Conditions at 1255 Longfellow have only worsened over the past few months. Tenants and the super face language discrimination, and deal with issues ranging from rats, inconsistent heat/ hot water, mold, and leaks. Tenants are calling on the city and their landlord to make the repairs they deserve!
Your Friendly Neighborhood Shark in New Jersey
This Friday news update is, of course, all Sandy related. As we sat down to write this, we attempted to create a news update talking about other relevant news going on in the world. But, like most New Yorkers, our lives are dominated by the impact of the storm and it’s quite difficult to think about anything else. Our own building at 120 Wall Street (right at water’s edge) is still flooded with water.
What is happening to the hundreds of tenants we work with? How have their homes held up during the storm? How will we help tenants to address the almost certainly disastrous water and wind damage in already distressed and ignored buildings? Like many others, our first concern is how to contact those we work with while our common means of communication are down.
As people remain stranded and missing, the death toll across New York City and New Jersey is still rising. Our thoughts and prayers are with the families of victims of this terrible storm. But given the widespread destruction, the death toll of this terrible storm has been relatively low, and we’re thankful to our emergency workers and first responders that are doing their jobs and doing them well.
Stay tuned and help if you can.
Filed under Blog
Picture via Capital New York
Yesterday, we stood with State Senator Daniel Squadron, Assembly-Member Brian Kavanagh, City Council Speaker Christine C. Quinn, Tenants & Neighbors and tenants and neighbors from around the city to urge New York State elected officials to pass legislation to reform the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB), ahead of the RGB’s annual vote to adjust rents.
The Rent Guidelines Board was established in 1969 and is mandated manage the persist housing shortage in New York City that puts low to moderate income New Yorkers at risk of losing their home. New York City Council and New York State legislature have both recognized that under conditions of less than 5% vacancy rate, an unregulated rental market causes “severe hardship to tenants” and forces the “uprooting [of] long-time city residents from their community.” By establishing the annual rate at which rent in regulated units is allowed to rise, the Board’s mission is to create fair rent levels in a market driven by chronic scarcity.
Under current law, the RGB is made up of nine members, all appointed by the Mayor. These nine members are charged with investigating the economic condition of the real estate industry in NYC, including average cost of operating a multifamily building and the average income and cost of living for residents each borough. Two members are appointed to represent tenant interest, two members are appointed to represent owner interest, and five members are appointed to represent the general public. The RGB is consistently under fire from tenants and the NYC affordable housing advocacy community for regularly raising rents despite data that suggests landlord income is going up and affordable housing is scarce.
The proposed legislation (S741A/A6394B), sponsored by Senator Squadron and Assembly member Kavanagh, would require City Council confirmation of the Mayor’s appointees to the RGB, bringing necessary checks and balances to the system and making the appointment process more democratic. The bill would also open up appointment to a wider array of professionals – including those who work non-profit and urban policy – and ensure that more diversified views are represented on the RGB.
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn expressed support for the bill, pointing to the fact that the council already has the authority to provide oversight to various NYC agencies and boards that are arguably less important to New Yorkers. “The question becomes…why hasn’t this happened? Why is this one board that is so important, so central to the life of so many New Yorkers, only appointed by the executive with no input from the legislature?”
Like Tenants and Neighbors, we agree that the RGB is consistently pro-landlord, taking little cue from actual data or tenant experience in New York City. These days, nearly everyone is weighing in on whether or not the housing market is rebounding. (We have our own thoughts – stay tuned.) People don’t seem to argue that years of homeownership struggle have caused on influx of new renters to the market. Basic economics tells us that rents will naturally rise. But unemployment isn’t dropping nearly as quickly as rents are rising and tenants in the Bronx and Central Brooklyn are still struggling with high rents and low pay. Even though the “market” may be doing better, we know that the people who live in this city are still struggling. By bringing accountability and democracy to the RGB, we hope that the board can become a stronger ally for affordable housing and NYC tenants.
To join this fight, follow Real Rent Reform on Twitter (@realrentreform) and like them on Facebook! Even better, get on the van to Albany on Wednesday to support the Assembly Housing Committee vote on R3’s priority bills: preferential rent reform, RGB reform, MCI reform, rent control reform, and the decrease in the vacancy bonus. Help R3 and Tenants and Neighbors put weight behind these bills! The van leaves from 236 W. 27th Street in Manhattan. RSVP to Sam at sstein@tandn.org.
For more on the RGB, visit their website: http://www.housingnyc.com . Stay tuned to this important fight for NYC tenants! Check out Capital New York for more on this story and yesterday’s announcement.
Filed under Blog
In case any of you had your doubts about the power of the people when it comes to organizing in NY, this is a pretty stirring example of how we can be effective. Bravo!
“In New York City, an 82-year-old resident of Brooklyn facing foreclosure was allowed to stay in her house on Friday after more than 200 people gathered in front of her home to block the eviction. Mary Lee Ward has lived in her home for 44 years. Her supporters say she is facing foreclosure because she was a victim of deceptive and predatory lending practices. Mary Lee Ward spoke from her front stoop after learning that the eviction was put off for now.”
Filed under Press
UHAB teamed up with SEIU Committee of Interns and Residents to facilitate free health screenings for tenants in distressed NYC affordable housing.
Even if your apartment is in bad shape, you don’t have to be.
That was the message doctors-in-training from local hospitals took to a Bronx neighborhood last weekend.
The resident physicians and interns organized free health screenings for tenants of two dilapidated buildings on Creston Ave. in Fordham.
Read more at New York Daily News.
Filed under Press
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