In the last month, Billy Procida has shaken hands with 150 tenants, been up on roofs and in and out of apartments — and was in a basement when an arsonist set the building afire, but the undeterred financier is happily planning a June wedding at Citi Field before a Dead & Company concert.
Some years ago, Procida, the head of New Jersey-based Procida Funding & Advisors, made a $9.5 million loan on a portfolio of eight buildings with 68 apartments and eight stores in Sleepy Hollow, NY.
The borrower later filed bankruptcy and the court approved Procida’s takeover in February.
Procida worked for President Trump as a young ’un and bills himself as the “original apprentice.”
He’s now opened an office in one of the not-Trump-like properties and is fixing up the neglected structures that have racked up “hundreds” of violations.
“This is my first foreclosure in 10 years,” Procida told me as we met at J.P. Doyle’s, the local pub and de facto community gathering spot. “At Procida, you get your feet dirty and your hands dirty and do belly to belly.”
That rainy day, to do his “belly to belly,” Procida had brought in his suited team for one of several “meet and greets” with his tenants.
“I think they thought we were ICE coming,” he said, referring to Immigration & Customs Enforcement police. “Nobody spoke English, but I shook 150 hands. I have to meet every tenant and I want to hear all of their issues.”
Procida has already begun redoing facades, hallways and the backyards. “I’m also donating time as a consultant, and my architect will give ideas to anyone on the street that wants to upgrade their building,” he said of the shopping street.
Procida, who also owns in Beacon, NY, farther up the Hudson River, said, “You would think it’s Long Island City — it’s all hipster kids with strollers and babies. It’s amazing to me that all the river towns are a dream and the quality of life is nice. [Sleepy Hollow] also has the $1 billion project.”
But unfortunately, Procida is still sparring with his borrower, the former property owner who Procida says retained all the security deposits as well as the keys and codes for the buildings.
Over the weekend, Procida called with frightening news: “We could have been killed.”
On Friday morning, he was in the basement of the brick apartment building at 85-87 Cortlandt St. along with the village building inspector and others when they heard firefighters shouting and stomping upstairs.
“Someone used the keys and came in and disconnected the security cameras and the smoke alarms,” Procida said. “They took a bunch of picture frames and piled them on the stove with the intent of making the stove go on fire to make it explode. A lady on the third floor smelled smoke and called it in. The [fire] chief said if she hadn’t called, it would have gone up a few minutes later.”
On Tuesday, Sleepy Hollow Police Lt. Michael Gasko, said, “We had the cause and origins team go in. It’s been deemed suspicious.” The fire is now under investigation.
The former owner has not been implicated in the fire.
Meanwhile, Procida is looking forward to happier days ahead. The longtime Deadhead will marry fiancée Kelly on June 24. The Dead’s Bob Weir will officiate.
“I have a whole section for my friends. It’s better than renting a hall and hiring a band. Now I have the Dead playing at my wedding.”
