SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Housing In Suffolk County Welcome The YIMBYs

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman 

East End YIMBY—for Yes In My Backyard—continued its work at encouraging affordable housing at a meeting last week. It was refreshing to observe a group of folks—of varied ages and backgrounds including two veteran architects and a long-time former New York State housing specialist—gathered. 

It was a contrast to those who oppose affordable housing under the banner of NIMBY—Not In My Backyard.

Opening the meeting in Sag Harbor—where the median price of a house has reached an unaffordable-for-most-people median price of $1.3 million—Michael Daly, the YIMBY’s founder and leader, spoke of the group being “committed to taking action.”  

“We advocate” for affordable housing, he emphasized. This includes endeavoring to “educate ourselves and others,” he said. An emphasis is on appearances at meetings of government panels and civic associations and countering the NIMBYs who “regurgitate myths” which have discouraged “affordable housing for so long.”

Mr. Daly, a real estate broker, described the myths as including the claim that affordable housing “hurts the environment” when, in fact, “community housing goes through stringent environmental review;” it drives down property values although “repeated research” shows it has “no negative impact on home prices;” looks “cheap” but, in fact, it must comply with “all the same building codes and regulations” as market-rate projects;” hurts the quality of local schools when “the opposite is true.”

The focus at the meeting was indeed on “taking action” and strategies were discussed.

What YIMBY is facing is not new in Suffolk County.

The challenge, however, is more intense as the median price of a house in Suffolk has skyrocketed to now $535,000. 

My first job as a reporter in Suffolk was at the Babylon Town Leader in a town that was hit, along with the rest of western Suffolk, by the first wave of the huge post-World War II population move onto Long Island. An issue when I began at the Leader in 1962 was the resistance in Babylon to housing other than single-family residences. I was assigned to write about the several garden apartments that had been built, the need they met, and whether they did or didn’t conflict with the communities in which they were built. I found no conflict.

Up the road from where I live in Noyac, in 2019 the Sandy Hollow Cove Apartments opened in Tuckahoe. On a 2.6-acre site, three buildings offering 14 studio apartments, 12 one-bedroom apartments and two two-bedroom units, were built. The landscaping is lovely. It’s a joint project of the private company Georgica Green Venues, the Town of Southampton, the Suffolk County Office of Community Development and New York State Homes & Community Renewal. They are for people with low and moderate incomes. The apartments harmonize with housing in the area.

When they opened, Kathy Hochul, the state’s lieutenant governor and now governor, said: “Everyone deserves the dignity of a good home, which is why we are committed to our statewide investment in affordable and supportive housing. The Sandy Hollow Cove Apartments will help to ensure working families in Southampton have affordable, high-quality housing options.”

Mr. Daly comments that “it’s a beautiful community development and we need so many more of these community developments.” 

Earlier this year on Shelter Island, Bob Kohn, who had recently been appointed a member of its Community Housing Board, opposed and decried the town joining in providing affordable housing. At a Community Housing Board meeting in June, he referred it as “socialized housing.” He said those who couldn’t afford to live on Shelter Island should go elsewhere. He was bounced from the board. The median price of a house on Shelter Island has skyrocketed to $1.4 million.

As Shelter Island Supervisor Gerry Siller noted with Mr. Kohn’s termination, Town Code sets the board’s purpose as to “promote community housing” specifically “in order to maintain the local economy, community services and the economic and social diversity that characterize the Town of Shelter Island.” Mr. Siller said of Mr. Kohn’s plan, “the only problem it will solve is to ensure that the wealthy few who can still afford to live here will have accessible labor in the next town. That is simply not the community we want.” 

NIMBYs are still around. Welcome the YIMBYs.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Goat Yoga "Just What Do You Mean By 'Interacting ?'

Don’t Get My Goat 

By June Capossela Kempf

During one of my recent ‘Can we talk’ conversations with my daughter, I had been obsessing over some of my many worries until my stress stories began to rub Jeannie the wrong way.

 “You need to chill out Mom. Take a walk. Read a book. Try doing something different. Something that’ll take your mind off your troubles.”

“Like what?”

“How ‘bout a Yoga class – or better still: Since you’re such an animal lover, go over the top and try goat yoga,” she said with a giggle. 

