Helping People (and Pets) Stay Home
A deed fraud victim, keeping pets with their owners, and a story about Hi-Chews in Salt Lake City
issue #15
Johnnie Jackson outside the home he’s fighting to keep
Johnnie Jackson’s three-story home in St. Albans, Queens was given to him in 1994 by his father. The mortgage was all paid off when he took out another one in 2010 to help pay for some repairs. Months later, he saw ads in local newspapers about refinancing mortgages — promising to shorten the time to pay it back — and he gave them a call.
He traveled to an office on Staten Island, where employees rushed him through paperwork, he said. His mortgage wasn’t refinanced; the papers he signed actually turned the deed over to a random guy. He’d been scammed.
In the 11 years since, Jackson’s been fighting to get his deed back – and even though the people who scammed him were found guilty of scamming, Jackson can’t get help because his home was included in one indictment count that didn’t end up as part of the guilty plea deal. Phew.
“Everybody said they’re sorry, but I’m out of a house that was paid for,” he told me.
Read more in THE CITY.
Two dogs on the subway last year
Thousands of pets are surrendered every year to the city’s ACC shelters for reasons like “pet has a UTI,” “poor match - gift,” “wrong sex,” and “sheds too much.”
There are other, more human-centered reasons, too, I reported in THE CITY.
Domestic violence, disasters, eviction, landlord issues – these are all things that might lead someone to have to surrender their cat or dog or turtle. But thanks to a new program that brought on two social workers, ACC is working with families and people on the ways they can keep their furry friends at home with them.
Since launching in April, ACC’s social-services team has worked on 181 cases that involved 347 animals. They haven’t been able to help everyone, but 70 clients have stayed with their pets, and 14 re-homed their animals with family or friends.
Read more here.
And here are some cute cats up for adoption: Jimmy, Pencil, and Diva.
Other interesting stories this week
New York City leads the nation in new union organizing. Happy Labor Day (a holiday that first started in New York City.) [THE CITY]
A fun anecdote in this story about how great non-American candies are: Hi-Chew noticed they were doing huge business in Salt Lake City, and the company later found out the missionaries from the Church of Latter-Day Saints were coming home after stints in Japan with a love of the chewy, nearly-perfect candy. [THE ATLANTIC]
LISTEN
I’ve had “Ambulette,” the debut album from Daniel Glenn Padgett, on repeat all week.
From his website: “the album explores romantic relationships set to the chaotic momentum of New York City. Often disguised as upbeat ballads, Daniel explores the balance between an indie-rock song and a cathartic journal entry.” I’m not a music writer but that sounds about right. Listen on Spotify or Bandcamp.
Enjoy your long weekend, if you get one, and a reminder that the beaches will be open next weekend, too.