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Buying a Home This Autumn? 4 Unconventional Ways to Save up for Your Down Payment

Autumn is a popular time for new home buyers to start looking for their first house or condo. But with that down payment looming, everybody could use a bit of help saving up to make that bulk payment a little less intimidating. There are plenty of unconventional ways to save up that may seem small, but will quickly add up and put a dent into that down payment.

Create a High Interest Savings Account Talk to the bank about creating a secondary savings account with a higher interest rate. These super savings accounts usually come with the caveat that no money can be removed for a designated period. Using this account for the down payment works in everybody's favor because it guarantees those extra dollars cannot be used for any other purpose.

Discard One Guilty Pleasure Enjoy Starbucks coffee? Grab a pint every happy hour? Choose one vice and put the amount that would be spent on it into a jar. Most people will be surprised on how much money they spend each month on one guilty pleasure that can easily be cut out of their life. Every perk that's cut will increase the amount by a decent margin. Put Away Any Bonus Money Holiday bonuses from work, tax refunds, birthday or Christmas presents, income from side gigs, any and all extra dollars that come in from any source outside of the main paycheck should be considered 'down payment dollars.' Sure, it's tempting to use that nice bonus or tax refund on a weekend trip or a night out, but all extra income should be saved away for that initial down payment.

Bring on the Roommates People who already own a home and are looking to relocate can take this unconventional approach. Decent housing is hard to find so anybody with an extra room can rent it out and put that money towards the new house. Having a roommate can be a pain, but it's for a limited time and can add up quickly. While saving for a down payment can be stressful, you don't have to go through the process alone. Your local real estate professional will be able to guide you and provide some helpful tips for how to make that down payment without breaking the bank. These men and women have seen countless couples go through the same thing and their experience can make a world of difference.

Guidance There’s little doubt that home ownership remains a strong asset for increasing personal wealth. If you are considering a purchase, speak with a real estate professional at Equity Smart Realty Inc. We would be happy to offer our guidance and expertise. Call us at 888670-6791.p

Call 888-670-6791

Minorities continue to be the target of the predatory practices by real estate and mortgage brokers and the man who comes knocking on your door with a bag of cash. To save your home, call us now for a consultation at 855-768-8845.

Proposed Minimum Pay Standards/ continued from page 1 Many workers who spoke to THE CITY cheered the proposal, which would go into effect on Jan. 1, 2023 pending a public feedback period that concludes on Dec. 16. “We had no idea what we were getting into. We went from being seen, as one of my compañeros said, as insects or misfits to, at this point, achieving something much bigger,” said Sergio Ajche, a leader of the labor group Los Deliveristas Unidos, in an interview Saturday. “These minimum pay standards, I would say, are going to drastically change the delivery industry in New York City. And that’s thanks to the movement we’ve built in fighting for the more than 65,000 delivery workers here,” Ajche said. “To me, that’s huge.” But not everyone’s happy: On Monday, a handful of delivery workers and members of the labor group, all of whom toil on mopeds, gathered at City Hall to ask the city to “adjust” its proposal by an additional $5, claiming its estimate of their operating costs is too low. Once the $23.82 hourly rate is fully implemented by 2025, it will include $2.26 hourly for operating expenses; workers requested the additional $5 for expense purposes, which would bring the rate to $28.82. “We are asking the city to make a $5 adjustment, to go that extra mile to ensure we get to a living wage,” said Astoria delivery worker Antonio Solís, who uses a moped for work, outside of City Hall on Monday. “The equipment, insurance costs, gas, maintenance — that all adds up.” Hildalyn Colón Hernández, the policy director of the Workers Justice Project, which represents the Deliveristas, said the $5 proposal was not all-or-nothing. “We are not rejecting the city’s proposal. We’re simply asking for an adjustment — just like with any proposal, you have the opportunity to counter it,” Colón Hernández said Monday.

