Gothamist: Foreclosures Skyrocketing in Queens and Staten Island

bornbrednewyorker

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 10:57:27 -0500

I feel for these people who have lost their homes. Fixed mortgage rate is the only way to go.

eyekantspel

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:48:56 -0500

I don't think that state and city budget cuts are going to impact much. First off, are there actual cuts or just decreases in projected increases? State and city budgets are disgustingly bloated anyway. How do you think our legislatures have pools of "discretionary" money to distribute at will? Those of us in the private sector get no pensions, pay for health care, and can get laid off at any time, while those in the public sector get extra holidays, job security, pension plans that permit retirement at half pay plus full benefits after 20+ years of service. A cop can start at 20, work until 40 and then get half pay and medical for the rest of his life. Sure, if you are an investment banker, maybe you'd do better. But for the rest of us, with life expectancy til the mid 80s, how much would you have to contribute to a 401k to be able to pay for 40+ years of half salary plus benefits? $3,000,000? More? good luck. System is broken, and it's just a matter of time before the music stops.

EastRiver

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:40:18 -0500

What would really be informative would be a comparison with other economic slowdowns. I would assume that the first year of a slowdown/recession always sees a spike in foreclosures. Comparisons with a year ago when the economy was just barely sputtering is hardly informative. But of course, this would require the media to actually do some work and dig into the data.

sinisterteashop

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:33:29 -0500

Add that to the post sub-prime meltdown state and city budget cuts that haven't kicked in yet and we're in for a lot of people with out homes in NYC. Just ask a local...

nik13

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 22:30:05 -0500

Yawn.

sonyactivision

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 21:21:54 -0500

Small numbers, big percentages: Big fucking deal.

eyekantspel

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 19:26:10 -0500

considering some 2.5 million people live in Queens, 508 foreclosures really doesn't seem that bad. As the article acknowledges "the total number of foreclosures in the Big Apple was relatively low, compared to other cities. Los Angeles and Miami have nearly 10 times as many foreclosures as New York City." I don't know where they draw the geographic boundaries for NYC, LA and Miami, but this wikipedia entry shows the population of NYC at about 8.2 million, compared with 3.8 million in LA and only 404,000 in Miami. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_United_States_cities_by_population