Mayor Mamdani Faces Early Housing Policy Defeat

Federal judge halts NYC Mayor Zohran Mamdani's attempt to intervene in housing market

In a striking blow to New York City’s leadership, a federal bankruptcy judge has derailed Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s bold attempt to meddle in a massive housing deal.

On Thursday, Judge David Jones denied the mayor’s request to intervene in the sale of thousands of rent-stabilized properties owned by Pinnacle Group, a decision that could allow the transfer to Summit Properties USA as early as this week, despite widespread tenant worries about ongoing poor maintenance under either owner.

The issue has ignited fierce discussion about the role of city government in private property transactions, with opinions split on whether this move was a necessary stand for tenants or an overreach of authority, as Fox Business reports.

Mamdani’s team justified their legal push by claiming creditor status, pointing to over $12 million in unpaid fines owed by Pinnacle Group to the city, as a basis for halting or delaying the sale.

Yet, Judge Jones dismissed this argument outright, leaving the administration’s strategy in tatters and paving the way for a potential swift approval of the deal to Summit Properties USA.

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Judge Jones is a non-partisan federal bankruptcy judge.

Zohran Mamdani's block of sale denied by bankruptcy court judge

Federal judge denies Mamdani's bid to stop Pinnacle bankruptcy sale

New York City’s latest attempt to block a massive bankruptcy sale of rent-subsidized apartments has hit a legal wall.

Just The News reported that U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge David Jones, based in the Southern District of New York, rejected a motion by Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s administration to intervene in the sale of over 5,000 apartments owned by Pinnacle Group, a major landlord managing around 140 buildings and 9,000 units across the city.

The company, owned by billionaire Joel Wiener, declared bankruptcy in May after defaulting on loans exceeding $560 million and owes the city $12.7 million in fines for housing code violations.

Summit Real Estate Holdings has offered $450 million to purchase dozens of Pinnacle’s properties in Brooklyn, Manhattan, the Bronx, and Queens, with the sale awaiting final court approval.Judge Jones Allows Sale to Proceed.

The issue has sparked heated debate over housing policy and tenant protections in a city already grappling with some of the highest housing costs in the nation.

Mamdani’s heart may be in the right place, but federal courts aren’t swayed by passion or campaign promises. Blocking a bankruptcy sale is a tall order when the law leans heavily toward resolving debts over rewriting social policy.

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The United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit appointed David S. Jones as a United States Bankruptcy Judge for the Southern District of New York.

His appointment was announced by Chief Judge Debra Ann Livingston of the Second Circuit Court of Appeals and he assumed his duties on February 19, 2021. Federal bankruptcy judges are appointed to renewable 14-year terms by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the circuit in which the court is located, as specified under 28 U.S.C. § 152.

National Pharmacy Chain Closing for good

Rite Aid is closing all of its stores after more than six decades in business

Rite Aid has officially shut down all of its stores after filing for bankruptcy twice in less than two years.

The pharmacy chain posted a simple message on its website: “All Rite Aid stores have now closed. We thank our loyal customers for their many years of support.” The site also provides former customers access to their pharmacy and immunization records, along with information on where their prescriptions have been transferred.

It’s a stunning end for a company that once dominated the U.S. drugstore market. Founded more than 60 years ago, Rite Aid grew into the nation’s largest drugstore chain by 1987, boasting over 2,000 locations. The filed bankruptcy in 2023 and tried downsizing to save the company.

The company had chances to merge with Walgreens in 2017 and Albertsons in 2018 but walked away from both deals, according to Investopedia.

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Cut government down to what is necessary

America’s Last Chance

By Fletch Daniels

What a difference a few months make. This time last year, we were hurtling toward societal collapse. The government's growth rate and requisite spending had hit such obscene levels that the question of whether we, like Wile E. Coyote, had raced over the edge of a cliff was no longer theoretical.

Four years of Kamala Harris as president without an injection of some corrective mechanism first would have imploded America like the Death Star. Frankly, the path the Biden puppet masters put us on was so cataclysmically destructive that recovery is still no sure thing.

The math remains ugly. The key statistic is that around 40% of every tax dollar taken goes toward paying interest on the national debt. That number would have been mere child’s play to a Democrat administration. Forty percent?

We can do better than that. Push the throttle to Ludicrous Speed. We’re going where nobody has gone before. Nothing short of 100 percent is acceptable.

It always comes down to the math, and math doesn’t lie. It’s brutally honest for anyone wise enough to pay attention.