Gas, Insurance, Tune-ups Because the workers are considered independent contractors and not employees, delivery companies are not required to pay them a minimum wage. The city’s proposal, similar to the regulations existing for Uber and Lyft drivers, seeks to force the companies to pay workers a regular hourly wage. The City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection estimates delivery workers currently earn as little as $4 an hour before tips. The agency’s proposal follows new protections that went into effect in January of this year: Most of the city’s restaurants now must let delivery workers picking up orders use the bathroom, and apps must furnish brand-identified insulated bags to workers at no cost and provide transparency around wages and tips. “This is an amazing achievement,” delivery worker Ernesta Galvez said in an interview. “Where it was unthinkable that a delivery worker could have something resembling a minimum wage it’s now a reality. This is huge.” The request for an additional $5 an hour is mostly led by workers who toil by moped, who say the city’s operational cost estimates are too low to cover the cost of gas, registration, insurance and the actual vehicle, which can cost thousands of dollars. “We encourage all New Yorkers to submit comments ahead of the public hearing on December 16th,” said DCWP spokesperson Michael Lanza. “All feedback will be considered before the final rule goes into effect.” Willy Medina, who like other workers, prefers a moped to an e-bike so that he doesn’t have to worry about charging the batteries, said his monthly expenses are much higher than those of workers who toil by ebike or bike. He spends $35 per month for insurance, and $120 per month for gas, and takes his $3,800 moped for regular tune-ups, he said. “Using a moped is like having a car,” Medina said in Spanish. “So we’re a little concerned this proposal won’t meet our needs.” Workers who spoke with THE CITY said they intended to submit the $5 proposal as part of the public review process. Even those who toil by e-bike, like Ajche, say the starting $17.87 rate falls below the minimum wage after deducting expenses. Carmen de la Rosa (D-Manhattan), the Council’s labor committee chair, lauded the city’s life-changing proposed minimum pay standard. “It’s a step in the right direction,” she said on Saturday. “I honestly believe that, at this point in time, to have that base pay is really going to substantially change the lives of these workers and that they deserve this pay.” At City Hall on Monday, she said she was in “solidarity” with the workers asking for more money.

Ajche said that a cultural change around delivery workers, both among restaurants and customers, has been as meaningful as the city’s regulations. “You still have some situations where the restaurants give you a hard time with the bathrooms and letting you park your bike while you wait for the order to be ready. But people in general are more thoughtful now: They offer us coffee or water, or to let us sit down for a while, customers give us better tips and ask about our jobs,” he said. “When I go out on the streets, I see other workers happy and sharing positive experiences — it makes me feel proud of how far we’ve come.”p

Some delivery workers argue they need an increase in expenses to offset the cost of using motorized vehicles, Nov. 21, 2022.Ben Fractenberg/THE CITY

This story was published by on November 21, 2022 by THE CITY.

Report: These NYC Hospitals Took in $727 Million More in Tax Breaks Than They Gave Back to Their Communities

BY AARON TOLEOS LOWN INSTITUTE

Anew report examining the finances of nonprofit hospitals in New York City finds that some hospitals fall significantly short on expected community investments. The study by the Lown Institute, a healthcare think tank, includes 21 hospitals and finds that nine have a Fair Share deficit—meaning that the value of their community investments fails to equal the value of their federal, state, and local tax breaks. In total, the nine hospitals are $727 million short of equaling the $1.2 billion in tax breaks they received in 2019. “Communities make good faith investments through these tax breaks and expect that hospitals will hold up their end of the bargain,” said Vikas Saini, MD, president of the Lown Institute. “Our evidence shows that’s not always the case.” New York-Presbyterian, which had $493 million in tax breaks, had the largest Fair Share deficit of all hospitals at $359 million—nearly half of the city’s total deficit. At the other end of the list, Montefiore Medical Center had the largest surplus at $76 million. According to the report, the total Fair Share deficit is enough to triple what the city spends on school meals annually, create thousands of new affordable housing units, or pay off the medical debt for every patient sued by a New York hospital over the past five years. “If we want hospital behavior to change, there needs to be greater transparency and accountability,” said Dr. Saini. “New regulations are long overdue.” Methodology Fair Share spending is calculated by comparing the value of hospital tax exemptions to the amount spent on meaningful community investment. Federal, state, and local taxes are all included in the tax exemption valuation, as are benefits from tax-exempt bonds and donations. Data sources include CMS hospital cost reports, IRS Form 990, and property assessments from the NYC Department of Finance. Meaningful community investment includes the following categories of spending from IRS Form 990 Schedule H: Financial assistance, community health improvement activities, contributions to community groups, community building activities, and subsidized healthcare services. Only private nonprofit general hospitals with available IRS and CMS data were included in the analysis. Support for this study was provided by the 32BJ Labor Industry Cooperation Trust Fund.p

