[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 63 (Monday, May 7, 2012)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E709]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                          IN HONOR OF JAMES L.
                              SIMMONS, JR.

                                 ______
                                 

                          HON. ELIOT L. ENGEL

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                          Monday, May 7, 2012

  Mr. ENGEL. Mr. Speaker, James L. Simmons, Jr., is a Yonkers native 
who has been giving back to his community for years. For many of those 
years he was owner/operator of a hair care salon in Yonkers while also 
serving as a community planner for affordable housing.
  In 1999 Mr. Simmons started a partnership with the city of Yonkers to 
assist in developing affordable homes in distressed areas of southwest 
Yonkers. Under his leadership as Director of the Center for Urban 
Rehabilitation and Empowerment, CURE, as it is known, acquired numerous 
parcels of land in southwest Yonkers with the aid of the Bureau of 
Planning and Development.
  With the land, Mr. Simmons, as general contractor, then obtained 
various grants and loans to complete two- and three-family homes. He 
acquired another parcel of land on which he built twelve condominium 
units and named the development after his late mother.
  He had worked on numerous developments including the Waterfront 
Development Project Gazette Building, and he is now in the 
predevelopment stage of Cook's Landing, his largest project, which will 
be 77 affordable rental units.
  Mr. Simmons has served on the Yonkers Community Advisory Committee 
and has received numerous awards for his achievements. He currently 
serves on the board of the Yonkers Community Action Program and is 
commissioner of the Yonkers Municipal Housing Authority Board of 
Commissioners.
  I am proud to join with the Women's Civic Club of Nepperhan in 
honoring James Simmons for his outstanding work in developing and 
building homes for those who need them most.

                          ____________________