Read The American Thinker

"I f***ed up, and should have done better," said Bankman-Fried

Here are the Dems who benefited from the left-wing PAC that FTX funneled $27M through...

Bankman-Fried and another FTX executive gave the vast majority of donations received by a group that gave exclusively to Democrats

Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of bankrupt crypto exchange FTX, was a major contributor to Democratic candidates during the midterm election cycle, funneling most of his donations through a little-known political action committee (PAC).

Read about it...

Socialism and Doom with Biden Socialist Policies

CBO Report: 'Build Back Better' Could Cost $3 Trillion Over Next Decade if Permanent

The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) released an analysis on Friday estimating that President Joe Biden's 'Build Back Better' (BBB) plan could increase the federal deficit by $3 trillion over the next decade if the proposed programs are made permanent, according to CNN.

A Democrat who is not a socialist, Sen.Joe Manchin, accused the Biden administration of using "gimmicks" to downplay the bill's price. "As more of the real details outlined in the basic framework are released, what I see are shell games and budget gimmicks that make the real cost of this so-called '$1.75 trillion' bill estimated to be twice as high if the programs are extended or made permanent," Manchin said.

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Rand Paul slams Republicans and Democrats

Rand Paul Calls For Us To ‘Open The Economy Up’ – Says It’s Our Only Chance Of Recovering

He slammed Republicans and Democrats alike for bankrupting the United States with outrageous spending. He added that the only way we have a chance of recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic financially is if we open the economy and let people get back to work.

He's right on both counts.

Read about Rand

Hillary's phony obsession with Trump's 4 bankruptcies

Casino ship files bankruptcy

The Island Breeze Casino ship has filed for Chapter 11 protection.  The biggest creditor:  The Port of Palm Beach for $609,445. The Port is working with them as they re-organize and it is the intention of the Island Breeze to resume sailing.

Read more....

There are Potholes and then there are Potholes

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As everyone knows, infrastructure and potholes are all across America and even cities with more money than we,  don't have the funds. But one struggling city is filling in their holes in an innovative way--and it's not by taxing the people for 34 years.

"Chicago has been hit particularly hard--with 47,500 pothole complaints between December and March alone. The city has rolled out a pothole tracker and a new strategy to deal with it....Also, The option to raise property taxes to cover the annual required pension contribution is simply out of the question considering homeowners would be looking at a 35 percent tax increase"...sound familiar? Read about one artist who is making a difference. With staggering unfunded pension obligations and debt, Chicago could next follow Detroit.

 
In the meantime, there are Lake Worth's potholes that were vandalized by the YES advocates (losers) during the recent election. The Palm Beach Post even said that if the bond had passed, taxpayers would have been looking at a 35% increase in taxes. With staggering unfunded pension obligations and debt, Lake Worth just keeps on spending and will be drawing $264,544 out of reserves (savings) in order to balance its budget for FY 2014/2015. The entire commission, with the exception of Amoroso, voted to accept the Budget. We continue to ask this commission to live within its means, but as usual, it does NOT listen.

Debt is Debt

Why do cities go bankrupt?

Typically it's because of a municipality's financial stress caused not only by bad political decisions such as getting the city deeper in debt but by a poor economic environment coupled with gross mismanagement, as well as many years of economic decline.

Here in Lake Worth we have all of the above along with a structurally unsound pension system with unfunded liabilities totaling $88.717,931. No one ever talks about this.

Our operating budget's controllable costs are $9,953,178 even though the budget is suggesting $31,006,779 for total operational expenditures.

Our commission is NOT shy when it comes to voting on spending your money or getting you further in debt.  This time--34 more years of a general obligation bond for what they tell us is infrastructure, fire hydrants and lighting that we must have, needing $63.5 million all at once. And then we can't forget that land on Boutwell Road owned by others, the Park of Commerce, where they want to spend nearly $10 million to attract business development. We should not forget that anything the CRA does is backed by the city if they can't pay...they still owe lots of money on failed ventures like the Gateways. And what about the city's track record...we should never forget all the MISSING MONEY through the years. Trust is of vital importance when you are going to vote yourself into long-term debt.

• We still owe $54 million on the 2004 Utility System Revenue bonds that were refinanced twice as well as interest of $11.8 mil.

• We still owe $6,809,683 on the reverse osmosis, on a loan agreement with the Environmental Protection Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund program plus another $1.8 million in interest. 

• We still owe $2,822,400 on the ECR bonds plus interest.