Coalition for Affordable Hospitals Tells Wealthy Hospitals to Pay their Fair Share

Several New York City labor unions affiliated with the Coalition for Affordable Hospitals held a speak out and rally on Thursday to tell NY Presbyterian and other wealthy hospitals to pay their fair share, after a new report found that the NY Presbyterian system takes over $400 million more in tax breaks than it gives back in charity and community benefits. This is money that could go to education, transportation, community health and other public services. The Coalition for Affordable Hospitals is a coalition of labor unions, health care providers, community organizations, social justice advocates, and government entities fighting to rein in out-of-control hospital costs that hurt hard-working New Yorkers. p

Old & New Immigrants: Their Rights Hiring Foreign Seasonal Workers Doesn’t Hurt American Workers, New Study Finds

BY WALTER EWING

Do fewer U.S. workers get hired when employers also hire temporary seasonal labor from abroad? A new study of firms applying for H-2B visas suggests that the answer is no. The H-2B visa allows workers from abroad to enter the United States to fill temporary, non-agricultural jobs that do not require a high level of formal education. The number of new H-2B visas that can be issued each year is capped at 66,000 and visa recipients are randomly selected through a lottery. By analyzing hiring at firms that participate in this lottery, the new study finds that firms which hire larger numbers of H-2B workers experience increased production with no adverse effects on the employment of U.S.-born workers. In some cases, the numbers of H2B workers and U.S. workers

employed by a firm increase together.

The H-2B program U.S. employers wishing to hire H-2B workers must first obtain a temporary labor certification from the Department of Labor (DOL). For an employer to receive certification, DOL must determine that: (1.) not enough qualified U.S.-born workers are available to fill the temporary jobs for which the employer wants to hire H-2B workers; and (2.) the employment of H-2B workers will not adversely affect the wages or working conditions of U.S.born workers performing similar jobs. In recent years, the demand for H-2B workers has far exceeded the annual cap of 66,000, and demand is often so high that DOL and DHS exercise their authority to add additional H-2B visas to the pool throughout the year. As a result, DOL conducts a lottery to determine which of the firms that applied for temporary labor certification will actually receive certification. Employers who receive the temporary labor certification must then apply to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS) for permission to employ H-2B workers. Once USCIS approves the petition, foreign workers can apply for an H-2B visa from a U.S. embassy or consulate in their home country. Some foreign workers may not need a visa if they are already in the United States and received USCIS approval for an extension of their current H-2B status or a change from a different status to H-2B status. The longest a foreign worker in H-2B status can remain in the United States is three years. The worker then must remain outside of the United States for three months before they can be readmitted in H2B status. The spouse and unmarried children under the age of 21 may accompany an H-2B visa recipient to the United States, but they are not allowed to work while they are here.

