They’re investing cash from Wall Street in W. 11th Street!
Residents of Gravesend’s Marlboro Houses will get new appliances and a brand-new basketball court courtesy the unscrupulous mortgage loaners at JP Morgan, local pols announced on March 3. The banking giant forked over $13 billion to the state in 2013 for its role in the 2008–2009 financial crisis, and $3 million of that will pay for the sorely needed upgrades, said the tenant association president.
“Our stoves are outdated, and our fridges are the same, so that’s really why need this,” Betty James said. “The playground on the grounds is owned by the Parks Department so we’re going to break new ground on our property for the court.”
They plan to build the new court in a space on W. Eighth Street, behind Building 20, James said. Officials haven’t determined whether the court will be lit — designers will figure that closer to construction, a spokeswoman for Assemblyman Steven Cymbrowitz (D-Sheepshead Bay) said.
The money will buy new stoves and refrigerators for all of the 1,765 apartments in the development and will also fund picnic- and recreation-area rehabilitation along with the new ball court.
Cymbrowitz and Assemblyman William Colton (D-Bensonhurst) announced the upgrades to a crowd of residents gathered at the Marlboro Senior Center. They credited Gov. Cuomo and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie (D-Bronx) for funneling the dough to the housing authority for the much-needed improvements.
State lawmakers put aside $100 million from 2013’s landmark settlement with JP Morgan — the largest with a single entity in American history, according to state Attorney General Eric T. Schneiderman — in the 2015–2016 state budget to fund upgrades at New York City Housing Authority developments. They allocated another $148 million in the budget “to support various affordable housing and community development programs” in the city as well, according to the attorney general’s office.
The housing authority upgrades are not the only benefit Brooklynites got out of the settlement. Roughly $613 million in cash went to provide legal aid and housing counseling to victims of Hurricane Sandy. Another $400 million went to “consumer relief for struggling New Yorkers,” according to the attorney general’s office.
