The NYC Department of Finance sells tax debt owed to the city to private speculative debt collectors each year through the tax lien sale. It routinely includes active nonprofits, even though they are exempt from paying taxes as per New [...]
Protect Our Places rally with Public Advocate Letitia James (center) on the steps of New York City Hall, June 22, 2017. My name is Shannon, and I’m working with 596 Acres this summer as a Community Advocacy intern, helping [...]
Winning! The annual NYC Department of Finance Tax Lien Sale, policy since 1996, puts our neighborhoods at risk in several ways. Here’s what our collective advocacy to protect them has seen so far: 360 active community properties are not in jeopardy In February, the [...]
Not-for-profit corporations hold property in service of their missions: they own buildings that house day cares and mosques, arts organizations and churches, food pantries and theaters; they own land for community gardens, playgrounds and farms. State Law is clear [...]
1100 Bergen Community garden, owned by its block association for decades, was at risk of having tax debt sold to an investor-backed trust when an administrator failed to file the annual property tax exemption renewal. We worked with gardeners [...]
The City of New York is poised to sell liens on community property and vacant lots in our neighborhoods to private speculative trusts next week. This is how the City gives up its leverage over properties where taxes have not been [...]
A big reason that private owners of vacant and abandoned properties in our neighborhoods don’t face consequences when they don’t pay taxes and let weeds and trash pile up on their properties is that the City sells the tax debt to private collection agencies instead of [...]
Today, a garden that has been an oasis in the Crown Heights neighborhood for over 34 years has found a permanent institutional home. The 1100 Bergen Community Garden, located on Bergen Street between Nostrand and New York Avenues, is [...]
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