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Sellout '97 The NYC Rent Wars |
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Sellout '97 The NYC Rent Wars |
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| Watch this space. As the Democratic-sanctioned dismantling of rent regulations gets under way, we'll have much more to report. |
| August 10 -- "Democrats Win -- Tenants Lose" (revised) |
| August 1 -- "It's a nitemare, and there's no end in sight," said one public interest tenant attorney regarding the Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997. Joe Strasburg of the Rent Stabilization Association (Landlord Trade Group) stated, "The tenant advocates declared victory, and I kept silent... property owners gained more relief and benefits than they have in 25 years, and we conceded nothing to tenant organizers." Landlords want to name Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver as "Man of the Year" (Real Estate Weekly, 6/25/97). Another public interest tenant attorney stated, "We all knew Michael [McKee] would be part of the sellout; we just didn't know to what extent." |
| June 20 -- On June 19, 1997, the "Rent Regulation Reform Act of 1997" was passed by both the NYS Assembly and Senate, codifying the most severe destruction of tenant protections in over 25 years. Governor Pataki is expected to sign the measure (if he hasn't already). We have obtained a copy of what purports to be the legislative memo which summarizes the major points of the new law. We have also obtained a copy of the complete text of the bill. (144K) |
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Albany, June 16 --
Although the text of the actual rent bill is still unavailable,
this draft outlines the major points of the "agreement" arrived at
last night between Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, Governor
Pataki and Senator Joe Bruno.
No wonder Pataki is beaming. We'll have more to say later, but no one should deceive themselves that this does not represent the destruction of rent regulations. Any tenant advocate that may claim this is a "victory" is either on LSD or in denial. Claiming you've won when you're running for your life is just plain stupid and, very unfortunately, one of the reasons tenants have been losing for the last twenty-five years. Simply put: Sheldon Silver sold tenants down the river.
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