For neighborhoods below the poverty line, the effect was even greater: a 29 percent reduction in gun assaults and a 28 percent fall in crimes such as illegal dumping and public drinking. This past summer, I walked the streets of Philadelphia’s Kensington neighborhood, a dangerous area once dubbed the “Walmart of heroin,” with Prof. MacDonald. What MacDonald and Branas’ study of Philadelphia shows is that paired with simple, targeted efforts to fix up blighted blocks, such efforts can not only make places cleaner and city budgets healthier but streets dramatically safer. The legalities of zombie properties can be a bit confusing, especially when it comes to titles and ownership. In 2012, New York state’s foreclosure list reached 101,000 properties long. Was I really the right person to get the coveted COVID-19 vaccine? New York "Zombie Property" Rules Go Live. Andrew Cuomo recently signed a law allowing cities to reclaim and redevelop blighted homes across New York that have fallen into foreclosure. The legislation aims to permit municipalities to compel a mortgagee to either complete a mortgage foreclosure proceeding or to issue a certificate of discharge of the mortgage for any property which has been certified abandoned pursuant to article 13 of the real property actions and proceedings law. A report recently published by the Manhattan Institute, from University of Pennsylvania’s John MacDonald and Columbia’s Charles Branas, shows how cleaning and greening a handful of blighted lots lead to large drops in an area’s shootings, armed assaults and nuisance crimes, and without displacing such criminal behavior to elsewhere in a city. New York Law Gives Cities More Power to Fight Zombie Properties Thousands of vacant properties in the state of New York have been in foreclosure limbo for years. On December 18, 2019, Governor Andrew Cuomo signed Senate Bill 5079A into law, which gives local municipalities in New York more ways to fight against zombie properties. New York Governor Andrew Cuomo signed SB 5079A (Zombie Property Remediation Act). Good luck! Additionally, HPD helps enforce the Zombie Property and Foreclosure Prevention Act of 2016 (the “Zombie Law”), state legislation requiring lenders and servicers to inspect, secure, maintain, and report zombie homes to the New York State Department of Financial Services. 206,356, This story has been shared 83,778 times. New York’s statewide crackdown on “zombie homes”, a campaign launched in Western New York, seems to be paying off. All of which harms the surrounding community. NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) — Homes left in limbo without owners and forgotten by banks, known as “zombie houses,” are causing serious issues for … Zombie properties are blighting influences on communities that bring down property values and can pose health and safety risks to neighbors. New York State will find who is liable for the property and hold them accountable. Now, though, state law says that if the note is in default and the property is abandoned, then the city, village, or town may start a lawsuit to compel the lender to: About half of all complaints or incidents of gun violence are found in just 5 percent of blocks in the typical city. Colin Firth has been cast in zombie flick 'New York Will Eat You Alive'. Sitemap ROTTERDAM -- A long-abandoned "zombie" house in a Rotterdam neighborhood will be coming down, to be replaced by a house to be built by Habitat for Humanity of Schenectady County. 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