Thousands of Queens homeowners have defaulted on their mortgages and are facing the prospect of foreclosure. These families often feel abandoned and alone.
Three Queens City Council members held a meeting in Corona last month to help borough homeowners develop strategies for dealing with the housing crisis. Karen Koslowitz, Julissa Ferreras and Leroy Comrie invited housing experts to a public meeting at PS 19, where they addressed a wide variety of issues.
Comrie said too many homeowners feel confused, helpless and frightened by their mortgage problems.
The panel included the city Department of Buildings, city Human Resources Administration, the Queens Community House, Queens Legal Services, the Legal Aid Society, the Queens Smoke Free Partnership and Housing Court Answers.
Comrie made it clear that the foreclosures, among the highest in the nation in his district, affect more than just families losing their homes. They destabilize neighborhoods and put a strain on public housing, which is stretched to the limit.
We applaud the action taken by these Council members, but there is a limit to what they can do. The ball should be in the court of those representing the city on Capitol Hill. The government which bailed out the nation’s banks should collect on the favor and work with the banks to put the brakes on foreclosures until more can be done to solve the unemployment problem.
A Shameful Reality
If this is close to true, it is unacceptable.
According to a report in The Wall Street Journal, a poll commissioned by the nation’s largest food bank shows that one out of every four households with a military veteran in New York City does not have enough food to put on the table.
It has been reported that men and women returning from Iraq and Afghanistan have been hit by the nation’s unemployment crisis. That is a problem that needs to be addressed. Despite the commercials, many of these men and women have not learned a marketable skill. They need and deserve help from a grateful nation.
But under no circumstances should the challenges they face in making the transition to civilian life result in their families going hungry.