Scott Maxwell says we have NO debt and then qualified his statement by saying we had no debt in operations. We have plenty of operational expenses and we move money to Operations in order to operate and maintain a balanced budget that we have to do by law.  Thank God for laws but as you know, even laws can be circumvented.

 As far as I am concerned, debt is debt. Now he, along with the rest of the commission other than McVoy (who voted against the bonds issue for not the right reason but at least he didn't follow the sheep), wants to ensure that you stay pregnant and barefoot for over 30 years.

Pensions and Unions - The Elephant in the room

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It is predicted that there are a lot of massive municipal bankruptcies on the Horizon. And sadly but true when talking about the public sector the only way to shed pension obligations is filing Chapter 9 bankruptcy.  A report was just done that shows 85% of  pensions plans could fail in 30 years. Click here... for CNBC article.

Over the last several decades, the private sector has moved increasingly to the 401(k)-style “defined contribution” model pension plan, which yields a retirement savings based on what both employers and employees have contributed to individual accounts. Public-sector workers, on the other hand, still rely on “defined benefit” pensions, which provide a guaranteed stream of income based on career longevity and late-career peak salaries.

Back in 2010, Lake Worth City Manager Susan Stanton said that she wanted a reduction of $1,816,000 by suspending the General Employee Defined Benefit Pension Plan and adopting a Defined Contribution Plan. City employee union members demonstrated against her appearing in front of city hall calling for her head. She also said, "The current compensation levels as defined in the three collective bargaining agreements need to be evaluated and realigned with the community's general ability to pay for those benefits." All good advice but this union backed trio fired her.

At the end of fiscal year 2013, the Lake Worth pension fund positions were as follows:
 Employee retirement system: $65,044.534
 Police: $30,546,979
 Firefighters': $35,302,673.

Click here for descriptions of the Defined Benefit and Defined Contribution plans.

According to the city's 2015 calendar highlights booklet that was passed out, Budget Workshop #3 was scheduled for June 10.  This has now been cancelled and the next budget workshop is on June 24. Pension plans that were brought up on April 8 at the first budget Workshop and allotted one hour of discussion are the elephants in the room that no one at city hall ever really discusses other than to tell us they are uncontrollable costs. City Manager Bornstein said that the city was discussing  pensions but no information was brought forward.

If we could control pensions as well as the public safety budget, we would have money for all those potholes.

Trivia on Detroit, a bankrupt city

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The city of Detroit, Michigan filed for Chapter 9 bankruptcy on July 18, 2013. It is the largest municipal bankruptcy filing in U.S. history by debt, estimated at $18–20 billion, exceeding Jefferson County, Alabama's $4 billion filing in 2011.^[1] Detroit is also the largest city by population in the U.S. history to file for Chapter 9 bankruptcy, more than twice as large as Stockton, California, which filed in 2012. Detroit’s population has declined from a peak of 1.8 million in 1950; recently, the New York Times called the city “home to 700,000 people, as well as to tens of thousands of abandoned buildings, vacant lots and unlit streets. Wikipedia

Detroit and Lake Worth - Revenues and Liabilities

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A house in bankrupted Detroit

I mentioned Detroit in a blog of yesterday. Legal costs alone for the bankruptcy proceedings could cost Detroit "tens-of-millions to hundreds-of-millions of dollars. Anything is possible when liabilities far outweigh revenues. Municipal bankruptcy filings were not caused by the recent 'great recession',” says The Heritage Foundation. Rather, they represent the inevitable demise of big-government, liberal policies promoted by self-interested politicians and the coercive public employee unions that support them.

Detroit’s leaders engaged in a billion-dollar borrowing binge, created new taxes and failed to cut expenses when they needed to. Simultaneously, they gave workers and retirees generous bonuses. And under pressure from unions and, sometimes, arbitrators, they failed to cut health care benefits — saddling the city with staggering costs that today threaten the safety and quality of life of people who live here. Detroit Free Press

We haven't done well in paying down the 2004 Utility System Revenue bonds that were refinanced twice.  How much money did that cost the taxpayers? That debt still owed is $54,030,000.00 in principal and $11.8 million in interest that won't be paid off until 2028. There is $15,292,125.28 remaining still in the Electric side and there are no unspent bond proceeds left for water. All of the bond money for water went towards the RO Plant.

We still owe $6,809,683 on the reverse osmosis, on a loan agreement with the Environmental Protection Drinking Water Revolving Loan Fund program that is not due to be paid off until 2031 plus another $1.8 million in interest. Why did we borrow money for that anyway? It was already covered in the Utility bond of 2004. We have more debt than this but no one is telling you that, at least not the guy who says he believes in smaller government. 

