On April 6th 2009 Governor David Patterson announced a statewide $253 million dollar housing project funded on a federal level by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. This plan is the first housing initiative to be granted any funding through the ARRA, and will focus on preservation and the construction of new units. New York’s use of its stimulus money is expected to focus primarily on those neighborhoods around the state which most desperately need affordable housing and have been hit the hardest during these difficult economic times. Paterson’s plan will also restore many units of Mitchell-Lama housing through construction projects.
According to a press release from the Governor, the first 9 projects will be the preservation of 80 units of affordable housing in Albany, 388 Mitchell-Lama apartments is Syracuse, along with “20 three-bedroom homes in Rochester, and a YWCA Residence for Women in Westchester County.” Through the ARRA, Patterson will look to use New York’s $253 million share of the more than 2 billion dollar of the Tax Credit Assistance Program to spark the construction of low and middle income buildings and could push state agencies to speed up the process. The first 9 projects are expected to create or preserve 1,400 units of low income housing. In Harlem, the new program will be used to build the Erbograph Apartments, which will be an 8-story building providing 64 affordable units for some of the lowest income apartments along with those for the extremely frail and elderly. One of the earliest supporters of this measure is Charles Rangel who touted the housing plan for not only creating new units of affordable housing but also potentially revitalizing the economies of some of the city’s poorest communities throughout the state. So far many in Albany have put their support behind the plan. Along with Rangel, Senators Kirsten Gillibrand and Chuck Schumer have also put their weight behind the project, both of whom praised the governor’s bill for restocking affordable housing across the state.
Unlike Mayor Bloomberg’s housing plan, Patterson’s does not rely on a market-based system and because this is a community investment program, the production and preservation of affordable housing units will not be open to profit-based abuses, such as landlords opting out of rent regulated programs, which are plaguing New York’s current housing structure. And unlike the Mayor’s plan, Patterson is looking to restore buildings to the Mitchell-Lama program. Two such projects under DHCR received funding June of last year. Current economic conditions have put a halt to these projects but the ability to use New York’s stimulus money should restart the construction. Such a move to restore these rent regulated programs shows that the Governor has an eye on not only building new affordable units or preserving old ones but also is looking to help save much-needed programs like Mitchell-Lama which both the Mayor Bloomberg and Speaker Quinn fail to mention in their plans.
Patterson’s plan should not be seen as an end-all and be-all, however. The fact remains that New York City will continue to struggle with the lose of affordable housing until our local officials have the full authority to pass meaningful laws that will put an end to the quickening erosion of the rent stabilized housing along with the structural problems that continue to undermine the efforts of housing advocates.
Until next time…
http://www.examiner.com/x-6452-NY-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m5d4-Governor-David-Patersons-afforadable-housing-plan
After some spirited chanting and clapping to open last night’s Town Hall meeting at the Church of all Nations, Assembly member Linda Rosenthal began the night by discussing the importance of passing of the bill S2237-A, which was introduced to the State Senate by several reps including Andrea Stewart-Cousins. Ms.Rosenthal stated that without the bill those who live in rent stabilized housing wouldn’t have any real protection against the aggressive gentrification which is being pushed by “greedy landlords”. As I’ve stated in earlier pieces, one of the things that this legislation would do would be the removal of the $2000 dollar threshhold which currently allows building owners to remove a unit, or a building, from the protections of rent stabilization.
The obstacle to the bill S2237-A, are those lawmakers who receive large campaign contributions from real estate groups. According to Ms. Rosenthal, the landlords contributed a total of $ 2.5 million dollars to Albany, to politicians on both sides. For those of use who have been working on this issue for some time, this comes as no real surprise. When it became obvious that the Democrats were going to take control of Albany, building owners decided to hedge their bets and heavily funded some of the newer Democrats. This does complicate the passing of the bill which needs 32 votes to pass and has currently 23 sponsors signed on, 4 Democrats who refuse to state they support it and solid Republican opposition. Senator Rosenthal urged those in the audience to call Albany and tell those Democrats who are wavering on the bill and remind them why they are where they are and who put them there. Democrats usually win their positions because of the push by tenants and tenant rights group.
The next New York Senator to speak was Eric Schneiderman who started off by stating that Albany is a strange world, separated from the real one, where you have lobbyists instead of friends. He went onto say that the passing of the rent destabilization bill is the top priority for him. Mirroring what Senator Rosenthal had earlier stated, the main obstacle to the bill are the landlords and those who received contributions from them. Senator Schneiderman called the system of rent decontrol corrupt and the issue itself really centers on what kind of city and country we want to live in. He called for the audience to call Senators Carl Kruger, Jeffery Klein, Craig Johnson and Pedro Espada and demand that they support the bill.
Senator Liz Krueger spoke, saying that life in the city is about safe affordable housing and that the passing of S2237-A is on top of her list as a priority. She blamed overpriced housing for putting tenants of rent stabilized housing into the position that they currently are. She said that landlords argue due to the current economic situation, they are not able to find renters for their lower priced units. She pointed out that the units were overpriced and it was no surprise they were unable to rent apartments for $4,500 a month. Apparently, one of the building owners actually lamented that landlords are facing, “the tyranny of the majority”- that “there are more tenants than landlords”. “No, that’s democracy!” Senator Krueger pointed out. She went on to point out the end of the $2000 thresh hold and urged voters to help the 23 sponsors by calling Albany and urging those who are on the fence to vote in favor of the legislation.