“Goats do Yoga?” I asked.

“No silly, you do Yoga, while adorable goats ‘interact’ with you. it’s supposed to be relaxing and fun.

“Just what do you mean by ‘interacting’?

“Well, the goats have the same soothing effect on you as holding a cuddly puppy or an adorable little baby. They are affectionate and snuggle up with you as you go through the various yoga routines. They even hop on your back and sort of massage you with their hooves. Yogis claim that they come out of these sessions feeling warm and fuzzy all over.”  

“Hooves!! My back hurts already, that’s one reason I’m stressed. The last thing I need is a goat trampling with cloven hooves up and down my deteriorating disks. I have nightmares more soothing than that…”

Jeannie’s eyes began to roll. Jeanne tends to do that a lot lately. Anyway, I pushed on with the conversation – just to bug her.

“Just where do I find a guru who can make me ‘one’ with a goat?”

“All I know,” she said. “Is that some farmers and groups with access to goats, host sessions as a novelty and an income producer. The trend started out West, but I am sure there are classes somewhere around here.  Google it.”

So, I did.

Under the heading, ’What is goat yoga?’, Google confirmed what Jeannie told me and also provided a wealth of information I didn’t need to know. They described each yoga position from downward dog to mountain pose, creating the impression that the lower you are to the ground, the more likely you are to find a goat on your back – interacting. The mountain position appealed to me for the moment.

But then, I scrolled down to the Q & A section of the Google page and saw some disturbing queries from other researchers:

 Q “Do the goats relieve themselves on you?”

 A “Sometimes they do,” was the answer.

 Baaaa!   

The second question was just as strange.

Q “Do the goats wear clothes while they are bonding with the yogis?”

A “They sometimes wear T shirts.”

“What, no diapers?” I yelled at the screen.”

Double Baaaa!!

Need I know more? 

To be fair, I could stand a little bit more information – like whose idea was this in the first place? I continued my search and learned that the concept was established by a motivational speaker and marketer in Monroe, Oregon by the name: Lainey Moore.

Google says that Lainey found herself inspired by the distractions created by six adorable goats which she filmed leaping all over some ecstatic yogis as they happily worked through their various poses. Naturally she posted the whole scene and before she knew it, the video went viral. Soon her idea escalated and ‘Voila’, the trendy and profitable venture was launched. Finally, through her tireless promotional endeavors, she soon became known as the Queen of Goat Yoga.

Google had volumes more to say about the subject, including the facts that only Nanny goats and kids were suitable for nuzzling noses and numbing the nerves of human beings. Who knew?

Nevertheless, I read enough to know that there was no way I was going to calm down, while hooved, non-potty-trained Kids meandered all over my back.

Just let me assume a comfortable position on the couch and become one with my blankie; and I will become as cool and collected as a lotus blossom blissfully drifting across the still waters of a peaceful pond somewhere in Shangri-la. Ummm!  

June Capossela Kempf: Essayist and  Author of : Yo God! Jay’s Story, a memoir  and Lady of the Dollhouse, a YA mystery

*Smithtown Historical Society offers Goat Yoga

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Housing In Suffolk County Part III Programs For Affordable Housing

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

“LI HOME PRICES GO UP, UP, UP,” declared the front-page headline in Newsday last week. The article began: “Home prices reached a new high in Suffolk County…The median home price jumped to $535,000 in Suffolk last month…”

And that was $10,000 more than what Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr., president and CEO of the Long Island Housing Partnership, said that the average price—$525,000—of a house in Suffolk had just gone up to. He was giving a presentation earlier in the month before Long Island Metro Business Action on “Affordable Housing, Opportunities & Obstacles.” 

Houses suddenly now at a median price of $535,000—quite an obstacle in finding affordable housing! 

What existing governmental programs are there available for people seeking help in purchasing a home in Suffolk?

On the federal level, there’s the Federal Housing Administration, now part of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, “helping people become homeowners since 1934,” notes HUD’s website. “How do we do it?” Because the FHA “insures the loan…your lender can offer you a better deal,” it says. And with an FHA loan there are “low down payments.” It continues: “Buying your first home? FHA might be just what you need. Your down payment can be as low as 3.5% of the purchase price.” And there’s “low closing costs, easy credit qualifying.”

