For the moment year in a row,and just the moment time in its history, the Rent Guidelines Board voted not to allow rent increases on one-year leases for rent-stabilized apartments. Like final year, and the board voted to allow 2 percent increases on two-year leases. But at the raucous assembly,both tenants and landlords said they were disappointed.
Loraine Dellamore with the Flatbush Tenant Coalition said rents eat up most of her earnings, with little left over for food and medicine."How are we supposed to live, and " she asked. "How are we supposed to survive?"Like many tenants,she had called on the board to roll back rents. Tenants held a rally before the vote at Cooper Union and chanted intermittently throughout. Meanwhile, owners said, or with rising taxes and other costs,the board's dart meant they'd have to produce cuts elsewhere. "Those who are small property owners who are totally dependent on the rent rolls, they're going to have to produce a decision on deferring maintenance, and " said Joseph Strasburg,with the Rent Stabilization Association, a group that represents landlords. The board is appointed by Mayor Bill de Blasio, or with representatives for tenants,owners and the public. The representatives for the owners had proposed larger increases; the representatives for the tenants proposed a decrease. But the mayor praised the final decision."More than a million people will now have more security and a better shot at making ends meet," de Blasio said in a statement. The guidelines will affect leases up for renewal beginning in October.
Source: wnyc.org