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June 16, 2014
Council Member Helen Rosenthals Testimony At the June 16, 2014 Rent Guidelines Board Hearing
Thank you Chairperson Godsil and members of the Rent Guidelines Board for giving me the opportunity to submit testimony for your June 16, 2014 public hearing. And, thank you for YOUR public service by being a member of this Board.
My testimony calls for a rent freeze for all tenants.
As a community activist, Community Board Chair, and now elected official representing tens of thousands of rent regulated tenants on the Upper West Side, it is clear to me that the historic annual rent increases created a rent-burden crisis that has spiraled out of control.
My District is encouraged that the RGB settled on a range of 0-3% for a 1-year lease and 0.5- 4.5% for a 2-year lease for rent stabilized tenants and a zero percent increase for SRO tenants at its Preliminary Vote on Monday, May 5th. While this is refreshing and good step in the right direction, I ask that your final vote be a zero rent increase for all tenants, SRO and rent stabilized. This Board must take the necessary measures to address the disappearance of our affordable housing stock and take a firm stance to help tenants stay in their homes.
An increase will only further undermine the availability of affordable housing in our City. There is ample evidence that the cost of living has outstripped many tenants ability to pay. RGB Increases are not the only way in which rent-stabilized rents go up. Tenants also experience rent increases via Major Capital Improvements (MCIs), vacancy bonuses, and Individual Apartment Improvement Increases (IAIs).
In addition to the financial stresses of meeting their rental obligation, unscrupulous landlords employ various tactics to harass and wear down tenants' resources, making it harder for them to keep their homes. As a new member of the Council, in office only six months, my office has already tried to help hundreds of tenants who are being harassed out of their apartments.
This reality is backed by convincing numbers. According to your Boards analysis, since 1994 roughly 153,000 units were added to the rent stabilization system, while at least 256,000 rent-stabilized units were deregulated, a net loss of approximately 103,000 rent stabilized units over the last 20 years. On the Upper West Side, NYUs Furman Center estimates that 43% of rental housing is protected by rent-regulation today, five years ago it was 69%. According to ANHD, my community alone lost over 12,000 units from 2008 2011, accounting for over ten percent of the total loss citywide. Between the rent increases, additional fees, provisional add-ons, and tenant harassment, tenants and affordable housing dont stand a chance. However, this Board can choose no increase for this year and push back against the growing tide of families being shut out from reasonably-priced housing.
The job of government and of a public servant is to ease the burden of those who need government services the most. Please look at the larger economic picture to see that the City is losing affordable housing at a time when residents need it most. At this juncture any rent increase, further widens the chasm between rich and poor. Instead, we need to look for every opportunity to stabilize the middle class and empower working people.
It is for these reasons that I ask you to please impose a freeze on all rents, both for apartments and SRO units, with no provisional add-ons. The financial burden on the tenants is already overwhelming.
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Council Members Helen Rosenthal and Carlos Menchaca, Advocates, and Worker-Owners Rally in Advance of Thursday Vote On Worker Co-Operative Bill (February 25, 2015)