According to U.S. Census data, at 77%, the population of Putnam County, is predominantly white. In fact, aside from Ulster County, Putnam is the least diverse county in the Mid-Hudson region. This is neither judgment nor praise, just a simple demographic fact. Adding to a lack of diversity, our county seat is 60 miles north…
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Election upsets were on the menu on June 23, the day of the Congressional and State Primary races. State Assembly and State Senate primaries were also held. The first big upset came in Congressional District 16 currently held by Congressman Eliot Engel, who is the Chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee. The district covers…
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Over the years of my involvement at HGAR, I’ve seen the organization grow both organically and through mergers with neighboring associations. The first came when the Westchester County Board of Realtors merged with the Putnam County Association of Realtors. After that came the merger with the Orange County Association of Realtors and the Rockland County…
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Although the month of June has seen a leveling off of new COVID-19 cases, much is still happening on the legislative front. Three bills have passed the State Legislature and new fair housing regulations go into effect this month. One of those regulations provides for a New York State Housing and Anti-Discrimination Disclosure Form that…
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On June 3rd in HGAR’s daily e-mail update I addressed the pain, suffering and turmoil since the senseless killing of George Floyd. Since then, there have been more protests and tragically more deaths. There is justifiable anger, and that anger is rooted in the fact that this country seems to repeat this scenario of outrage…
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We were all shocked and appalled by the recent senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. No person should die as he did, regardless of race. Unfortunately, this is a pattern we’ve seen repeated too many times where the victim is a person of color. People around the country are coming out en masse for…
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Additional stimulus plans are being debated in Congress. Both the House and Senate are staking out where they will be on the next set of issues. Some states want more aid and others do not want to approve any aid if it goes to state and local governments. Governor Cuomo states that New York will…
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I would like to share my thoughts on the pain, suffering and turmoil that has gripped our region, our state and our nation since the tragic and senseless killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis during the last week. Two and a half months ago COVID-19 began its onslaught in New York, creating what can best…
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What divides us? Many things: politics, opinion, race, religion, culture, education, wealth, status and even beauty. Nineteen years ago, after the devastating 9/11 attacks on our country and our state, citizens and communities rose above difference. We embraced our neighbors, once strangers, and, for a time, humanity, love of country, and fear of what we…
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Everyone knows the old proverb that patience is a virtue. However, it’s not a virtue I’ve been able to embrace very easily. At the end of February, the real estate market was chugging along at a brisk pace. We were getting ready to launch OneKey MLS. I was repeating my mantra that change is good…
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I heard this term “the next normal” recently and it immediately resonated with me. Normal is what we get accustomed to, but it is not stagnant. Normal is always evolving and so we move from one version of normal to another…next! As we continue to work towards defending against and defeating COVID-19, we must be…
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On Friday, May 8th, the Putnam County Business Council launched a “Reopen Putnam County Safely” Task Force, which gathered a cohort of town, village, and business stakeholders for an initial meeting to discuss the reopening of Putnam County. Representatives from Carmel, Southeast/Brewster, Kent, Patterson, Philipstown/Cold Spring and Putnam Valley were joined by retail and service…
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By Maureen Halahan and Marc Baez During these uncertain times, the people of New York State have benefitted from Gov. Cuomo’s leadership and that of our federal, state and local officials while, once again, showing remarkable resilience. So, much has happened so quickly, and we applaud our elected representatives for taking decisive action to ensure…
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The will hold joint hearings on the federal response to the COVID-19 crisis. The first hearing was scheduled virtually for May 13th and was to look at whether the federal response was sufficient in view of the disproportionate impact on New York State the virus has had. The second hearing, which has not been scheduled…
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I am writing this column on April 12th, Easter Sunday, from my apartment in New York City. A month ago, most of us expected that the Coronavirus would impact our lives to some degree, but few of us anticipated the depth of that impact. We closed the HGAR offices and sent the staff home to…
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COVID-19 notwithstanding, New York State is required to have a budget for the ensuing fiscal year in place by April 1st. The state budget has been agreed to by the governor and the State Legislature and Gov. Andrew Cuomo has recently signed it into law. The budget dealt with the numbers before everything completely collapsed…
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In challenging times, leaders quickly stand out. They may not look to draw attention to themselves, but they quietly inspire, calm, inform, empathize and support others. The real estate industry is filled with entrepreneurs, many of whom are leaders of a company, a team, or of their own business. As John Quincy Adams is quoted…
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Five weeks ago, I shut down our real estate and law offices to traffic, and we began working from home a week later. Courts have been closed, showings are not permitted on houses, but we have enough in the pipeline to survive and move forward once this is all over. We have shifted our models,…
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The Coronavirus has quickly brought the economy to a standstill. It became evident that emergency measures were needed including suspending mortgage payments for those affected, suspending evictions and foreclosures and getting financial relief to Realtors and other independent contractors who have been impacted due to their inability to conduct business, in part as a result…
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As I sit here trying to find words of advice for consumers to navigate through the financial portion of COVID-19, my emotions are all over the place. It’s difficult to talk about finances when we’re all going through so much more, although, I know this information is important and crucial for some to protect against…
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