inconsistent<\/a>.<\/p>\n\u201cWe\u2019d do walkthroughs, they\u2019d tell us they were going to contact the homeowners, and then two months later they\u2019d disappear,\u201d Muniz said. \u201cThen we\u2019d get somebody new and have to start all over again.\u201d<\/p>\n
Previously, city officials said they needed consent from all 114 homeowners because the underground drainage system connects clusters of homes. If one homeowner denied access, repairs for neighboring properties could also be delayed.<\/p>\n
Under the new approach, officials will instead begin construction on a 13-home cluster where every homeowner has already signed.\n<\/p>\n
HPD Assistant Commissioner Stephen Erdmann said the pilot is intended to demonstrate that the repair process works and encourage additional homeowners to participate.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s why now there\u2019s been an adjustment in the strategy to do this pilot, so that some work can start again to try to create momentum and show everyone this is how it\u2019s going to work,\u201d Erdmann said.<\/p>\n
Now, the city has more than $7 million available to begin construction, but HPD and Neighborhood Restore warned residents that additional funding will depend on the pilot\u2019s progress.<\/p>\n
Many homeowners have also added second-story decks, patios and concrete walkways over the years. Under the previous proposal, contractors would have removed many of those additions to reach the underground drainage pipes and restored the properties only to their original condition, which included a small balcony and spiral staircase. Homeowners would have been responsible for paying to rebuild any upgrades themselves.<\/p>\n
Instead, contractors will now inspect each property individually and develop customized scopes of work, allowing repairs to be tailored to each backyard while limiting unnecessary demolition.<\/p>\n
\u201cTimes were too hard for us to be spending money on a fault that was not our fault,\u201d longtime resident Fayola Debone said. \u201cThen we have all that financial responsibility.\u201d<\/p>\n
Debone said many homeowners were hesitant to sign because they had already invested thousands of dollars repairing or improving their properties after years of waiting for the city.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve been through a lot. People have lost their homes because of sewage. They sold their homes at a loss,\u201d said Barbara DeRiggs, one of the original homeowners in the development. DeRiggs said that her spiral staircase collapsed from the sinking soil.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cA lot of people have left this community because of that, and a lot of people have homes sold to them that are not kosher.\u201d\n<\/p>\n
Beyond the infrastructure repairs, Neighborhood Restore said homeowners must rebuild their homeowners association before construction can begin. Participation has dwindled in recent years, leaving the HOA without a legally recognized board. Residents will need to hold elections and reestablish the association before the city can proceed. Council Member Justin Sanchez said his office is helping the community secure pro bono legal assistance to complete that process.<\/p>\n
If all goes according to plan, officials said construction on the first 13-home cluster could be be completed next year.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m hoping that this cluster will actually lead to some better outcomes,\u201d said DeRiggs. \u201cBecause when you\u2019re being told something over and over and over again, and nothing comes to fruition, then you kind of get discouraged. And we\u2019ve had years of being discouraged.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"After years of delays, the city presented a new plan Tuesday to move forward with repairing the sinking…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":969787,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,8339,389403,67487,14259,175203,84025,389404,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,79751,67,586,132,5230,68,2969,389405,389406],"class_list":["post-969786","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-arson","tag-cliff-muniz","tag-hoa","tag-hpd","tag-justin-sanchez","tag-longwood","tag-neighborhood-restore","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-rebuilding","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa","tag-villa-maria","tag-villa-maria-homes"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/117010922872216350","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969786","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=969786"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/969786\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/969787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=969786"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=969786"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=969786"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/IMG_5491.jpg\")
Villa Maria Homes were constructed in 1990 as the Bronx rebuilt homes after significant urban disinvestment. Photo by Marina Samuel<\/p>\n