Published: February 9, 2011
Leaders of two large New York City unions said Wednesday that they would push for their pension funds to sell their stocks and bonds in
JPMorgan Chase if the bank did not help more struggling homeowners avoid foreclosure.
The declarations were part of a campaign by
New York Communities for Change to force the bank to modify more mortgages.
Jon Kest, the group’s executive director, said Chase was singled out because it serviced a large number of mortgages in the city yet turned down a majority of requests for long-term mortgage modifications.
In the coming weeks, Mr. Kest said, elected and union officials and religious and community leaders would urge other investors to divest their Chase assets, and would stage weekly protests outside the bank’s headquarters in Manhattan.
John Samuelsen, president of
Transport Workers Union Local 100, which represents the city’s transit workers, and Michael Mulgrew, president of the
United Federation of Teachers, said they would urge their pension funds’ trustees to sell holdings in Chase if the bank did not allow more people to adjust their mortgages.
Mathew M. Wambua, the new Commissioner of the Department of Housing Preservation and Development was welcomed by Board Chair Herb Sturz and other members at the CNYCN April 26, 2011 Board meeting. Wambua replaces former Commissioner Rafael Cestero. 
House Republicans are targeting for elimination four federal programs to address the foreclosure crisis that could provide more than $520 million for struggling New York homeowners over the next two years. Republicans are seeking to kill: