Half Bed-Stuy Homes Seized By 'Racist' Program Returned: Cornegy

BEDFORD-STUYVESANT, BROOKLYN — The city has given back half of the District 36 properties it claimed through Third Party Transfer, a program critics say targets New York's black and brown homeowners, according to City Council Member Robert Cornegy.

"We found that the program was racist as it related to communities of color and the targeting of homes," Cornegy told Bed-Stuy's Community Board 3 Monday night. "We were able to prove that it was actually stripping black and brown families of their wealth."

Of the 10 properties seized through Third Party Transfers in Cornegy's district — which covers central Bed-Stuy and a portion of Crown Heights — five have been returned, three are empty lots and two under review, Cornegy said.

The city council member promised Bed-Stuy residents he would push legislation to curtail the program — used to seize Marlene Saunder's $2 million brownstone because a record keeping error mistakenly showed she had an outstanding $4,000 water bill — and would answer their questions at an emergency town hall meeting Tuesday night.

Cornegy has been actively fighting the Third Party Transfer program — designed to help renters with negligent landlords by transferring ownership to a nonprofit — since Saunders first made her story public last winter.

At a City Council hearing in July, Cornegy shared data that showed many of the 420 properties recently seized by the Department of Housing Preservation and Development were in communities of color.

"Are there really no distressed buildings in Staten Island?" Cornegy asked HPD Commissioner Louise Carroll at the time. "Can you explain how that can not be seen as racially insensitive?"

On Monday, Cornegy noted only half of those 420 properties were found to be statutorily distressed, the others claimed in community sweeps triggered by the program.

Cornegy has proposed several bills meant to limit the number of buildings that qualify for a TPT seizure and mandate HPD share more information about which properties are under review.

His proposals include removing buildings with less than five units and owners who owe less than $100,000 in violations from TPT review.

Those proposals, and the program itself, will be up for debate Tuesday night at an emergency town hall moderated by radio personalities Bob Law and Ann Tripp.

The meeting is slated to take place at the Historic First Church Of God In Christ at 221 Kingston Ave. from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m.

It is open to the public.