Business Newscover story: "sex, lies and property taxes". David Winzelberg's well-researched piece debunks the notion that housing development equals over-whelmed school districts. It's must reading for anyone planning to seek approval(s) for a housing project in the near future.
The second article "Debating How Green to Go" was written by Marcelle Fischler and appeared in the real estate section of the Sunday New York Times. It draws attention to Southampton's well-intentioned-but-flawed attempts to became the first town in the nation to tie HERS ratings to the size of the house (in other words, the bigger house the more energy efficient it has to be).
The third article was by Mark Harrington in Newsday. It reported on a study issued by the Network for New Energy Choices. The study examines how the trend toward local municipalities demanding more energy accountability is further encumbering the permit approval process.
Hopefully these articles will help shed some light on the realities of home building and remodeling on Long Island. LIBI members strive to do the right thing - especially when it comes to energy efficiencies. Sometimes the "right thing" gets muddled in the process, however, especially when other factions' idea of what the "right thing" is impossible to achieve.
I would to hear your comments on these pieces.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Fantasy Land
Newly re-minted LIBI member Michael Dubb (http://www.beechwoodhomes.com/news-whoswho-mdubb-augsep-05.htm) spoke about a fantasy of his during a panel yesterday at Building Long Island (http://www.buildinglongisland.com/) magazine's annual "Cutting Through The Red Tape" breakfast symposium at the The Milleridge Cottage in Jericho.
He shared with the 200-strong audience that he has enough property to build 700 houses in the Town of Brookhaven but that he is holding off from doing so for the time being. He said his fantasy is that the Town of Brookhaven comes to him and says, "What can we do to get you to build those 700 homes?"
Given the financial hardships the Town is going through right now, as well as the region's well-documented shortage of affordable housing you would think Mr. Dubb's fantasy would be a no-brainer reality. But no, we live on Long Island where there is an unfortunate disconnect amongst our elected officials in that they do not understand the relationship between home construction and remodeling and a healthy economy. Instead of encouragement, our members get roadblocks and delays by way of onerous paperwork, expensive and inexplicable fees and seemingly endless placating of civic associations.
The elected officials on the panel - Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/Biography.html), Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/departments/CountyExec.aspx) and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto (http://www.oysterbaytown.com/) all talked a good game. Suozzi pushed his "Cool Downtowns" concept - and multi-residential dwellings in downtown areas near train stations are key to Long Island's future. Levy discussed his on-going efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Suffolk County - including his efforts to have light-duty officers run the Suffolk County Police Athletic League, a move that will save County taxpayers $400,000 according to the County Executive. And Venditto suggested that Oyster Bay is doing "quite well." Tell that to the LIBI member who has a significant amount of business stuck in the limbo of the building moratorium in Massapequa.
Oh well. LIBI will use this space to monitor the local municipalities and draw attention to situations and government policies that are detrimental to the building community and, by extenstion, the Long Island economy. Stay tuned.
He shared with the 200-strong audience that he has enough property to build 700 houses in the Town of Brookhaven but that he is holding off from doing so for the time being. He said his fantasy is that the Town of Brookhaven comes to him and says, "What can we do to get you to build those 700 homes?"
Given the financial hardships the Town is going through right now, as well as the region's well-documented shortage of affordable housing you would think Mr. Dubb's fantasy would be a no-brainer reality. But no, we live on Long Island where there is an unfortunate disconnect amongst our elected officials in that they do not understand the relationship between home construction and remodeling and a healthy economy. Instead of encouragement, our members get roadblocks and delays by way of onerous paperwork, expensive and inexplicable fees and seemingly endless placating of civic associations.
The elected officials on the panel - Nassau County Executive Tom Suozzi (http://www.nassaucountyny.gov/agencies/CountyExecutive/Biography.html), Suffolk County Executive Steve Levy (http://www.co.suffolk.ny.us/departments/CountyExec.aspx) and Town of Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto (http://www.oysterbaytown.com/) all talked a good game. Suozzi pushed his "Cool Downtowns" concept - and multi-residential dwellings in downtown areas near train stations are key to Long Island's future. Levy discussed his on-going efforts to bring fiscal sanity to Suffolk County - including his efforts to have light-duty officers run the Suffolk County Police Athletic League, a move that will save County taxpayers $400,000 according to the County Executive. And Venditto suggested that Oyster Bay is doing "quite well." Tell that to the LIBI member who has a significant amount of business stuck in the limbo of the building moratorium in Massapequa.
Oh well. LIBI will use this space to monitor the local municipalities and draw attention to situations and government policies that are detrimental to the building community and, by extenstion, the Long Island economy. Stay tuned.
Thursday, September 18, 2008
The LIBI Blog
The Long Island Builders Institute wants to keep its members up to speed on new developments in the building industry, as well as on top of new government initiatives and special events hosted by LIBI. We are also looking to expand our digital footprint.
That is why we have opted to start a daily blog. Executive Vice President Michael Watt will update the blog, on a daily basis and by 9 am if possible. The blogs will draw attention to relevant news from the morning's newspapers, upcoming special events and position statements on matters that call for LIBI to take a stand.LIBI encourages its members to post comments in response to the daily blog, as well as to suggest topics for future blogs. You can post your suggestions here or send me an email at mwatt@libi.org.
This is your Web site. Let's work together to make it the best it can be so we can make LIBI the best it can be. Also - be sure to check your information on the site, to make sure we have it posted correctly and to make sure it links to your Web site.
That is why we have opted to start a daily blog. Executive Vice President Michael Watt will update the blog, on a daily basis and by 9 am if possible. The blogs will draw attention to relevant news from the morning's newspapers, upcoming special events and position statements on matters that call for LIBI to take a stand.LIBI encourages its members to post comments in response to the daily blog, as well as to suggest topics for future blogs. You can post your suggestions here or send me an email at mwatt@libi.org.
This is your Web site. Let's work together to make it the best it can be so we can make LIBI the best it can be. Also - be sure to check your information on the site, to make sure we have it posted correctly and to make sure it links to your Web site.
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