Cops Shot Far Rockaway Teen 11 Times
Video: New School Students, Comrades Toss Trash Pre-Arrest
Straphanger Who Pulled Emergency Brake Comes Forward
Turkey Cruelty Ad Nixed By NBC
Would You Be Comfortable Locked On A Train With A Murderer?
Yes, it's that time again, when the Rent Guidelines Board will decide by how much they will raise rents for rent-stabilized apartments in the city. The board held its final meeting at Cooper Union yesterday (they are usually noisy), and the Daily News reports it "has adopted preliminary guidelines of hiking rents 2% to 4.5% for one-year renewals and 4% to 7.5% for two-year renewals that start on or after Oct. 1."
Of course, that doesn't sit well with the tenants. One told NY1, "A year and a half ago I had pneumonia and I was hospitalized due to lack of heat. They do not deserve an increase at all and many many other tenants are going through the same thing." And Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer pointed out that last year's hikes—4.5% for one-year leases, 8.5% for two-year leases—was approved when landlords said energy prices would rise, when in reality they didn't. Stringer said, "So come clean, admit you made a mistake and the reason you freeze the rents is because you rent gauged last year based on a faulty set of assumptions." But landlord Jimmy Silber said, "If people want a rent freeze, let's have a freeze on real estate taxes and water and sewer taxes, plumbing increases and legal increases."
City Council Speaker Christine Quinn supports a rent hike freeze. Of course, these rent hike talks also come as Albany may not deal with pro-tenant rent-regulation legislation, now that State Senator Pedro Espada Jr., who appears to be (sort of) running the show, opposes it. The Times reported yesterday, "Democrats said Mr. Espada’s actions raise questions about whether he received financial support from real estate interests as he contemplated his switch of allegiance to the Republicans. As chairman of the Housing Committee, he would be expected to be a primary beneficiary of contributions from the industry, which is among the most powerful in Albany."
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Begin kvetching, y'all . . .
Fuck 'em. The market will protect you and is the fairest way to allocate this precious resource.
We all pay for these people's rent in the form of higher prices on our own rent.
Price floors and ceilings suck, and make us all poorer. Wake up, America.
That landlord has a good point. Even though energy prices aren't going up, the city and the state are slapping new taxes on everything that doesn't move - and some things that do. Maybe the state should cut property owners some slack and stop using them - and us - like a friggin' piggy bank.
"City Council Speaker Christine Quinn supports a rent hike freeze" yet she has no problem voting to give herself a salary increase.
In my building, there's a woman who pays more money to park her car in the corner garage than she does in rent.
These people dont realize rents in non-rent control apts. have recently gone down 10-20% while they still complain that they have to pay increases on their $800/month 3-bedroom apts.
They actually want their rent to go down too.
Get a fucking job
if government wants to subsidies buildings just take over the buildings, instead of landlords subsiding it.
the current system in nyc is too fup. from rent control to rent stabilized.
Fuck rent stabilization! I was working on a commission for a client on Park Ave about 3 blocks up from the Metlife building. When I made the assumption that she owns the property she said that it's a retal and that she is PISSED that there are rent stabilized apartments in her building.
She lives in a two bedroom duplex and said that similiar aprtments that have been rent stabilized for decades only pay 2500 a month! She also said that the building is under new management and the first thing they did was not renew any of the leases of the previous (not RS) tenants. She managed to stay but is paying more per month. The management has tried all kinds of sleazy things to get the RS peole to move, but so far no ammount of new construction projects will get them to budge.
Jimmy McMillan is the MAN.
But if the rent stabilized tenants don't like those hikes on their likely-below-market rents, then they can damn well move the hell out.
Why should I be punished because I got here early and locked in a good rent? Maybe if you crybaby NYU students would go back to your parent's teet, then NYC would return to the great city it once was.
Agreed.
@JMH - it's just not that easy. Where am i supposed to go, i work in the city, my fiance does too. In this economy, neither of us are making much more then enough to "get by" when everything else evens out, fine increase as you should, but regardless of what you or your bank roll has to deal with, it doesn't sound like much of it is the REALITY of living in NYC. Maybe not all of us can afford to live the life of luxury, so we find a place we can afford, but when that too becomes unaffordable after 3 consecutive years of increases, well, we have a right to protest.
Rent is too damn high! (thx for using the pic)
rent is too high cause of these stupid laws, if the market had its way, the whole thing would correct itself.
That's not entirely true. New York is a very hot market and because of the Sex and the City-ization it is much more in demand. The laws allow for the middle class to remain in the city and keep balance. Without those laws, you would only see public housing projects and Park Avenue penthouses.
Well, I'm middle class, in a dual income household, one bedroom and we just barely get by when you add up rent, student debt and food (we only go out maybe once a month if that). NYU graduates we are not (that comment was original, really) and we both paid for our educations on our own (so again, you're wrong about the whole parental teet thing). We both work for more than 50 hours a week and pay lots of taxes on that income, but if you would like hard working people who don't take advantage of a broken system from the 1970's that only benefits politicians and their misinformed voting base, we'd be more than happy to leave you this wonderful city in tatters and take our income taxes, energy and talent with us. Say hello to Charlie Rangel for me!
Gothampc,
So if NYC was a hot market and the demand for housing was so great, how is it fair to keep rent stabilized or capped for a select few? Remember, they're renting, not buying. They enter into voluntary contracts for a year (usually) and then know that the market should dictate whether or not they pay more or less at renewal time (or they may not get that opportunity at all since it's not their place).
For instance, I am paying less for 09'10 due to the excess supply and decrease demand.
Armchair warrior is spot on.
hey everybody's barely getting by nowadays.
unless you're a richie trust fundie which means you came from a rich family. the rich will stay rich and the poor will stay poor, don't you believe otherwise.
even if you try to BECOME rich, you still won't catch up and you'll still be poor from trying to become rich.
the system is set up so you can't become rich.