Town of Oyster Bay receives large grant to clean up abandoned homes
Just in time for Halloween, the Office of the NY state attorney general has given the Town of Oyster Bay, which includes Syosset, a $349,000 grant to take care of properties commonly known as ‘zombie homes’.
These are foreclosed homes that have been abandoned and left to deteriorate. According to the attorney general, they have become a problem across all of New York. There are nearly 4,000 zombie homes in Suffolk and Nassau counties combined.
The grant money will go towards improving the town's ability to enforce housing codes, and to addressing issues concerning vacant houses. Some of the funding will also go towards improving the ability of law enforcement to make sure lenders and banks act in accordance with the law.
Towns that have received funding from the state can use local print companies to let residents know about the scope of the problem. On Long Island, abandoned foreclosures have cost about $295m in lowered home values. Municipalities spent more than $3m cleaning and boarding up vacant properties in 2013.
The project is being overseen by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. It's a community development program that focuses on economic development, affordable housing, and revitalizing communities. The money itself is coming from a settlement agreement negotiated with Morgan Stanley to provide consumer relief in New York.
These are foreclosed homes that have been abandoned and left to deteriorate. According to the attorney general, they have become a problem across all of New York. There are nearly 4,000 zombie homes in Suffolk and Nassau counties combined.
The grant money will go towards improving the town's ability to enforce housing codes, and to addressing issues concerning vacant houses. Some of the funding will also go towards improving the ability of law enforcement to make sure lenders and banks act in accordance with the law.
Towns that have received funding from the state can use local print companies to let residents know about the scope of the problem. On Long Island, abandoned foreclosures have cost about $295m in lowered home values. Municipalities spent more than $3m cleaning and boarding up vacant properties in 2013.
The project is being overseen by the Local Initiatives Support Corporation. It's a community development program that focuses on economic development, affordable housing, and revitalizing communities. The money itself is coming from a settlement agreement negotiated with Morgan Stanley to provide consumer relief in New York.