Today, the Post has an exposé on some New Yorkers abusing a homeownership program meant for low-income New Yorkers (which these days is pretty much everyone). Apparently New Yorkers making less than 165 percent of the average income for New York City can buy one of 25,000 co-op apartments in the boroughs offered at between $250 and $40,000. That means a family of four making $125,400 or less can qualify. Someone get Jimmy McMillan! more ›

Facing a $45 million deficit and never before seen demand, the NYC Housing Authority is considering the "inconceivable" measure of revoking vouchers that help low-income New Yorkers afford their rent. It may take back as many as 10,500 Section 8 permits, reports the Times, pushing recipients into overcrowded shelters. Judith Goldliner of NY's Legal Aid Society was shocked at the prospect. “This is just a disaster,” she said. “We don’t know who could be impacted by it.” more ›

For two days now the Post has reported on street hawkers who lure Meidcaid recipients to dental clinics, offering cash payments to don the bib—today it turned its focus to the allegedly fraudulent doctors. Billing Medicaid $29 for oral exams, $58 for teeth X-rays, $58 for cleanings and $14 for fluoride treatments, dentists pay the patients around $15-20 per visit, and usually give the shills $10 per person they bring in. more ›

Rather than building new affordable homes in the city, Bloomberg now wants to spruce up those that already exist. His revamped plan will cost $8.5 billion and seeks to preserve 165,000 units by 2014. One Bed-Stuy housing development would have been a good candidate for the program, until it called a press conference to address its long list of complaints and the repairs were miraculously completed. “I’ve never seen anything like this in my life,” said Cassandra Harrell, the president of the Bed-Stuy Rehabs’ resident association, who has lived in the project for 27 years. “They put up Sheetrock, they painted the walls, they knew the press was coming.” more ›

Researchers are serving up more explanations as to why two recent reports on the effectiveness of the city’s ground-breaking calorie labeling law appear to contradict one another. The researchers told the Times that differences in focus and size might clarify the discrepancies. more ›

According to a survey of low-income New Yorkers, Crain's reports that "two-thirds have less than $1,000 in savings to fall back on should even tougher times hit, while one-third have no savings at all." more ›

A new study by several professors at NYU and Yale has taken a close look at the purchasing habits of fast-food consumers in poor NYC neighborhoods with high rates of obesity. Researchers were curious to find out if the law requiring chain restaurants to prominently display their calorie information was influencing customers' choices, and what they found was probably not what the Health Department had hoped for when implementing the rules in 2008. more ›

Even though consumer banks seem to be opening on every block these days, a new study from the Pew Charitable Trust shows that a staggering 12% of New York households still don't have bank accounts, preferring to cash their checks and hide their savings in their houses. Many of those are low-income earners and the NY Times cites LES bodega owner, Jose Alberto Abreau, as an example: "When he makes 'good money,' he said, he asks friends to take it to his family in the Dominican Republic." Additionally, he has repeatedly refused offers from credit union workers trying to convince him to build a credit history. Not surprisingly, the volatile economy hasn't helped banks earn anyone's trust. Peter Mosbacher of Amalgamated Bank admitted that they "are having that challenge to get people to understand that the American banking system is stable." Maybe the skeptics are on to something, though, because how is anyone supposed to trust banks when they take years to catch NYU scammers? more ›