We obtained an FHA loan to buy our first home decades ago in Suffolk—for $19,000, the total not even twice the $10,000 price increase. Our FHA guaranteed 30-year 3% mortgage cost $200 a month. But for a house in the now median $535,00 range in Suffolk, affording a mortgage is difficult. Even with currently low interest bank rates, for a 30-year mortgage at 3%, the payments would be $2,108 a month, according to “Mortgage Calculator” online. 

Various websites market houses on which owners couldn’t keep up mortgage payments and thus they got foreclosed. “Houses priced from $10,000,” several websites featuring such housing claim. But in these parts, there are no houses on which mortgages were foreclosed at even close to that price. I inputted Smithtown on www.foreclosure.com and all the houses are listed at more than $400,000. 

As to state programs, the HUD website outlines “resources” and under “Homeownership: New York” are the encouraging words: “Owning a home is a big part of the American Dream.” There is a section on “Getting Started” which notes that in New York State there are state “assistance programs—resources and programs to help you buy and maintain a home.”

One is run by the State of New York Mortgage Agency which describes itself as offering “low-interest mortgage loans and programs to help qualified buyers purchase their first home. SONYMA provides access to affordable homeownership by removing many of the hurdles faced by first-time homebuyers. From increasing your understanding of the overall homebuying process, to helping secure funds for a down payment, SONYMA is with you every step of the way.”

As for Suffolk, its government website says: “Suffolk County operates several programs to support and encourage the creation of affordable and workforce housing through the Department of Economic Development and Planning and the Suffolk County housing opportunities programs.”

These include the county’s Affordable and Workforce Housing Land Acquisition program in which it “partners with developers…and will reimburse the developer for infrastructure costs when construction is completed to reduce the cost burden and allow developers to charge less for the rent or purchase price of newly constructed or rehabilitated units. Eligible infrastructure improvements include, but are not limited to roads, parking, sewers, water, sidewalks, street lighting and appurtenant landscaping within the development area.” 

Then there’s the county’s Section 72(h) Affordable Housing Transfer Program. It provides for “the county to transfer parcels currently in the county’s real estate inventory”—taken because of non-payment of taxes—”to municipalities for the construction or rehabilitation of affordable housing.” Jim Morgo related last week how he “came up with the concept” in 1987 as Suffolk’s deputy county executive for housing. “Since then, countless properties—the most expensive items in building homes—have been conveyed from the county to towns and villages and then to groups like the Habitat for Humanity and the Long Island Housing Partnership at no cost, and affordable homes have been created on these transferred properties.”

More next week. 

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books. 

Congressman Lee Zeldin's Statement Regarding His Diagnosis Of CML

On Saturday, September 18, 2021, Congressman Lee Zeldin (R, NY-1), candidate for governor of New York, issued the following statement regarding a diagnosis of chronic myeloid leukemia.

Congressman Lee Zeldin“Through early detection, last November, I was diagnosed with early stage chronic myeloid leukemia (CML). I then began treatment with an immediately positive response and no side effects. Over the last 9 months, I have achieved complete remission, am expected to live a normal life, and my doctor says I currently have no evidence of this disease in my system. My health is phenomenal, and I continue to operate at 110%.

“Right now, I’m once again criss-crossing New York State in our campaign for Governor, hitting Monroe, Wayne, and Ontario Counties yesterday, and Jefferson, Lewis, and Hamilton Counties today. At no point have we slowed down at all and my lowest gear is always ALL IN. I have also not missed any Army Reserve Duty as a result of this diagnosis. 

“I’m grateful for all of the men and women in the medical field who have not only treated me these past several months, but who pour their heart and soul into treating so many others in need of their expertise, energy, and passion. The medical field in our country is filled with the very best of society.”

Congressman Zeldin’s Hematologist Jeffrey Vacirca commented in Congressman Zeldin’s statement, “In November 2020, following a diagnosis of early chronic myeloid leukemia, Congressman Zeldin began targeted therapy, to which he immediately responded extraordinarily well and has achieved complete remission. Successfully treated early chronic myeloid leukemia is now a chronic disease, which carries a normal life expectancy. Congressman Zeldin is incredibly healthy, is expected to enjoy a normal life and has no evidence of disease.”

