NY State Senator Calls for Standards on Foreclosure Auction Sales, and Immigrants Face Tougher Citizenship Exam

Title: NY State Senator Calls for Standards on Foreclosure Auction Sales, and Immigrants Face Tougher Citizenship Exam

Janae Pierre: A state senator is calling for standards on foreclosure auction sales since we spilled the tea about it on the podcast yesterday. Are you smarter than a new American? From WNYC, this is NYC Now. I'm Janae Pierre. A New York lawmaker is introducing legislation with the goal of reforming the state's murky foreclosure auction process after a WNYC investigation. Brooklyn State Senator Zellnor Myrie wants to standardize how lenders and court-appointed officials calculate homeowner debt after a sale.

Senator Zellnor Myrie: This bill is really just the first step in us seeking to correct what I believe to be an injustice in the system.

Janae Pierre: WNYC and the news outlet New York Focus reviewed thousands of foreclosure records and found lenders are using two different methods for determining interest with little oversight from the state court system. In thousands of cases, WNYC and New York Focus found that they use a method that increases homeowner debt or deprives former owners of extra money after a sale. We did a deep dive into this in the previous episode of NYC Now, so take a listen if you missed it. Meanwhile, a spokesperson for New York's court system declined to comment.

Now to New Jersey, where voters in Jersey City have elected a new mayor. Democrat James Solomon beat out former New Jersey Governor Jim McGreevey in the closely watched race. Solomon ran on affordability, which he says was top of mind for most people he met along the campaign trail.

James Solomon: Every time I knocked on a door, the question was, "What can you do because the next rent increase or the next property tax increase is going to force me out of the city that I love?" My campaign was focused on that and was optimistic about it.

Janae Pierre: Solomon's inauguration is in January. He says one of the first things he'll do as mayor of Jersey City is create a package of legislation to strengthen its tenant advocacy division and work to keep tenants in their homes. Then there's the city's budget situation.

James Solomon: Jersey City faces a structural deficit, and the first thing is opening up the books and making it clear that we have a plan to stabilize property taxes.

Janae Pierre: Solomon knows that executing his vision for the city will come with some challenges, but he has some important people in his corner, like Senator Andy Kim, who endorsed him. Plus, there's the Jersey City Council, which, as of last month's election, is made up of mostly progressive Democrats. Speaking of progressives, can we please address the elephant in the room right now? Solomon's victory has some parallels to what happened here in New York City's mayoral race, where another former governor ran and lost to a more progressive candidate. Solomon says the core similarities between his campaign and Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani's was their focus on making their cities affordable with real optimism.

James Solomon: We met people where they were. We talked about what we could do to make their lives better. We didn't offer more of the same. I think both our opponents, in my case, McGreevey, in his case, Cuomo, spent a lot of the campaign talking about what couldn't happen, and I think voters really were looking for change.

Janae Pierre: He goes on to say that hopefully--

James Solomon: The similarity between our governing is we actually get things done because that's going to be the challenge to make sure that we deliver for people and make their lives better.

Janae Pierre: That's Jersey City's mayor-elect James Solomon.

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Janae Pierre: Up next, are you smarter than a new American? A look at the new citizenship exam. That's after the break.

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Janae Pierre: Here at WNYC, us hosts, reporters, and producers, we work closely with each other. A lot of times, we're talking about what we're working on, but also making conversation. How are your folks doing?

Arun Venugopal: My folks are doing okay. They lived in this country for 56 years, and they just moved back to India, where they're from.

Janae Pierre: I was chatting with WNYC race and justice reporter, Arun Venugopal, about our families and some recent reporting he's been doing on changes to the naturalization test. If you were born a citizen of the United States, you may not be familiar with the naturalization test. It's a two-part exam that every prospective American citizen has to take. One part is an English test covering reading, writing, and speaking, and the other part is a civics test on US history and government. Arun's parents and sister had to take this test to become US citizens.

Arun Venugopal: My dad, I was not able to reach him in time for this conversation, but I asked my sister, who's actually visiting, I called her, and I was like, "Wait, you took the test as well, right?" She spent most of her childhood here. I was like, "How was that?" She was like, "It was pretty easy."

Janae Pierre: Really?

Arun Venugopal: She does remember that. She's like, "I think it was pretty basic questions about the--" I think she said something like the basic amendments, like press and assembly.

Janae Pierre: Arun says his sister, who went to middle and high school in the States, didn't have a tough time at all.

Arun Venugopal: She says, "I think I might've studied a little, but I do think that every politician should take it, and I know that most of them would fail it."

[laughter]

Arun Venugopal: Her words, not mine.

Janae Pierre: Last year, nearly 120,000 New York Metro area residents became US citizens. They answered questions like, "How many amendments does the Constitution have? Who was president during World War I?" US Immigration Services announced in September that the test is changing next year.

Arun Venugopal: Traditionally, you get asked 10 questions, and you have to get 6 of them right. Now, that percentage isn't changing, but they're going to ask you more questions. They're going to ask you 20 questions, and you have to get 12 of them right. You definitely have to be more prepared in certain ways.

Janae Pierre: Instead of being any 10 questions out of 100, future test takers will have to prepare for 20 questions out of 128.

Karen McFadden: It is also, I think, important to note that it's not just an additional 28 questions on top of those 100. It is an adjustment of several of the questions that were in the original 100. Some of those questions have gone away, and then new questions have replaced them.

Janae Pierre: That's Karen McFadden, a teacher and curriculum developer at the Brooklyn Public Library. She helps immigrants become new Americans and says the new exam is a more difficult test overall.

Karen McFadden: The new test does share some content with the old test, but there is a lot of new material to learn.

Janae Pierre: Arun says this is happening because the federal government wants the test to be harder. The director of Customs and Immigration Services said he wants to see the naturalization process return to where he believes it should have been, and the test is just too easy, but not everyone agrees with that.

Arun Venugopal: Immigrant rights activists, they see this as a way to make more people fail. Nicole Melaku, she's the executive director of the National Partnership for New Americans, an immigrant rights group. She said that this test is the latest deliberate and systemic barrier designed to exclude, not educate, and that it shouldn't depend on a literacy level or "arbitrary historical opinions."

Janae Pierre: Local organizations are preparing immigrants to take this harder exam in 2026 by making their preparation courses longer and more in-depth across the board, but more study time will be needed, especially for test takers who aren't fluent in English.

Arun Venugopal: I was told by one person that you're looking really at a year of preparation, which may be very different from somebody who's lived in this country for 30, 40 years, who's completely fluent with the language, maybe went to school here, and has finally taken citizenship test.

Janae Pierre: That's WNYC's Arun Venugopal. If you're wondering how people around the WNYC newsroom would do on the new citizenship test, I got you. Some of us had jokes about it. James Madison is famous for many things. Name one.

Journalist 1: Madison Square Garden.

[laughter]

Janae Pierre: Others like community partnerships, editor Carla Wills. She knows her stuff. What are three rights of everyone living in the US?

Carla Wills: Freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, and right to bear arms. Keep that glove closed, girl.

[laughter]

Janae Pierre: All right. Here's another one for you. How many seats are on the Supreme Court?

Carla Wills: Nine.

Janae Pierre: Very good. All right. What are two cabinet-level positions?

Carla Wills: Oh, Lord. Secretary of Defense, or is it war now? And Secretary of Housing.

Janae Pierre: Yes. All right.

Carla Wills: Give me my green card. [laughs]

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Janae Pierre: All right. Thanks for listening to NYC Now from WNYC. I'm Janae Pierre. We'll be back tomorrow.

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