New study finds no decrease in employment of U.S.-born workers The new study surveyed firms that participated in DOL’s 2021 lottery for processing of H-2B temporary labor certifications and compared those that won with those that lost. Firms that were winners of the lottery—and were therefore able to hire more H-2B workers—experienced an increase in revenue. The winning firms also experienced either a slight increase in the employment of U.S.-born workers or no change at all. There was no evidence that hiring more H-2B workers resulted in a decline in employment for U.S.-born workers. The study also found that employers which lost the H-2B lottery did not tend to hire more U.S. workers. As a result of losing the lottery, those firms generally hired fewer workers overall and suffered from lower revenue than those firms which were able to hire more foreign workers. The economists carrying out the study suggest that this result continued on page 13

Immigrant Crop Workers/ continued from page 1 pensive as food prices soar. This is partly due to America’s ongoing labor shortage in agriculture, especially for fruit and vegetable crop production, where 57.0% of workers are immigrants. Farm workers are fundamental to America’s critical food infrastructure. However, as labor shortage in the food production industry persists, our supply of fresh fruits and vegetables relies increasingly on imported produce. In 2021, the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) reported that the value of imported fruits and vegetables reached record levels. Since 2000, the volume of fruit and vegetable imports has doubled and the inflation-adjusted value of those imports more than tripled. While labor costs are about 10% of the total farm income in most farming industries in the United States, they are 27.7% of total farm income on U.S. fruit farms and 23.1% on vegetable farms. This makes these farms particularly sensitive to rising labor costs. From 2005 to 2020, wages of crop workers grew at a rate of 66%. This was faster than the wage growth for high school graduates (33%) and college graduates (40%), according to data from the USDA wage survey and U.S. Census Current Population Survey. One reason for the current labor shortage in crop production is the lack of interest in agricultural work from younger workers. With fewer of them entering the industry, the agricultural workforce is getting older. Between 2006 and 2019, the average age of U.S.-born agricultural workers rose from 35.9 to 36.7 years old, while immigrant crop workers aged even faster, from 35.7 to 41.6 years old, according to data from the USDA Farm Labor report. An older crop production workforce is also more vulnerable to health complications like heat stress caused by severe heat events due to climate change. A 2008 study from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that farm workers were 20 times more likely to die from heat stress-related complications than other workers in the United States. Severe heat events are placing the lives and health of our essential crop workers at risk, creating dangerous working conditions. They also leave less time for workers to harvest most fruits and vegetables, putting our food production system under severe pressure. More needs to be done to monitor the working conditions of our crop production workers and protect them from heat-related illnesses and deaths. The impact of the labor shortage in the crop production industry is far-reaching, even beyond the Thanksgiving holidays. Since immigrant workers are essential to America’s food supply, implementing immigration policy changes like increasing the number of H-2A temporary visas for foreign-born farm workers and streamlining the approval process would help alleviate some of the labor shortages in the industry and make the food on our dinner tables more affordable.p Hiring Foreign Seasonal Workers/ continued from page 12 occurs because there are “few substitutes” in rural areas for the labor carried out by individuals receiving H-2B visas, lending support to the need for the program.

Immigration and employment The study supports the conclusion of many economists that immigration expands the job market for U.S.-born workers. This occurs in several ways. First, immigrant workers and U.S.-born workers tend to have different skill sets, so they complement each other rather than competing for the same jobs. Second, immigrant workers spend most of their wages in the U.S. economy, which creates new jobs by increasing consumer demand. Third, U.S. businesses respond to the presence of immigrant workers and consumers by expanding their operations within the United States rather than abroad. And fourth, immigrants expand the U.S. labor market when they create new businesses. The new study and the findings of many other economists undermine the common myth that every job filled by an immigrant worker is one less job available to a U.S.-born worker. In fact, immigration increases job opportunities for the majority of U.S.-born workers.p

