WORLD WORLDWIDE USA New York NY New York City thecity THE CITY News Journal Update - THE CITY SCOOP: The Speculator Bros Ripping Off Heirs and Evicting Tenants Across NYC

 

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If you know anyone who might like this newsletter, send it to them. If this was sent to you by someone else, subscribe here — it's free!  Dear New Yorkers, Brothers Elliot and Joseph Ambalo and their business partner Etai Vardi specialize in a particular kind of real estate speculation.  Using generically named LLCs, the crew nab properties co-owned by a dispersed network of heirs who often don’t know the true value of their shares. They then rush to evict the residents of those properties, clearing the path to flip them for many times what they paid.  It mostly happens in gentrifying Black and Latino neighborhoods, where many homes are ripe for the taking because their original owners died without wills. In one instance, they bought out four heirs of a Black family’s home in Queens — and evicted the family member who’d been renting and maintaining the house — for $65,000. Less than a year later, they secured a deal to sell the house for $660,000. This ring’s maneuvers are largely legal. But a new investigation by THE CITY has found evidence of possible fraud in some of their transactions. Read more here. In other news: Two Races Called for City Council Republican Primaries Another round of ranked choice vote tallies settled two outstanding Republican primaries from June’s City Council election. Yu-Ching James Pai won the Republican nomination with 56% of the vote in District 20 in Queens and will appear on the ballot challenging Democrat incumbent Sandra Ung in November. In District 43 in Brooklyn — the newly-created, majority-Asian district — Republican Yang Tan eked out a win with 50.7% of the vote and will appear on the ballot opposite Democratic nominee Susan Zhuang in November. — Rachel Holliday Smith Some other items of note: Rikers Island detainees fresh out of lockup — including some with serious mental illnesses — will soon receive free smartphones to better connect with health care and other community services, THE CITY has learned. The plan to distribute phones comes 20 years after a 2003 court settlement in which a federal judge appointed a monitor to ensure the city would provide a discharge plan for the newly released. Two decades later, the city has failed to meet those basic requirements, according to the monitor overseeing the case.  The New York City Public Housing Authority now needs $78.3 billion to fix its deteriorating infrastructure, according to a once-every-five-years review released yesterday. That’s up from a prior estimate of $45.3 billion. The nation’s biggest public housing authority is struggling to reverse its longstanding failure to keep up with the declining state of its apartments. The vast majority of NYCHA properties were built before the 1970s. For the latest local numbers on COVID-19 hospitalizations, positivity rates and more, check our coronavirus tracker. Weather scoop by New York Metro Weather Thursday's Weather Rating: 3/10. Hot and increasingly humid, with high temps in the 90s and dew points in the upper 60s. Feeling uncomfortable out there, especially this afternoon. Scattered storms are possible late this afternoon and evening. The vibes are sweating again! Things To Do Here’s what’s going on around the city this week. Thursday, July 13: Last day of Manhattanhenge. Brave the tourists and find a spot facing west to catch the view. Get there at sunset; 14th, 34th, 42nd, 57th and 79th streets are said to be the most photogenic.  Thursday, July 13: “The Democracy Project” is a 45-minute historical play by award-winning playwrights about the “the 527 momentous days” when NYC was the capital of the U.S. revolutionary government. It runs from 11 a.m. until noon today, and at various times through next Saturday, July 22, at Federal Hall National Memorial in Manhattan. Free. Friday, July 14th: Share summer memories, view an exhibition of historic photos, and chat with THE CITY’s Open Newsroom at “Handling the Heat: How we do summer in Queens,” a drop-in event at Queens Public Library at Central. 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Free.   THE KICKER: The Brooklyn Public Library's Central Library is closed today for a “special event.” Hell Gate reports that might have something to do with an upcoming Jay-Z exhibit. Thanks, as always, for reading. Make it a great Thursday. Love, THE CITY