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Sunday, September 26, 2021
THENEWBXCC - Bronx Business News You Can Use
Permits Filed For 1047 Ogden Avenue In Highbridge, The Bronx
Permits have been filed for a seven-story mixed-use building at 1047 Ogden Avenue in Highbridge, The Bronx. Located at the intersection of West 165th Street and Ogden Avenue, the lot is closest to the 167th Street subway station, serviced by the 4 train. Leo Brody of ZLB Holdings is listed as the owner behind the applications.
The proposed 70-foot-tall development will yield 37,578 square feet, with 31,524 square feet designated for residential space, 5,378 square feet for commercial space, and 675 square feet for community facility space. The building will have 45 residences, most likely rentals based on the average unit scope of 700 square feet. The steel-based structure will also have a 40-foot-long rear yard and 14 enclosed parking spaces.
Nikolai Katz Architect is listed as the architect of record.
Demolition permits will likely not be needed as the lot is vacant. An estimated completion date has not been announced.
FIRST TAXI MEDALLION OWNERS SEE OVER $5 MILLION IN DEBT RELIEF
$500 Million in total relief expected for more drivers
Mayor Bill de Blasio announced New York City’s $65 million Medallion Relief Program (MRP), which could result in $500 million of debt forgiveness for thousands of drivers, has delivered $5.1 million in debt cancellation for the first 26 owners to fully restructure their loans. As of this week, 954 medallion owners have completed appointments with the TLC’s Owner/Driver Resource Center and are in various stages of renegotiations, a significant portion of which will be completed by the end of 2021.
“Medallion owners have more than earned their place as an essential part of the City’s transportation network, and this visionary program will ensure that those in distress get the economic justice they need to support their families and eventually retire with deserved dignity,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “This program is the first of its kind anywhere and is really government at its best—helping our neighbors in crisis with innovative, inventive tools. The progress we’ve made thus far is really impressive.”
“The TLC is fully committed to the vitality and success of the Yellow Taxi sector,” said TLC Commissioner and Chair Aloysee Heredia Jarmoszuk. “The Medallion Relief Program is delivering $65 million in financial support, which is inarguably material, and we will not rest until we exhaust our reach to Owners who are facing insolvency due to Medallion-related debt.”
“Helping essential workers like taxi drivers is core to our mission and the pandemic has only exacerbated their need for help navigating their finances,” said Department of Consumer and Worker Protection Commissioner Peter A. Hatch. “We are proud to have already, in partnership with TLC, NYLAG and others, provided hundreds of driver/owners with legal assistance and free, confidential, one-on-one financial counseling that has helped lower and even eliminate their debt and we are eager to help more.”
“NYLAG is pleased to continue the work of representing yellow taxicab medallion owners impacted by ongoing economic hardship,” said Associate Director of the Consumer Protection Unit at NYLAG Rose Marie Cantanno. “Thus far, NYLAG has met with over 1,100 owners and begun the process of negotiating and advocating on behalf of the individual clients who have retained us. Along with all local, state, and private resources available, the MRP will aid many owners in reducing their medallions debts. We are ready to move forward with dozens of MRP cases which will assist clients in keeping their medallions following their devastating loss of income.”
About the Medallion Relief Program
The City of New York will provide $65 million in grants to economically distressed individual medallion owners. This includes $20,000 as a down payment to restructure loan principals and set lower monthly payments, as well as up to $9,000 for monthly debt relief payments.
Many medallion owners will have over $200,000 in debt forgiven, and loan payments reduced to about $1,500 or less per month. Some owners will achieve total debt erasure through settlements.
TLC's Owner/Driver Resource Center, which offers a range of free financial counseling and legal assistance for TLC Licensees, as well as connecting them with government benefits and health and wellness resources, has already served over 1,000 licensees. TLC Licensees in need of these services can call 311 or visit nyc.gov/taxi to make an appointment.
Attorney General James Urges Department of Education to Fix Broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness Program
To Date, Department of Education Has Denied Nearly All PSLF/TEPSLF Applications
New York Attorney General Letitia James today continued her fight to address the nation’s ongoing student loan crisis. As part of a coalition of 22 attorneys general, Attorney General James today sent a letter to the U.S. Department of Education, urging the agency to take robust action to fix the broken Public Service Loan Forgiveness (PSLF) program. Since borrowers first became eligible for relief in 2017, almost all PSLF applications have been rejected, leaving millions of public servants in the lurch. These teachers, nurses, public interest attorneys, social workers, first responders, servicemembers, and others incurred significant student loan debt in order to gain the skills necessary to educate, heal, and protect our communities — under the promise that a portion of these loans would eventually be forgiven. In today’s letter, the coalition applauds the Department of Education’s commitment to improving implementation of the PSLF program and urges the agency to act quickly to fix the failures in the program’s administration.
“For 10 or more years, thousands of New Yorkers served our state and this nation, but the promises made to them for a decade of service didn’t even amount to a single penny,” said Attorney General James. “Promises made must be promises kept, which is why we are, once again, calling on the Department of Education to immediately fix the Public Service Loan Forgiveness program and ensure that they make good on their commitment to help those who keep our country moving every day. Student debt has spiraled out of control and the economic impact of the pandemic has only made it harder for New Yorkers, as well as borrowers from all over the nation, to pay their bills. Now is the time for us to take bold action to end the student loan crisis and provide borrowers with the tools they need to move forward.”
In 2007, a bipartisan Congress created the PSLF program to encourage student loan borrowers to enter public service jobs in return for forgiving the remaining balance of their federal student loans after 10 years of on-time loan payments. When the first wave of borrowers applied for loan forgiveness in 2017, the Department of Education denied applicants at the alarming rate of 99 percent. In 2018, a bipartisan Congress gave the agency a second chance to deliver on the PSLF’s critical promise by creating the Temporary Expanded Public Service Loan Forgiveness (TEPSLF) program. Despite this emergency fix, relief continues to be out of reach for nearly all who apply. To date, the Department of Education has denied 96 percent of all TEPSLF applications.
Drastic action by the Department of Education is required to make the promise of PSLF forgiveness a reality for the nation’s dedicated public servants. State attorneys general have a unique perspective on how to improve administration of the PSLF/TEPSLF resulting from their experience investigating and holding student loan servicers accountable for violating the law, including misadministration of the PSLF/TEPSLF program. In today’s comment letter, the attorneys general urge the Department of Education to:
- Provide immediate relief to borrowers who have been harmed by the misadministration of the PSLF/TEPSLF program;
- Improve servicer oversight and accountability by carefully selecting a new servicer that will be responsive to borrowers and creating new incentives and operating procedures that put borrowers first;
- Extend the pause on payments on student loans that started in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic;
- Conduct broad outreach to all borrowers potentially interested in forgiveness, including those who have yet to apply and those who have already received denials; and
- Affirmatively correct errors discovered for all affected borrowers.
Separately, but related to her work fighting to help student borrowers with the PSLF program, in October 2019, Attorney General James sued the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency (PHEAA) — one of the nation’s largest student loan servicers and the exclusive administrator of the PSLF program — for failing to properly administer the PSLF program.
Joining Attorney General James in sending today’s letter to the Department of Education are the attorneys general of California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, and the District of Columbia.