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May 3, 2011

Rent reformers: ‘We’ve been losing apartments’

By  Stephanie Lee / Capitol Confidential


Close to 150 activists [including members of Make the Road New York] are crowding the Capitol today in calling for the legislature to strengthen rent regulation laws.

The current rent laws are set to expire on June 15. A bill passed by the Assembly, which is dominated by downstate Democrats, would extend the current rent-stabilization laws for another five years.

It would also repeal vacancy decontrol, in which landlords charge monthly rents of at least $2,000 and remove the apartment from regulation. Other proposals include capping the amount that can be collected for a major capital improvement, re-regulating certain units that have been deregulated under vacancy decontrol since 2007, and cutting in half the percentage increase by which a landlord can raise the rent after a vacancy.

Activists from the Real Rent Reform Campaign, along with Rep. Linda Rosenthal (D-Manhattan), want Gov. Andrew Cuomo to put pressure on the Senate to pass the bill.

“We’ve been losing apartments, we’ve been evicted,” Rosenthal said. “Landlords have all the power. We are here to say we’re taking back the power.”

But Senate Republicans, who hold a slim majority in the chamber, are placing a higher priority on passing a property tax cap — an issue to which Cuomo has also thrown support.


For the original article, please click here.


More on: Improving Housing 

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Historic Paid Sick Days Victory in NYC!

New York City just became the largest city in the U.S.to win paid sick days! On May 8, 2013, the City Council passed legislation to require paid sick days for one million New Yorkers. Without this critical legal protection, workers risk losing their jobs for taking a sick day. When workers go in to work sick, they put the public and their co-workers at risk of disease.

Starting April 2014, all workers will be protected from being fired if they must take a sick day to care for themselves or a sick family member, and workers at larger employers will receive 5 paid days of sick leave each year.

This major workplace justice and public health victory is the product of a four-year campaign led by courageous workers and small businesses who stood up for what’s right. We thank our partners at the Working Families Party, the NYS Paid Family Leave Coalition, SEIU 32BJ, the Progressive Caucus, Speaker Quinn and Council Members Brewer and Ferreras, for standing with us for NYC’s workers.


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