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Re: Preserve rent regulation

Posted by MikeW on May 06, 1997 at 17:43:21:

In Reply to: Preserve rent regulation posted by Stabilization forever on May 06, 1997 at 16:38:34:


: My neighborhood in Manhattan (Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village) is a
: shining example of the success of rent stabilization. The apartments in
: both complexes are extremely well maintained and rent at excellent rates.
: My landlord (Metropolitan Life) operates the complexes profitably, and the
: tenants of both complexes go to great lengths to maintain the neighborhood.
: The relationship between the tenants and Met Life is and always has been
: cordial. Despite the low level of turnover in the two complexes, one can
: put his/her name on a waiting list and have an apartment in 3-4 years.

: Eliminating rent stabilization would certainly devistate
: Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village. The many senior citizens in the two
: complexes would be forced out, rents would skyrocket due to the desirability
: of these apartments and the stability of the neighborhood would be lost.
: Let us not forget one issue in this discussion, rent stabilization was put
: in place largely to create stable communities. This it has done. Raising
: rents in my neighborhood would doubtless reduce the length of the waiting
: list, but what is accomplished when one group of middle-class renters who
: can afford to live in this neighborhood is at best replaced with a group of
: individuals who suffer in order to pay the rent? Met Life is already reaping
: a tidy profit from the two complexes and has made effective use of MCIs to
: raise the rents incrementally. Do we eliminate rent stabilization overnight
: just to allow rich corporations (who own the vast majority of rent stabilized
: properties in NYC) to get richer at the expense of the people who helped them
: pay the mortgages on these properties? I say no. Those who pay "market" rents
: must stop believing the myth that they are subsidizing rent stabilized tenants
: and stop wishing us ill simply because we are fortunate enough to have found
: desirable homes.

Stuy town is a perfect example of the failure of rent regulation. It was built just before the 'Emergency' regulations were imposed in 1947, as a completely private, for profit venture. To my knowledge, nothing like it has been built since. It would have never been built under regulation.

Rent regulation is the heroin of housing policy. It easy to get hooked on, it has the effect of destroying the entity using it, and trying to get off it causes painful withdrawl. We'll never have a properly functioning housing market (like the rest of the country does) until the regulations end.

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