Trump’s ‘Warrior Dividends’ To Come From A Military Fund To Supplement Rents

December 19, 2025 / no comments

Bonus checks for U.S. military service members announced by President Donald Trump on Wednesday night will come from a pool of money used to supplement troops’ housing income.
Funds appropriated by Congress to supplement monthly housing costs will be used to pay the $2.6B bill for the $1,776 checks Trump promised for every active-duty service member in a televised speech.  
The money is part of $2.9B in additional Defense Department funding passed in the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, the expansive tax and policy package signed by the president on July 4, that was earmarked to supplement the military’s basic allowance for housing entitlement, a monthly stipend members of…

Lakewood lender targets Nussbaum’s partner over escrow mess 

December 19, 2025 / no comments

A Nussbaum Lowinger creditor is going after the dissolved firm’s lesser-known partner, Samuel Lowinger.  Lakewood-based Blueberry Funding has filed a lawsuit in Kings County seeking to hold Lowinger responsible for $58.7 million in missing escrow funds. The lawsuit puts the focus on the other half of the now-defunct Nussbaum Lowinger, a Manhattan-based law firm at the center of an escrow fraud scandal where former clients allege they are owed over $400 million.  Thus far, much of the legal ire has been directed at Mark Nussbaum, the better-known and majority partner at the firm. But Blueberry is placing blame on Lowinger, […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.

Mamdani taps Leila Bozorg as deputy mayor of housing

December 19, 2025 / no comments

Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has a housing czar.  Mamdani on Friday tapped Adams administration alum Leila Bozorg as his deputy mayor of housing and planning.  Bozorg is Adams’ executive director of housing, a new role he created in 2023 that reports to the deputy mayor of housing, economic development and workforce. She also served on the mayor’s Charter Revision Commission, which presented voters with four housing-related ballot measures, including three that created different avenues for project approvals.   Gothamist was first to report the appointment.  Mamdani seems to be peeling off the economic development and workforce portions of the deputy mayor’s portfolio. […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.

The Daily Dirt: Cats has still got his tongue

December 19, 2025 / no comments

Did you read John Catsimatidis’ wild interview with the New York Editorial Board? Before I get to that, some history: Catsimatidis has clashed with me a couple of times — once because I supported a bill to ban supermarkets from giving away plastic bags (which passed and has worked well), and later because I doubted he would follow through on an idea to run for mayor again (he didn’t). Cats is a self-made billionaire. That doesn’t happen by accident. It’s fair to say he’s a business savant, especially at buying companies dirt-cheap out of bankruptcy (oil refineries, gas stations/convenience stores) […]

This article originally appeared on The Real Deal. Click here to read the full story.