Paterson, New Jersey: 1 in 10 homes are in foreclosure

Paterson, New Jersey is one of the most diverse cities in the nation. Population of Paterson is approximately 50% Latino, 32% African-American and 27% from other races including middle eastern, pacific islander, etc. as well as white, a startlingly diverse city and a total population of 150,000. Shockingly, Paterson is third in the state behind Jersey City and Newark, New Jersey.

In this city of immigrants and African-Americans one in ten homes lay in foreclosure. Habitat for Humanity has built a thousand homes and the Mayor Jose Torres says a great many of these homes are now in foreclosure. The Mayor says at fault is unscrupulous lending practices and the push of the "American Dream" to buy a home. Not everyone can buy a home, says Mayor Torres. But, the problem is if a lender is telling you - that you can buy a home are most people going to disagree?

So, the great majority of homes in foreclosure are from the sub-prime mess where these homeowners could not afford to buy and the lenders (to make huge amounts of money) preyed on these folks, having them put down 5% or less and gave "balloon" mortgages in which at the end of 5 to 7 years, the loan is required to be paid in full. But, the lender tells the buyer: "don't worry about that - you can refinance." And now we have virtually no refinancing at all and so to pay the loan in full is virtually impossible. What happens? Foreclosure.

A subprime mortgage is a type of loan granted to individuals with poor credit histories (often below 600), who, as a result of their deficient credit ratings, would not be able to qualify for conventional mortgages. Because subprime borrowers present a higher risk for lenders, subprime mortgages charge interest rates above the prime lending rate. But, lenders became more liberal in granting these mortgages because of low interest rates and enormous profits to be made because of the high risk of the loan. It is unfair to blame the crisis on people with poor credit history because all of us are experiencing this devastating economic crisis. The subprime loan is so unfair that a late bill can send your interest rate up.

The issue becomes should we be punishing these homeowners for not being able to afford a loan in an economic crisis not seen since the Great Depression. So, instead of bailing first time home owners, or young people struggling, or young Dominican, Indian, Costa Rican, Black or Arab Americans we bail-out the banks who preyed upon this community and countless other vulnerable communities. Now, I know to a certain extent this had to happen, but should we not be keeping these families in their homes? With an unemployment rate of nearly double the national average (10%) this crisis is only going to get worse. Governor Corzine has sent some money to Paterson, but will it be nearly enough?

Hear Mayor Torres discuss the crisis, and try and put a bit of a spin on it, but the outlook is very bleak.

jersey junot wins the pulitzer prize!

still haven't read the brief wondrous life of oscar wao that takes place in various locales of jersey including paterson and the rutgers campus???? what are you waiting for? it's officially one of my top 5 books...

junot diaz, jersey boy and rutgers alum, has won the pulitzer prize for fiction... read more about junot on the rutgers website and alumni news page. for more details about his childhood in old bridge, his recent "rome" prize and other thrilling details, see yesterday's star ledger article.

here's a snippet for our jersey readers:

New Jersey, a state worth discussing. Though much of The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao takes place at Rutgers and in the Dominican Republic, a variety of New Jersey spots, from the Woodbridge Center mall to Wildwood, also get the Díaz treatment. “The same way I wanted to document the lives of my friends that nobody seemed to care about, that no one seemed to notice,” he says, “I also wanted to document a state which is the place where I learned to be human, to be an adult. That landscape helped shape my perceptions, my opinions, my vision of the world. It launched me into the world. On top of that, you feel like no one’s doing it, and you think, well, no competition.” No competition? What about Philip Roth? What about Díaz’s contemporary, Tom Perrotta? “It’s not that it’s not being done,” Díaz notes, “or hasn’t been done, it’s just that there’s so much more work to do. It’s a state worth discussing.”

paterson's da yunginz

from program director ron cope: On Thursday April 3, Silk City Media Workshop (SCMW) had the World Premier of the video "Who We Be" by the Da Yunginz. Da Yunginz are a newly formed rap group from Paterson NJ who met at the Paterson YMCA NJ After 3 Program at Alexander Hamilton Academy. The group has two talented young women and four gifted young men.

Their work was put together in collaboration with Arts for Kids Records (ATKR). ATKR's sent the Executive Producer Tony Lewis, to work with the group to complete this project and it was a masterpiece. The was shot and edited by the up and coming Video Director, Steve "Quick Fingers" Fiedeldey.

We would like to thank, the Paterson YMCA, NJ After 3, Ronald McDonald House Charities, and Passaic County Community College for their undying support for our innovative programs. We would also like to thank Gaby Rinkerman and Gregg Festa for their belief in our project.

See the video or check out silk city media. The CD and video will be on sale as a bonus, on the Global Youth Service Weekend album to support Relay For Life. If you need more info about Global Youth Service Weekend please contact Vicki Fernandez at 973.413.1626 or vfernandez@NJCDC.org.

new jersey family court loses a local champion and pioneer

i was lucky enough to know judge womack both during my family law clerkship and as an intern. when i first volunteered in paterson in the 90s with americorps VISTA to help foster teens age out of the state system, i often accompanied teens to court appearances in front of judge womack. he always let me speak on behalf of the teens to explain how they were thriving in our program. he listened to stories about their lives and understood the complications these teens faced in paterson without resources and families. he always considered other factors, deciding compassionately not reactively to their juvenile charges.

superior court, family division in passaic vicinage has lost a champion of justice and paterson grieves a local hero.

from today's herald news...

