Board Proposes Rent Increases For Apartments
NY Times, May 15, 1999
By BARBARA STEWART

A proposal by the city's Rent Guidelines Board to increase rents in stabilized buildings by 2 percent to 4 percent came as no surprise to city officials, landlords or tenants Thursday night. But it has nevertheless drawn criticism: landlords say the increase is too low to cover expenses and some tenant advocates call it unfair, especially for the elderly and others with limited incomes.

The board proposed the increases — 2 percent on one-year leases and 4 percent on two-year leases — for the one million or so apartments in buildings operating under rent stabilization, which ties increases to overall economic indicators.

Increases are proposed after studies are conducted by the Rent Guidelines Board. Current mortgage rates are the lowest in nearly 20 years, and the city's economic growth is at its highest level in 10 years, according to the most recent study.

The meeting Thursday was much quieter than several in the past, when larger hikes were proposed, said Joseph J. Lhota, the Deputy Mayor for Operations. He said the proposed increases were "reasonable — less than city and national inflation."

Christopher Athineos, whose family's business, Athineos Enterprises, owns seven residential buildings, said that even though the meeting was quiet, landlords were "not thrilled." The proposed increases would not cover maintenance costs, he said.

But Paul Podhaizer, chairman of the tenants' councils for two Coney Island buildings with a total of 1,836 apartments, said the prospect of higher rents has upset many elderly renters. Forty-seven tenants from the two buildings attended the meeting at Cooper Union, he said, making up about half the audience.

"Two and four percent may seem like pennies," he said. "But add it up, and it makes a difference in how people eat and how they live."

Erma Rabinowitz, 80, said she pays $575 a month for a two-bedroom apartment in one of the Coney Island buildings. Thirty-five years ago, when she and her husband moved in, the rent was $154, she said. "I live on Social Security," she said. "Most of my income goes for rent."

Mr. Athineos, Mr. Podhaizer and Mrs. Rabinowitz said they planned to attend the public hearing on the rent increases, scheduled on June 22, at 11 A.M., in the Great Hall at Cooper Union.