In the Media

CHPC’s expertise has been valued for over 70 years and our non-partisan analysis and opinion features widely in the media. You can read all of our latest press mentions here.

Federal aid cuts worsen New York City budget woes

By Yolanne Almanzar and Alexander Hotz, The New York World, May 9, 2012

And those aren’t the only federal funding cuts and freezes hitting the city’s budget. Community Development Block Grants from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development are expected to take a major dip, from $255 million this year to $226 in the next budget….“All of these programs are competing with each other,” said Harold Shultz, a senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council who was formerly an attorney with the city Department of Housing Preservation and Development, responsible for ensuring buildings remained in good repair.

Private equity firms snap up debt on small NYC rental buildings

By Adam Pincus, The Real Deal, April 17, 2012

“It is hard to tell what the strategy for the buyer would be here, because it requires very close and very careful management to eke any profit out of these [small] buildings, let alone the kinds of returns you would expect a major private-equity fund would be looking for,” Harold Shultz, a senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, said of the UHAB data.

New York’s Worst Landlord

WNYC The Brian Lehrer Show, March 30, 2012

Tom Robbins, investigative journalist in residence at the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism and former longtime columnist at the Village Voice, and Harold Shultz, senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council and former special counsel at the Department of Housing Preservation and Development, discuss CUNY and City Limits‘ investigation into Frank Palazzolo, the Bronx’s “phantom landlord,” and how to protect tenants from similar circumstances.

NY1 Online: Report Reveals One Of City’s Worst Landlords

By Errol Louis, New York 1, March 23, 2012

Inside City Hall’s Errol Louis takes a closer look at an investigation of a real estate magnate who has left dozens of Bronx buildings in very poor repair. He is joined by Tom Robbins, the first Investigative Journalist in Residence at CUNY, along with two of his former students who worked on the project, Paul DeBenedetto and Tamy Cozier, along with Harold Shultz, a former deputy commissioner at the city’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development, who is now a senior fellow at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council.

City Probe Uncovered Operator’s Power

By CUNY Investigative Team, City Limits, March 13, 2012

New York City housing officials were just as puzzled—and frustrated—as the personal-injury lawyers about Palazzolo’s role in the properties….[Harold] Shultz and Commissioner Jerilyn Perine took advantage of a new law that allowed them to do their own corporate veil piercing. In March 2004, they sent a lengthy subpoena to Palazzolo demanding records for 101 large residential properties in which they believed Palazzolo had an interest.

Four Brooklyn Buildings Get Mortgage Aid

By Laura Kusisto, Wall Street Journal, March 7, 2012

As of a couple of years ago, at least 1,300 multifamily buildings in New York City were either overmortgaged or in foreclosure, according to the Citizens Housing & Planning Council. In a recent study, the council, a nonprofit research organization, also found that foreclosures had a harmful ripple effect and housing-code violations spiked in nearby buildings.

Brick By Brick

By Adam Lisberg, City and State, February 6, 2012

The impact of those accumulated tax breaks is poorly understood, said Harold Shultz, senior fellow at the Citizens Housing & Planning Council. Yet while lawmakers regularly tinker with program terms when laws come up for renewal, he said, there is little practical prospect of ever redrafting the entire system to ensure that it is as effective as possible. “It would be hard to rewrite the thing from the top,” Shultz said. “Here’s the thing to remember: People are still coming to New York City. They need a place to live. We have a very tight private housing market. We need for the private housing market to build housing.”

New York Affordable Housing

By Adam Lisberg, City and State, February 6, 2012

An array of organizations such as the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development and the Metropolitan Council on Housing advocate for affordable housing and changes to the rent regulations. Others, such as the Citizens Housing & Planning Council and the Furman Center for Real Estate & Urban Policy at New York University, specialize in studies to understand the state of New York City housing and recommend policy changes. Many other groups work to develop affordable housing programs through the many city, state and federal programs that subsidize it.

Mortgage Woes Linked to Broader Neighborhood Despair

By Jarrett Murphy, City Limits, February 3, 2012

In a city with more than 3.3 million housing units, what does it mean for the rest of us that 3,000 properties went into foreclose in the 3rd quarter of last year, or even that 17,000 or so went into default in all of 2010? A new report suggests it could mean a great deal: Turns out housing code violations are higher in buildings located close to multi-unit residences that have gone into foreclosure. The research from the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, funded by Enterprise, looks at buildings that are over-mortgaged or have gone into foreclosure.

Distressed Apartments Raise Risk for All

By Jacqueline Hlavenka, GlobeSt.com, February 2, 2012

Single-family homes weren’t the only housing type severely impacted by the economic downturn, new research shows. According to a new study from Citizens Housing & Planning Council, over-mortgaged and foreclosed multifamily buildings increase the risk of deterioration of nearby buildings and raise costs for private owners and the city in the form of additional Emergency Repair Program expenditures. … Harold Shultz, senior fellow at the CHPC, tells GlobeSt.com that he hopes the study will raise awareness about the distressed multifamily market.

Distressed buildings bring down their neighbors

By Amanda Fung, Crains New York Business.com, February 2, 2012

“Our study suggests that proximity to an over-mortgaged building increases the likelihood of increased code violations, with New York City’s Department of Housing Preservation and Development stepping in to carry out additional emergency repairs,” said Harold Shultz, senior fellow of Citizens Housing and Planning Council. “As a result, the city should continue its efforts to closely monitor and prevent deterioration in those communities troubled by over-mortgaged multifamily buildings.”

As Case-Shiller Craters Again, Should New York Care?

By Matt Chaban, New York Observer, February 1, 2012

After improving in the first half of last year, the Case-Shiller Home Price Index began to plummet in the middle of 2011, and it has reached a new low with the release of the November numbers yesterday. Does this have any bearing on New York, considering the Case-Shiller only tracks single-family homes? In short, yes. “Obviously, housing weighs on the larger economy, so that has an impact on us,” said Harold Shultz, an analyst at the Citizens Housing and Planning Council, which closely follows the Case-Shiller from a city perspective.