[NYtenants-online] Rudy Hikes Rents 4 and 6%

[Tenant]

NYtenants Online/TenantNet                                6/21/01
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IN THIS ISSUE ...

1. Your rent is going up 4 and 6%
2. Rent Board Votes Bigger Increases for Landlords (Times)

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The Rent Guidelines Board voted last night by a vote of 7-2 to raise rents 
by 4% for a one-year renewal lease and 6% for a two-year renewal lease. The 
increases affect all rent stabilized tenants in New York City with leases 
expiring from October 1, 2001 through September 30, 2002.

While the so-called "poor tax" -- increases of $15 for leases under $500 -- 
was rejected, the 4 and 6% increases came as a last-minute surprise as the 
RGB had voted a preliminary increase of 3 and 5%. Preliminary votes are 
often adopted by the RGB in the final votes.

The change in the RGB's vote (where only the two tenant representatives 
voted against the higher increases) appeared to be directly tied to the 
landlord's last-minute lobbying of Mayor Giuliani and Jerilyn Perine, 
Commissioner of the Department of housing Preservation and Development 
(HPD). Perine is well-known for favoring landlords and developers, selling 
off major portions of NYC's Urban Renewal sites to well-connected political 
cronies of the administration.

For tenants whose current rent is $800, a one-year renewal after October 1 
would have a rent increase of $32/month or $384/year. A two-year renewal 
would allow one's rent to be increased by $48/month or $576/year.

For those now paying $1,500/month, the monthly increases would be $60 and 
$90 per month for a 1 and 2-year renewal respectively.

The actual text of the RGB order usually appears mid-summer and will be 
posted on TenantNet.

Note: In the New York Times article below, Michael McKee is identified as 
the "leader of the tenant group." This is incorrect. There is no one leader 
of tenants (despite McKee's all-too-often attempts to claim credit for work 
others have done).

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RENT BOARD VOTES BIGGER INCREASES FOR LANDLORDS
New York Times, June 21, 2001
by Bruce Lambert

Without warning, the New York City Rent Guidelines Board reversed itself 
last night by imposing increases one percentage point higher than it 
proposed a month ago: 4 percent for one-year lease renewals and 6 percent 
for two-year leases.

The new rules, which are final, apply to about 2.3 million tenants in 
rent-stabilized apartments for leases renewed between Oct. 1, 2001, and 
Sept. 30, 2002.

The board's surprise decision, at a raucous meeting at Cooper Union in 
Manhattan, drew angry outbursts from about 200 spectators.

Chants of "Down with the rents" and "Shame, shame, shame" forced the board 
to call several recesses in an effort to restore order.

The last-minute vote reflected a sudden turnabout by the board, and tenant 
leaders blamed Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani for the change of heart. Just six 
weeks ago the mayor made an unusual attempt to hold the increases to 3 
percent for one-year leases and 5 percent for two-year leases. The board, 
with three new Giuliani appointees, complied and accepted those numbers.

What happened since then to change the board's vote was unclear. Landlord 
groups complained that the proposed increase was not high enough to meet 
their rising costs, especially for energy.

Tenant leaders criticized the mayor and the board majority after the vote 
yesterday. "The landlords got to Giuliani," said Michael McKee, the 
associate director of the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition. 
"It's an outrage, a disgrace."

As evidence of Mr. Giuliani's influence, tenant leaders pointed out that 
all three of his new appointees switched their votes in support of the 
higher rents.

The board's new chairman, Steven Sinacori, a former administration aide, 
serves at the mayor's pleasure, meaning that he can be replaced at any time.

Asked to comment last night, the Giuliani administration would not do so.

Landlord representatives said the final increases adopted by the board were 
an improvement, but were still not enough. "The 4 and 6 at least was in the 
right direction, but it falls far below what is really needed," said Joseph 
Strasburg, president of the city's largest landlords' organization, the 
Rent Stabilization Association.

Mr. Strasburg said the rates would reduce landlords' income and "result in 
abandonment and the loss of housing."

Besides adopting the general apartment rent increases, the board approved 
loft rent increases of 1 percent for one year and 2 percent for two years, 
and residential hotel increases of 2 percent a year.

In one major concession to tenants, the board rescinded a $15 monthly 
surcharge on nearly 200,000 apartments renting for less than $500. Tenants 
had opposed that levy, which the board had imposed for the last seven 
years, as a "poor tax," unfairly burdening those least able to pay.

The pivotal vote on the surcharge came from a new member, Mort J. Starobin. 
"Mort Starobin is a hero; he voted his conscience," said Mr. McKee, the 
leader of the tenants' group.

Last night's surprise vote capped what tenant and landlord leaders said was 
perhaps the strangest year in the board's three decades. One episode now 
seems especially peculiar, given the eventual result. On May 9, the board 
first narrowly approved increases of 4 and 6 percent, but quickly recessed 
and returned to say that one new member had misunderstood the motion.

A new roll call was taken and, with the one member's vote changing, the 
board approved 3 and 5 percent increases instead.

Last night, the board was back at 4 and 6 percent, this time for keeps.