Here’s What Gov. Kathy Hochul’s Win Could Mean for New York Schools

BY REEMA AMIN, CHALKBEAT

Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul, who led the state as students returned to schools full time after COVID-related closures, won New York’s governor’s race on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press. In a race that grew tighter in recent weeks, Hochul was declared the winner after getting 53% of the vote against Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, of Long Island, according to preliminary state Board of Elections results with 84% of election districts reporting. She is the first female elected governor in the state. Hochul, who spent nearly a decade as the state’s lieutenant governor, took New York’s top office 14 months ago following former Gov. Andrew Cuomo’s stunning resignation amid a sexual harassment scandal. In her first year in office, she oversaw significant developments in education, including boosting funding for schools and signing a bill that aims to limit class sizes in New York City schools. Hochul did not make education policy a centerpiece of her campaign. Still, she won endorsements and big campaign contributions from New York’s powerful teachers unions — one of which hadn’t endorsed a candidate in 16 years. Educators’ unions felt like they had an ally in office after she embraced policies they pushed, including the class size bill and initiatives to tackle teacher shortages. At the same time, she also won some support from pro-charter school political groups, and in a debate last month, she said she supported lifting the state’s cap on how many charter schools can open. Here’s how Hochul’s continued governorship could impact New York City’s schools:

School funding, teacher shortages and college Under Cuomo, the state increased school funding, but it wasn’t enough for many school advocates. They criticized the former governor for failing to fully fund the state’s Foundation Aid formula, which is designed to send more money to school districts with higher shares of students with high needs, such as those living in poverty. When Hochul assumed office, she settled a 2014 lawsuit by committing to fully fund the formula. (Despite that, funding remains a hot topic in New York City, where three-quarters of schools saw less money this fall as their enrollment was projected to drop.) Under the plan Hochul agreed to — phasing in the boosted funding over three years — schools would receive 100% of the money they’re owed by next year. It is expected to amount to roughly $4 billion additional dollars to districts across the state. Looking forward, some advocates and policymakers are already calling for updating the formula itself, which has remained the same since its inception in 2007. Hochul has not yet said whether she supports overhauling the formula. Updating it could result in calls for even more money for schools. Hochul may also continue to focus on postsecondary education. She announced last year a goal to get twothirds of New Yorkers to graduate with a college degree by 2030. To help meet this goal, she expanded college tuition assistance to part-time students in her first year in office. To address the state’s looming teacher shortage, she expanded some alternative teacher certification programs. She also temporarily waived an income cap for retirees who want to return to the classroom. The situation could soon get dire as state teaching programs have seen enrollment drop by more than half since 2009, and about a third of current teachers are projected to retire in the next five years, according to data from the state teachers union.

Another round of mayoral control debates Hochul will be in office when Mayor Eric Adams’ control over New York City schools will once again expire, requiring another extension from state lawmakers in 2024. As mayoral control was set to expire this year, Hochul — an ally of Adams — had called for a four-year renewal, which would have covered the mayor’s entire first term. But state lawmakers gave him just half of that, while tweaking the governance system to appease advocates’ calls to include more parent voices in the system. Hochul could again call for a renewal of the system to cover the rest of Adams’ term. If state lawmakers are interested in curbing Adams’ power — or overturning the governance model altogether — it’s possible that Hochul could advocate for keeping mayoral control in place.

Would Hochul push to lift the charter cap? Hochul did not discuss charter schools during most of the campaign, but during a recent debate with Zeldin she revealed that she supported lifting the charter school cap. As of now, 460 charter schools are allowed to operate in New York, including 290 in New York City. It’s possible that Hochul could push for lifting the cap, something that procharter advocates have wanted for years. That would allow more such schools to open in New York City. Hochul’s campaign received at least $70,000 in donations across two procharter political action committees. However, she didn’t openly advocate for such a policy during her first year in office. And even if she did, the state legislature has so far not been supportive of lifting the cap. l

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Governor Hochul. Editorial credit: lev radin / Shutterstock.com

Chalkbeat is a nonprofit news organization covering public education.Reema Amin is a reporter covering New York City schools with a focus on state policy and English language learners. Article was published by THE CITY on November 9, 2022.