CRA reforms in Jamaica LGA project gets
Regulators tour nabe to strengthen laws preventing redlining environ. award
BY BILL PARRY
Travelers using LaGuardia
Airport have been tormented
by severe traffic delays with
congestion backing up onto
the Grand Central Parkway
in recent weeks. Wild
weather has caused delays
and cancellations while the
massive renovation project
continues into its third year.
There is light at the
end of the tunnel for the
nation’s 21st busiest airport.
The LaGuardia Airport
Terminal B redevelopment
project was awarded the
Envision Platinum award,
recognizing the project for its
industry leading approach to
sustainability and resilience.
The award is the highest
level of recognition within
The Institute for Sustainable
Infrastructure (ISI) awards
program. Projects are
evaluated based on a robust
set of criteria, including
traditional factors, such as
reducing emissions, recycling
materials and using renewable
energy sources, as well as
more holistic indicators
of social and economical
sustainability such as
minimizing construction
impacts, providing
employment opportunities
for local residents, resilient
design and improving mobility
and access.
“We are honored to receive
the Envision Platinum awards
for our work in redesigning
Terminal B at LaGuardia
Airport,” LaGuardia Gateway
Partners CEO Stewart Steeves
said. “Since day one, our
priority has been building a
terminal that offers a firstclass
guest experience and
has a minimal environmental
footprint. We’ve worked
closely with Skanska-Walsh
to create a design and
construction approach that
allows us to revamp Terminal
B is a sustainable fashion,
and this award demonstrates
our overall commitment to
this goal.”
LaGuardia Gateway
Partners, the private entity
operating and redeveloping
the $4 billion Terminal B
construction project, brought
on Skanska-Walsh on the
design build joint venture. The
project is the first to receive
The Envision Platinum
recognition from ISI under
its newly updated Envision
V3 framework.
“This recognition reflects
the passion and commitment
of the Port Authority,
LaGuardia Gateway
Partners and the entire
team to deliver an instant
landmark and an intelligent
investment,” Skanska USA
Chief Sustainability Officer
Beth Heider said. “As both
a construction and longterm
development partner,
Skanska is proud of Envision’s
verification that this project
is bringing measurable, longterm
benefit to those who
frequent Terminal B, and to
the planet at large.”
The Port Authority of
New York and New Jersey
selected LaGuardia Gateway
Partners to deliver the
redevelopment project.
“Sustainable design and
construction are critically
important in our work to
improve air quality and
reduce greenhouse gases.
We are delighted with this
recognition of the high bar
the Port Authority has set for
its sustainability efforts,” Port
Authority Executive Director
Rick Cotton said.
Comptroller Joseph Otting and Congressman Greg Meeks discuss the CRA in Jamaica after a tour that
focused on bank housing access. Photo courtesy of Association for Neighborhood & Housing Development
BY MAX PARROTT
Members of the federal
Office of the Comptroller
of the Currency toured
Jamaica on Aug. 21 as part
of a nationwide tour in
search of ideas to reform the
Community Reinvestment Act
(CRA), a federal law designed
to stop discriminatory credit
practices against low-income
neighborhoods known
as redlining.
The Association for
Neighborhood & Housing
Development (ANHD) invited
community advocates to
lead the Comptroller Joseph
Otting to several sites in the
neighborhood that show how
the legislation is and is not
working in the area.
The CRA regulations
require Federal regulators
to assess how banks
decide where they open
charters and branches. The
community organizations,
including members of Chaya
CDC, Greater Jamaica
Development Corporation and
the Fifth Avenue Committee
showed Otting areas in the
neighborhood that lacked
bank branches and how
that can result in gaps in
housing loans.
“When the CRA began,
many communities were
left out,” said Congressman
Gregory Meeks, joining the
tour after the buses arrived at
Harvest Room for a comment
period. “Some communities
like this one are becoming
banking deserts again.”
During the tour, the bus
drove down Guy R. Brewer
Boulevard, where the
advocates pointed out where
check cashers, pawn shops
and private ATM machines
that ultimately cost the
consumer fees has popped
up in the absence of any
bank branches.
The dearth of banking
institutions was only
emphasized by the fact that
the boulevard is lined with
homes, small businesses
and community spaces.
The relatively high level of
homeownership in Southeast
Queens’ stretches back over
decades of activism. In the
early 70s homeowners banded
together to picket a real estate
agencies that they accused
of blockbusting, a practice
where an agent claims that
property values will drop
because members of minority
groups are moving into
the neighborhood.
“Were it not for the
banking products as a result
of the CRA, it would not be
possible for our homeowners
to buy their homes,” said Lori
Miller, the interim executive
director of Neighborhood
Housing Services of Jamaica.
“But, there is more banks
can be doing, especially in
Southeast Queens where
bank branches are sparse and
non-traditional lenders are
prevalent. We need affordable
mortgages with down
payment assistance and home
improvement loans to help
people purchase and remain
in their homes.”
Meanwhile, Jagpreet
Singh, a tenant organizer
at Chhaya CDC, said that
predatory practices of real
estate companies in the area
continue to push renters
toward financial insecurity.
“Afro-Caribbean, South
Asian, African-American
communities helped build up
Jamaica into the powerhouse
it is now,” said “Widespread
deregulation of apartments
and harassing of tenants in
buildings owned by groups
like Zara Realty are displacing
the folks who built up and
revitalized this community.”
At the post-tour discussion,
Otting said that he expected
his agency to release proposal
on the changes it plans to
make to the CRA in September.
Once these proposals are
released, Otting encouraged
residents of Jamaica to
submit their comments on the
new regulations.
Courtesy of LaGuardia Gateway Partners
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