Is there a plan to drive the middle class out of NYC?

anonymous

Despite Protests, Rent Board Sets 7.25% Increase

By JANNY SCOTT
Published: June 28, 2006
Rents for New York City's one million rent-stabilized apartments can increase by as much as 7.25 percent over the next two years, the city's Rent Guidelines Board voted last night in a raucous meeting that was disrupted for hours by jeering tenants protesting the state's control of the city's rent laws.
A Larger Increase The board voted, 5 to 4, to allow increases of 7.25 percent on two-year leases and 4.25 percent on one-year leases. For tenants who pay for their own heat, the allowable increases are 6.75 percent and 3.75 percent. The increases, the highest since 2003, apply to leases renewed between Oct. 1, 2006, and Sept. 30, 2007.

The vote came after hundreds of tenants filled the Great Hall at Cooper Union in Manhattan, armed with everything from drums and whistles to aluminum-foil roasting pans and handmade rattles. The meeting was disrupted for the better part of an hour, prompting the board chairman, Marvin Markus, to adjourn for the next two and a half hours.

The board finally voted shortly before 10 p.m., more than four hours after the meeting started. The bellowing and pounding had become so deafening that the stenographer recording the proceedings had to go onstage to hear Mr. Markus, shouting into his microphone, read the proposal into the record.

"I've been sitting on this board for 21 years," said Harold A. Lubell, one of the two board members appointed to represent the interests of building owners. "It appears that there is a concerted effort by the tenants to shut down the meeting, which is one of the most undemocratic things I've heard of in my 21 years."

But Jumaane D. Williams, executive director of Tenants & Neighbors and one of the organizers of the tenants' protest, said: "This is fantastic. We're trying to show the importance of home rule. We want to stop this meeting from happening. This meeting is a sham of the democratic process."

The rent-increase vote comes at a time of growing concern about the ability of the middle class to afford to live in New York City. This month, researchers at New York University released a report finding that the number of apartments considered affordable to hundreds of thousands of moderate-income households, like those of starting firefighters and police officers, had plunged by nearly a fifth from 2002 to 2005.

"We are trying to let them know that we can't afford these increases," said Milagros Cruz, a teachers' aide from Washington Heights, who had turned out for the protest that was aimed at bringing attention to the issue of home rule. "We're working hard but it's too much."

But Deborah Jones, who owns six buildings in Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn, said the increases should have been "in the double digits." She said: "I'm not happy with them but I accept them. My costs have increased more than that. But, then again, I didn't expect that much of an increase."

According to a report by the board released in the spring, costs for the owners of rent-stabilized buildings rose by 7.8 percent in the last year — a steeper rise than the 5.8 percent increase the previous year. The jump in costs was driven largely by a 22.8 percent increase in fuel costs and a rise in real estate taxes.

At the same time, another board report found that building owners spent an average of 62 cents of every dollar of revenue on operating and maintenance costs in 2004, the most recent year statistics were available. That figure represented a slight decrease in the landlords' cost-to-income ratio from the previous year.

The remaining 38 cents of every dollar of revenue, a figure that increased slightly, goes toward mortgage payments, improvements and pre-income-tax profits. That income, known as net operating income, is considered an indicator of the financial condition of a property.

The protest, which one tenant organizer said had been three months in planning, was intended to bring attention to tenant demands that the State Legislature relinquish control over the city's rent laws.

Tenant organizers contend that legislators in Albany are insensitive to the interests of New York City renters and are beholden to landlord interests. Tenant leaders said the current escalation of rents stemmed in part from an erosion of tenant protections since the state began taking greater control in the 1970's. With city control, they say, they could lobby their own elected officials.

anonymous

by government standards I would be deemed middle class..but for a couple of months there (as much as I love Brooklyn) Jersey was looking very appealing. It looks like I am staying but at the expense of my life of excess. seriously..I'll be working to pay mortgage/maintenance. I'm still wandering if its worth it...

squeegee beckenheim

Unfortunately, current situations would suggest that somebody up there is trying to shuffle on everybody out of New York City who isn't somewhat wealthy.

Take a look at the CUNY/SUNY system. These are colleges that were created for New York residents to get an education while being able to withstand the high stakes money demands of living in New York City. They used to be free. Now they are far from free. While SUNY has skyrocketed to nearly $6k a semester, CUNY is about to undergo a proposed bill that will raise tuition every year. EVERY YEAR! And for all of this nothing is being done to gaurantee a quality education.

Many TAP and loan programs are being cut along with this, and night school and weekend classes become lesser and fewer every year. If this isn't a clue that education and teh chance for a better lifestyle is being taken away from lower classes, I don't know what is.

vanilla

still seems weird to me to choose the 2 year vs. the 1 year lease b/c it costs so much more...

armchair_warrior

there is still huge middle class/ working class that lives in nyc. its not being push out!! just none native new yorkers or immigrants dont move out to areas like bensonhurst or bayridge or sheepsheadbay or gravesend or bathbeach or marine park... tons of other places. in brooklyn in particular and nyc in general.

steveo

vanilla wrote: still seems weird to me to choose the 2 year vs. the 1 year lease b/c it costs so much more...

Let's see.

Let's say you're paying $1000 a month.

If you take the 2 year, thats $72.50 extra: $1072.50 per month, or 25,740.00 total for 2 years.

If you take the 1 year, it's $1042.50 a month, or $12,512 for the 1st year and then if it goes up another 4.25% it's $1086.81 per month, or $13,041.72 for the second year.

That makes $25,551.72 for 2 years, which is less than $200 difference. If it goes up more than 4.25% in the second year, well then you come out ahead.