We still owe $2,822,400 on the ECR bonds plus interest.

If you go to page 87 in the C.A.F.R you will see the unfunded liabilities which are even more millions because this is through 2012.

Thursday night, Scott Maxwell said he believed in smaller government. But with his LW 2020 plan we get bigger government. “Smaller” government means that taxes are less and government spends less.  How do we get smaller government here in Lake Worth when you have little revenue and the only solution is to double the city's outstanding debt and tax the people?

California is in another world

California has a few new laws that take effect today.  One will allow illegal aliens to practice law in the State of California...I'm not joking!

California houses about 24% of the entire illegal alien population of the United States and it wonders why it has financial problems with ten of its cities near bankruptcy.

Only in California.  Read about it here.

Quote of the Day - University of California Berkeley

“No human being is illegal. ‘Foreign nationals,’ ‘undocumented immigrants,’ ‘immigrants without papers’ and ‘immigrants seeking status’ are examples of terms we can use that do not dehumanize people.”

~ Resolution from UC Berkeley Student Government

The most hypocritical and ridiculous resolution ever enacted by "educated" bleeding heart liberal college students -- our future leaders. Heaven help us all.  Most illegals live in California (2.6 million), Texas (1.8 million), and Florida (604,000), meaning three states alone account for more than five million or 46 percent of the illegal population. These figures are low.

Several cities in California have filed for chapter 9:  City of San Bernardino, Town of Mammoth Lakes,  (Dismissed), City of Stockton, Calif.  LA could be two to three years away from the same kind of bankruptcy that Detroit faces, says Daniel Pellissler, president of California Pension Reform, a political organization dedicated to fixing California’s pension crisis.  Ten more California cities are a heartbeat away from filing bankruptcy.

California state and local government debt is somewhere between $848 billion and $1.126 trillion. - says Cal Watchdog.com. Aside from unionization that has expanded its power exponentially in the public sector and now is, in essence, driving entire states out of business, particularly in the area of pensions, illegal immigration is costing the state big time. California voted for big government and the entitlement mentality by voting for Obama by 60.24% of the vote.

California has 12 percent of the nation’s population but 34 percent of its welfare population. It is third in per capita welfare spending. And while a lot of illegal aliens are already cashing in, those numbers will jump in a big way after amnesty. 

Tell it like it is, students...they are ILLEGAL ALIENS and need to cross our borders legally and stop spunging on the legal citizens of this country, who in the end, will be using their hard earned resources to pull your welfare state up from the shackles of liberal policies.

So much for Liberals and Planners - Detroit's Demise

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Detroit emergency manager Kevyn Orr is returning to court as a witness in the sixth day of the city's bankruptcy trial.
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Old video but applies more than ever today.  And the last I looked, we still had graffiti in our downtown. We continue to give away or lease away valuable properties to non-profits and we encourage affordable housing.  No problem trying to grab federal grant money...we do it willfully. No problem for this commission in trying to make our entire city an enterprise zone to encourage development in blighted neighborhoods through tax and regulatory relief to entrepreneurs and investors who launch businesses in our city. We are attracting more and more poor.  We compare ourselves to BelleGlade...why not Detroit...does that come next? We give a waiver to anyone who asks that wants to sell beer and wine. We spend a fortune on policing and still have tons of crime. This video is about the fall of Detroit but we are following their plan.

Their worst enemy - Unions

Boy, let's hope that the Unions never have a chance to do this in Lake Worth--big do do.

Scranton's police and fire unions have received a judgment against the city for the overdue $21 million that the city owes the unions from a landmark arbitration ruling.

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Quote of the Day - Mike Shedlock

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"You cannot pay what you do not have. This is the triumph of math and common sense over union greed, arrogance, threats, and coercion."

~ Mike Shedlock, Mish's Global Economic Analysis,

speaking to the lawsuits by public employee groups and pension funds regarding Detroit who alleged the state overreached in seeking court protection from creditors and those claims blocked by the U.S. Bankruptcy judge.

Detroit has an opportunity

Detroit city has the highest crime rate in the nation, deteriorating infrastructure, and some of the highest tax rates in all of Michigan. However, Detroit has an opportunity. It is up to the council, and people, to seize that opportunity and make the most of it.

Read Michael Schaus' article on how Detroit is America's best opportunity in decades.  Click here. It makes sense to me.