After Senator Krueger spoke, two tenants came on to tell their story horror stories concerning their landlord. An elderly woman spoke of how her landlord tried to force her to move out of her apartment after her husband became ill. After she refused to sign a document which would have forced her out of the building, the landlord threatened to take her to court.
Senator Jose Serrano represents much of the Southern Bronx and Harlem. He states that the majority of the calls that his office gets are from tenants who are being harassed by their landlords. He went onto to speak about the urgency of the passing of the bill and like the earlier speakers urged the audience to call Albany. Poignantly he noted how he had grown up in these same neighborhoods in the 1970’s, none of the same developers and speculators would have ever set foot in Harlem and the South Bronx. He and his family had stuck it out only to face being forced out – now that the same neighborhoods had become desirable.
Senator Bill Perkins came out swinging from the first moment he took the podium. He stated that those tenants who want to fight for rent stabilization have to move beyond the prayers and the churches, that affordable housing is a right. This statement was met by a rebuttal from someone in the audience who yelled that it was a privilege. Without missing a beat, Senator Perkins said again that it is a right and called out Malcolm Smith, one of those Democrats on the fence, to clearly state his position in supporting the bill. He then went onto to say that if Mayor Michael Bloomberg wanted to, he could help push the bill through since he has a great deal of influence in Albany and among the real estate groups. Senator Perkins went onto state the shame that the issue is not being debated in the Mayoral election. He later called for the tenants to take up civil disobedience and that he is more than willing to go to jail with those who are willing to do so.
A final thought, the high spirit of the crowded room along with the fact that several elderly residents who are physically disabled also made the trip was moving testimony to how deeply important the issue is. And while major media has given the bill S2237-A very limited attention there a strong undercurrent is rising which could pull down those who Democrats who forgot who their constituents are.
For more information on this and other issues, you can read my work at
http://www.examiner.com/x-6452-NY-Progressive-Examiner~y2009m4d24-New-York-State-Senators-demand-the-passage-of-rent-stabilization-bill
Until next time..
Illegal Hotels Threaten Affordable Housing In New York
December 21, 2007
Article By Vivan Riffelmacher A Founding Member of the West Side Neighborhood
Imagine that every weekend your home is invaded by strangers. The room next to yours is occupied by crowds of backpackers; kids in their late teens and 20’s on their own in New York city, partying loudly all night. Imagine they have no keys so when they (or their friends) need entrance at midnight, two, three in the morning, they hammer on the door until you wake up and crawl out of bed to let them. Imagine your landlord shrugs when you complain, “You don’t like it? Leave!” The police can do nothing; your landlord’s actions are a civil issue, not a crime. Complaints made to the Mayor’s office elicit no response.
“How can this happen?” you ask. Yet for years in residential buildings all over the city, Illegal Hotels and Youth Hostels have been a way for landlords to make quick cash while they drive out their rent-stabilized tenants. Tenants are cut adrift, often winding up homeless, and hundreds of affordable housing units are lost at a time when the need for such housing is at a crisis.
In June 2005 the New York City Law Department filed a lawsuit against the owners and managers of Dexter House, a residential SRO on West 86th street, for running the building commercially as a youth hostel advertised on the Internet. It was the first time the City of New York had brought such a case, and a vital chance to set legal precedent on the issue.
Two years later with our case still pending in court, it is clear Illegal Hotels have spread beyond SRO’s to apartment buildings and an entire industry of “short term housing” now threatens the future of residential neighborhoods in Manhattan. A task force of elected officials has received complaints from over 100 residential buildings where Illegal Hotels are taking residential space away from real tenants.
Where are tourist rentals legal? Check the Certificate of Occupancy on file for your building at NYC Department of Buildings. Look it up on the Dept of Buildings website or visit their offices at 280 Broadway. Tourists rentals are illegal in Type “A” Residential buildings. Buildings such as The Chelsea Hotel are “A/B” or “mixed use” and both commercial and residential rentals are allowed. Many buildings listed as “Hotels” under the City Finance Codes are still residential buildings. An “H-6″ Hotel, for example is strictly residential. Zoning is also an important factor. On side streets not zoned for commercial or mixed use, the hotel is a zoning violation.
Keeping the issue in the public eye, West Side Neighborhood Alliance, working with Housing Conservation Coordinators and West Side SRO Law Project, has organized town hall meetings and protest rallies. A letter writing campaign is now underway to support Intro 534 a bill introduced by Council Member Gale Brewer.
To learn more, come to meetings for Illegal Hotels and help strategize how to save our homes. This fall we hope to get a hearing in the City Council on Intro 534 and we’ll need WSNA members to testify. Whether or not Illegal Hotels are a problem in your building we’ll need everyone’s help to protect the integrity of residential neighborhoods in New York. Tourist dollars and corporate housing may be a good source of revenue for the