PATERSON — Judge Stephen Womack, the first African-American to sit on the bench in state Superior Court in Passaic County, died Saturday night at St. Joseph's Regional Medical Center.

He was 65.

Womack died of complications from a cardiac event he suffered March 7, when he was found unconscious at his courthouse desk.

Upon receiving his law degree from Harvard Law School in 1968, Womack came to his adopted hometown to practice law. He would later involve himself in the community, which took great pride in his 1994 judicial appointment. Friends and colleagues described him Sunday as a strong, committed family man who was fair but tough in his rulings.

"Although he was judge in Family Court handling primarily juvenile offenders, he was keen in getting them rehabilitated, getting them off the antisocial track and getting them on a more productive track," said Superior Court Assignment Judge Robert Passero.

Stephen Womack, the judge's son, said his father was born and raised in Roanoke, Va., but came to Paterson at the suggestion of his cousin. Once here, he worked as an attorney at the Passaic County Legal Aid Society before joining Harry Lee Cornish, who later became a Paterson Municipal Court judge, in a law practice.

In 1976, Womack left private practice to serve as an assistant public defender in Union County. He held that post until his appointment to Superior Court, where he took up his duties overseeing juvenile cases.

"He loved Juvenile Court, because he thought he had an opportunity to do some good and change people's lives," said his colleague, Judge Richard M. Freid.

"He was not a pushover, that's for sure, but he had a huge heart," Freid said outside the Womack family home on Park Avenue.

When Gov. Christine Todd Whitman appointed Womack to the bench, Al Moody, who worked with Womack on a youth rehabilitation program, said he was "elated." The Rev. Albert Rowe of First Calvary Baptist Church called it a historic event for the local black community.

"He carried that mantle with the same dignity and same integrity that Thurgood Marshall carried his," Rowe said, referring to the nation's first black Supreme Court justice.

Womack's son said that honor was something his father was proud of, but in the end, he just wanted to do his job well.

"He took pride in his work," Stephen Womack said. "He was a great father. He was a great community figure without trying to be. There was no pretentiousness to it."

Womack was also a religious man, but he never wore his faith on his sleeve, according to Freid.

Womack told Freid that when he retired from the bench, he hoped to become a minister at the New Shiloh Baptist Church in Paterson, where he was a preacher and helped raise funds for a new roof.

Locally, he joined the Paterson Task Force for Community Action and served at least two years as the chairman of Paterson's Rent Leveling Board. After his appointment to the bench, he would speak to school and civic groups about the law and social problems.

"He was always willing to help a person," Passero said.

Womack is survived by his wife, Margaret; his children, Denise, Anita, Stephanie and Stephen; and a granddaughter, Ebony.

Staff Writer John Petrick contributed to this article.

paterson's E S S E N C E C A R S O N

rutgers scarlet knight basketball captain essence carson handled the don imus affair with dignity and grace... a high ranking graduate of rosa parks high school and a sports star of eastside high school, essence is the model student-athlete. she studies music at rutgers (she plays the piano, sax, guitar and drums) as well as kicks ass on the court. recently, essence was honored at a paterson board of education meeting... and may 25, 2007 was proclaimed "Essence Carson Day" throughout the paterson public schools.

Stories from the Silk City

as hoboken celebrates its first international film festival this week, another city in northern jersey honors its young filmmakers on wednesday june 6th at the 2007 Silk City Digital Storytelling Festival Premiere, held at the community technology center at PCCC.

paterson's own silk city media workshop (SCMW) is an after-school digital media program for 180 inner city middle school students who are at risk of serious problems such as gangs and dropping out of school. Gregg Festa, the Director of the ADP Center for Teacher Preparation and Learning Technologies at Montclair State University and winner of the 2007 NJ Technologist of the Year Award, founded SCMW in partnership with Ron Cope at the Paterson YMCA. check out the program's blog for a viewing of the students' unique stories.

Let Us Now Praise... Paterson's Tashera Bolds

the herald news (northjersey.com) recently reported that paterson, nj's own tashera bolds is one of 1,000 students nationwide to be named a Gates Millennium Scholar for 2007.

tashera is an aspiring mathematician and this scholarship allows her to pursue her studies at syracuse university and beyond. but what we really need to celebrate is her symbolizing of inner city youth's grand achievements, the very youth who repeatedly get ignored, discouraged and devalued. she lives in one of paterson's public housing sites (as a grantwriter in paterson for the ymca i prepare many proposals for residents there who lose programming & services year after year because of federal funding cuts).

the media almost exclusively reports on the negative in paterson... the violence, guns, gangs, corruption, poverty, etc. it's time to spread the word about what i know happens in paterson, talented youth surviving and succeeding in a troubled, neglected community. if newark is in the throes of a renaissance, let's share the wealth and bring this wave of renewal to neighboring passaic county.

i'll leave you with tashera's words that say it best: "I can show that I am a living dream, and we can show our critics that through belief and teamwork, anything is possible."