Was there a unique hardship because the building was outmoded, or was it typical of industrial buildings in use across the city?
Gwen Muse-Evans, the vice president for enterprise risk policy at Fannie Mae, said that borrowers who fall into the "unique hardship" category could not simply stop making mortgage payments.
They are training for what one of their supervisors describes as "a unique hardship mission".
Fannie Mae, which sets lending standards for most mortgages, will begin easing its policies for those facing what it calls "unique hardships".
"I hope that the Palestinian citizens could look at this situation, in light of the unique hardships we face, and will find it sufficient," he added.
Yet this critical choice was made not by Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg or by the City Council or the City Planning Commission, with broad powers to regulate land use, but by a little-known five-member body, the Board of Standards and Appeals, with the power only to carve out exceptions to the city's zoning code for individual property owners with unique hardships.
Even in an era that has seen idolized sports heroes fall from grace at a rapid clip, from the doping of Mark McGwire and Lance Armstrong to the philandering of Tiger Woods, Mr. Pistorius's arrest stood out for the severity of the charges, the unique hardships he had overcome and the outsize triumphs he had won, not just against other disabled athletes but against able-bodied ones as well.
I absolutely loved the fact that these were kids who, with no help from anyone, had taken it upon themselves to rise above their unique hardships and backgrounds, and to strive for a better life.
In an effort to stop the rapid decline, the county adopted a policy that no student could transfer out of a school if the transfer would adversely affect racial diversity, unless he or she could prove some kind of "unique personal hardship".
You have absolutely been through a struggle that is unique to you, that placed hardships upon you that you didn't deserve.
We are able to survive hardship, thanks to a unique, operational mode, called the stress response.