According to the Mayo Clinic “Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) is an uncommon type of cancer of the bone marrow — the spongy tissue inside bones where blood cells are made. CML causes an increased number of white blood cells in the blood.”

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP - Part II Hauppauge-Based LI Housing Partnership Tackles Affordable Housing Crisis

SUFFOLK CLOSEUP

By Karl Grossman

With the average price of a house in Suffolk having now gone up to $525,000, the affordable housing situation in the county has become yet more of a predicament for so many people. “The need for affordable housing has reached crisis proportions,” the county government’s affordable housing website declares.

What is being done, what has been done, to deal with this crisis?

A relatively new affordable housing program, the Long Island Partnership Community Land Trust, has been acquiring land for affordable housing in western and central Suffolk. 

The Community Land Trust is an initiative begun in 2018 by the Hauppauge-based Long Island Housing Partnership. The Partnership says in its mission statement that its aim is to “provide affordable housing opportunities to those who, through the ordinary, unaided operation of the marketplace, would be unable to secure, or remain in, a decent and safe home.”

The Community Land Trust, a not-for-profit corporation set up by the Housing Partnership, “acquires multiple parcels of land throughout a geographic area with the intention of retaining ownership of these parcels forever. The new homeowner owns the home on a parcel and the land remains in the Community Land Trust, thereby making the home more affordable,” says literature on the program. The Trust “retains” the land “for the community and never sells it” and “provides a very long-term lease of land, typically 99 years, for the exclusive use by individual homeowners.” 

Peter J. Elkowitz, Jr., president and CEO of the Housing Partnership, said property for this initiative has already been acquired in Smithtown, in Patchogue and Bellport in Brookhaven Town, in Melville in Huntington Town and in Babylon Town.

The program “makes homeownership possible for many through this innovative program that offers homes that have a lower cost since the land is not added to the purchase price.”

As part of the arrangement, “legal restrictions” are put in place, said Mr. Elkowitz, to prevent the owner of a house on Land Trust property from “flipping it” for profit. The land, he said, must remain in the affordable housing “pipeline.”

The Housing Partnership calls the program “a new model of homeownership” which will produce “permanently affordable homes.” 

A program to help the East End is the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act which for a second time has passed the New York State Legislature and is heading to the state’s new governor, Kathy Hochul, for her consideration. In 2019, her predecessor, Andrew Cuomo, vetoed the measure. If she signs it, it would go to the voters in the five East End towns for their approval.

It would provide for a half-percent tax on real estate transfers and “give the towns of the Peconic Bay region the authority and resources needed to establish a dedicated fund to provide needed housing opportunities,” says a legislative memorandum attached to it.

The Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act was sponsored by State Assemblyman Fred W. Thiele, Jr. of Sag Harbor and State Senator Anthony Polumbo of New Suffolk. 

It would levy an additional half-percent to the two-percent real estate transfer tax currently existing on the East End through the Peconic Bay Community Preservation Fund. This tax, which began in 1999 after state approval and then support in referenda in the five towns affected, has raised more than a $1.7 billion since. Proceeds are used to save farmland and open space, maintain water quality and for historic preservation.

Under the title “Justification,” the “Memorandum in Support of the Legislation” for the Peconic Bay Region Community Housing Act, states, “The adverse impact resulting from the lack of housing opportunities is severe….Traffic congestion is intensified by the importation of labor from areas with lower housing costs” and “the lack of housing opportunities is resulting in residents being forced to live in substandard, illegal conditions. The unique demographics and economics in the Peconic Bay region and a lack of affordable dwelling units are contributing to this housing shortage.”

With the money brought in under the program says the body of the legislation, “A town may provide financial assistance to a first-time homebuyer who is a resident of the town or who is employed in the town.” It could be “in the form of a grant or a loan.”

Western and central Suffolk County towns could also, with state legislation submitted on their behalf, then state approval and passage in local referenda, have their own Community Housing Act.

 More next week on the affordable housing crisis.

Karl Grossman is a veteran investigative reporter and columnist, the winner of numerous awards for his work and a member of the L.I. Journalism Hall of Fame. He is a professor of journalism at SUNY/College at Old Westbury and the author of six books.