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Advocates Call on City's Rent Guidelines Board to Prevent Rent Hike

By Patrick Hedlund

DNAinfo News Editor

EAST VILLAGE — Debate over proposed rent hikes for the city's 1 million rent-stabilized units lasted throughout the day Monday during a marathon public session ahead of the Rent Guidelines Board's annual vote next week.

Affordable housing advocates, landlords and elected officials delivered statements to the board at a contentious meeting at the Cooper Union's Great Hall in Cooper Square. The hearing comes as the state Senate is set to vote on rent regulation measures in Albany during its last day of session Monday.

The nine-member Rent Guidelines Board's vote last month to raise rents between 3 and 5.75 percent for one-year leases and between 6 and 9 percent for two-year leases infuriated opponents, many of whom showed up Monday to voice their displeasure. The proposal also calls for a 1 percent supplemental increase for oil-heated buildings.

The RGB's yearly vote pits advocates pushing for little to no rent increases amid continued economic turmoil against landlords who argue the cost of managing buildings has risen significantly enough to demand substantial rent hikes.

Increases have typically hovered between 2 and 4 percent in recent years, with last year's vote raising rents 2.25 percent for one-year leases and 4.5 percent for two-year leases.

Congressman Jerrold Nadler and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn asked the RGB the minimize rent increases as much as possible in the face of unemployment.

"Even if the rent increases ultimately approved are at the low end of the proposed ranges," Nadler said, "I have many serious concerns about what this decision would mean for the more than 1 million low- and middle-income rent-stabilized residents of New York City who are already facing a crisis of affordability and cost-of-living increases."

Quinn went a step further by recommending a maximum 1-percent increase in rents, noting that housing issues are "topping the charts" in terms of complaints lodged by her office.

She added that relief for building owners likely would not come in the form of lower property taxes, when asked by one of the board's members representing landlords whether ongoing negotiations over the city budget included any decreases.

"They're not at the point where we can think about taking [taxes] down," Quinn said. "This won't be the year for that."

That question proved a sticking point for some advocating for higher rent increases, including one official who suggested raising the proposed hikes to 6 percent for one-year leases and 10 percent for two-year leases.

"If you want to maintain affordability, taxes have to be addressed," said Patrick Siconolfi, executive director of the Community Housing Improvement Program, a trade association representing more than 2,500 building owners in the city.

Some of the more vocal tenant-advocates greeted the proceeding with hisses and boos in what has become a typical exchange between the two sides throughout the years.

"Laissez-faire, mon derriere," exclaimed Riverdale resident Anita Romm, 71, of the Metropolitan Council on Housing, who asked for zero rent increases. "Basically it means capitalism stinks."

Other elected officials lobbied the board to adopt the lowest increases possible, citing the loss of rent-stabilized units through the years.

"Make no mistake — very rarely do landlords lose money," said lower Manhattan Councilwoman Margaret Chin, to thundering applause from the mostly pro-tenant crowd.

"I urge the board to strengthen rent regulations, not destroy them," added East Village Councilwoman Rosie Mendez, who asked the RGB to keep increases less than 2 percent for one-year leases and less than 4 percent for two-year leases.

Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer called for a rent freeze, noting that 11.6 or rent-stabilized buildings are classified as overcrowded, while 4.8 percent are classified as severely overcrowded.

"When do we ever have a different outcome here?" he asked of the board's continued increases through the years, despite economic conditions.

One East Villager said the neighborhood's shifting demographics have made it nearly impossible for longtime low-income residents to remain in the area.

"Any substantial increase would be devastating to my tiny income," said Paul Bridgewater, who's lived on East 3rd Street for nearly three decades.

He claimed his landlord only offers one-year leases to new residents in order to create higher turnover, and then hikes the rents on subsequent tenants.

"Our building has become a college dorm," he added, "not a residential building."

The Rent Guidelines Board's final vote occurs on Mon., June 27, at the Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 E. 7th Street.

A crowd filled the Cooper Union's Great Hall Monday morning for the day-long public session.
A crowd filled the Cooper Union's Great Hall Monday morning for the day-long public session.
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DNAinfo/Patrick Hedlund