Costs Threaten New York City Mayor’s Rent Plan

July 28, 2014 Rents have become increasingly unaffordable in New York City. NYC has been in a housing crisis for decades. A housing crisis, defined as under 5 percent vacancy rate, in NYC triggers an elaborate system of rent regulation. Rent regulation is not a subsidy program, but a system in which rents are regulated…

With only 11 days until the 2014 general election, political junkies are watching the battle for the New York State Senate closely to see which party will control the chamber. But for tenants and housing advocates, this coming election is only the starting point: the real date to watch is June 15, 2015, the day…

By Ryan Hutchins 5:56 a.m. | Jun. 4, 2014 The line to get into the Alexander Hamilton U.S. Customs House stretched out the door for a good hundred feet one evening in early May. The tightly-controlled structure on the Bowling Green was not the best choice of location for a meeting that would turn out…

New York 10/01/2014 by Linda Perry Barr (WBAI) “Albany, Give rent regulations back to NYC.” That’s the message from Elected Officials and Tenant Advocates at an affordable housing rally at City Hall on Tuesday. They want the 1971 Urstadt Law, which gave control of the City’s rent regulations to Albany, repealed and control returned to…

The Associated Press on June 23, 2014 – 9:25 PM NEW YORK (AP) — New York City tenants in nearly a million regulated apartments will be digging deeper into their pockets. The Rent Guidelines Board on Monday voted 5-4 to raise rents on stabilized apartments by 1 percent on one-year leases and 2.75 percent on…

Families, minorities pushed out by waves of tenants who can pay more. June 25, 2014 By Solvej Schou For renters’ rights advocate Jean Folkes, the fight to maintain stabilized rents in increasingly pricey New York City—where rents average a massive $3,000 a month—is not only political but personal. The Brooklyn tenant has spent months passionately…