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Posted by TenantNet on June 18, 1997 at 01:28:42:

In Reply to: Re: rent control helps gentrify the city posted by Simon on June 18, 1997 at 00:59:09:

: Chill out man. I wasn't saying I agreed with the article, but it did
: contain some interesting stats. It showed that rent control tenants pay
: much less than everyone else. Isn't that the idea???

That's a broad generalization that's not n ecessarily true all over. For about
ten years now, RC rents have been going up at higher rates (7.5%) than
RS tenants. I know many RC tenants paying more than RS tenants for comparable
units. What was missed in the recent debate (if you could cal l it a debate)
is that the supposed "free market" rents in NYC really don't exist. There
is no real free market in NYC even without rent regs. It operates more
on unrestrained speculation and other factors rather than costs of living
or costs of running buildings. Average rents in certain neighborhoods can
change overnight based on expectations. ANd that's not good for stable
neighborhoods and such sudden change is not good, in the aggregate, for the health
of the city. Some of the m ore left-wing tenant people rattle on about
affordable rents, but for the most part rent regs are not (and never have
been) about helping out less fortunate tenants. It's about tempering
(but not stopping) unrestrained market forces.

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Comments:
: : Chill out man.  I wasn't saying I agreed with the article, but it did 
: : contain some interesting stats.  It showed that rent control tenants pay 
: : much less than everyone else.  Isn't that the idea???

: That's a broad generalization that's not necessarily true all over. For about
: ten years now, RC rents have been going up at higher rates (7.5%) than
: RS tenants. I know many RC tenants paying more than RS tenants for comparable
: units. What was missed in the recent debate (if you could call it a debate)
: is that the supposed "free market" rents in NYC really don't exist. There
: is no real free market in NYC even without rent regs. It operates more
: on unrestrained speculation and other factors rather than costs of living 
: or costs of running buildings. Average rents in certain neighborhoods can
: change overnight based on expectations. ANd that's not good for stable
: neighborhoods and such sudden change is not good, in the aggregate, for the health
: of the city. Some of the more left-wing tenant people rattle on about 
: affordable rents, but for the most part rent regs are not (and never have 
: been) about helping out less fortunate tenants. It's about tempering 
: (but not stopping) unrestrained market forces.


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