Some good news, some bad news . . .

Tenants groups including our Coalition and Housing Justice for All have made good progress over the past year, but we have more to do to preserve existing affordable housing and keep tenants safe.

At the State level:

• 😁 Frankensteining has been halted in its tracks. Under the State housing agency's DHCR regulations adopted November 8, 2023 and a state statute signed into law in December 2023,  Read the Fact Sheet. Now; 

• Any combined or divided apartments that include space that was rent-stabilized must be entirely rent-stabilized. 

• The new rent is either 
• the combined rents of the combined apartments or 
• the last rent is increased or decreased by the same percentage as the area was increased or decreased.  

So landlords have no more incentive to "Frankenstein" apartments -- and therefore less reason to warehouse empty rent-stabilized units. 

• 😟 Individual Apartment Improvement rent increases can now be higher than allowed by the historic 2019 Housing Stability & Tenant Protection Act. This may motivate some owners to harass long-term tenants out.  Read the IAI Fact Sheet.

• 😕 Good Cause Eviction will protect some market-rate tenants (those without any rent regulation or Mitchell-Lama or NYCHA or voucher protection).  Read a Fact Sheet by Met Council on Housing. 

At the City level: 

• 😃 Inspection of vacant units - WON!  Local Law 1 of 2024 allows tenants to prompt city inspection of neighboring vacant apartments and go to court if necessary to remove hazards.  The bill was passed with the strong support of sponsors Council Members Carlina Rivera, Gale Brewer and their colleagues. 

• Relocation of displaced tenants - pending: Under Intro 607  and Intro 608. the city's Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) would have to relocate displaced tenants locally at their request, provide relocation specialists in the tenants' preferred languages, and depending on bill negotiations, perhaps involve HPD in more 7A proceedings.   This is thanks to the hard work of Council Members Shekar Krishnan and Jennifer Gutierrez and our Coalition members. 

Help us build on our successes and join us!  For information, contact Jodie Leidecker (jodiel@coopersquare.org) of the Cooper Square Committee. 

NYC Comptroller report cites warehousing as big problem

 NYC Comptroller's Spotlight: NYC's Housing Supply Challenge, Feb. 13, 2024: 

EXCERPT:

One particular area of concern in the gap between vacant and available units is in the rent-stabilized stock. An August 2023 report by the city’s Independent Budget Office finds that almost a third of vacant rent-stabilized units (in 2022) were also vacant in the prior year, for a total of nearly 13,400 such units. Moreover, the IBO found that this number has more than doubled since 2017, when there were estimated to be roughly 6,500 such long-vacant units. Some property owners’ advocates have argued that the increase reflects changes in the rent regulation laws in the 2019 Housing Stability and Tenant Protection Act (HSTPA), making it more difficult to increase the rents on vacant units and therefore potentially decreasing owners’ incentives to repair those that require improvements. Tenants’ advocates argue that the restrictions were necessary to prevent displacement and preserve affordability, and that the increase may reflect buildings that were overleveraged prior to 2019. Whatever the reason, these units are an important resource of affordable housing that is not currently available – another issue for Albany to address this session.

We're Celebrating a Winning Streak!

The Coalition to End Apartment Warehousing wound up 2023 with some serious wins.  Through the hard work of our members and other tenant advocates - with rallies, meetings, an influential case study emails, phone calls to elected officials, public testimony, videos, op-eds, media wrangling, tweets and more - we all achieved a lot together: 

• The NYS Division of Housing and Community Renewal (DHCR) adopted a new set of regulations  that we hard for that discourage Frankensteining, ending a major incentive for warehousing affordable apartments.   These regulations set more affordable first rents for combined units and keep them rent stabilized.  But regulations are vulnerable to change, so it was vital that we helped enact...

• ...the "anti-Frankensteining" bill (S.2980 as amended by S.8011), sponsored by Housing Committee chairs Senator Brian Kavanagh and Assembly Member Linda Rosenthal.  This bill codifies the regulations into statute, making them more difficult to change going forward since that would require another bill and vote in the legislature.  Gov. Hochul signed it into law in December. 

• The New York City Council passed our tenant safety bill (Intro. 195) - which allows tenants to prompt city inspection of neighboring vacant apartments and go to court if necessary to remove hazards.  The bill was passed with the strong support of sponsors Council Members Carlina Rivera, Gale Brewer and their colleagues. 

These achievements were possible because we have a strong city-wide tenant advocacy coalition composed of community groups and committed volunteers working together.  And we have high hopes that in 2024 we can reduce warehousing and make more affordable apartments available during our ongoing housing crisis.

Help us build on our successes and join us!  For information, contact Jodie Leidecker (jodiel@coopersquare.org) of the Cooper Square Committee. 

Only 1 day left for Gov to sign Frankensteining bill into law

 THIS FRIDAY, DEC. 22, 2023, is the deadline

for  Governor Hochul to sign S.2980/A.6216 - the Frankensteining bill !! 

PLEASE CALL HER TODAY:

518-474-8390, press 1 to leave a message like 

"Hi, my name is _______ and I live in the [give your zip code]. I urge Governor Hochul to sign S.2980, S.2943, and S.995 into law."

(The governor's name rhymes with "Yokel" - but she's sophisticated when dealing with real estate.)

AFTER you call her, you can also email her.   But calls are more effective!

Use this handy QR to call the Governor!

 

Another victory: City Bill Passed the Council!

Our bill to protect tenants living next to warehoused apartments has passed the City Council on December 6, 2023, following our rally.  

Intro. 195-B empowers tenants to take action!  The bill:

• requires that landlords keep vacant apartments in good repair;
• prompts an HPD inspection of vacant apartments for health and safety violations when neighboring tenants claim their apartments are affected;  
• lets tenants (not just HPD) go to court to get an order requiring the landlord to let HPD in to inspect.

Thanks to Council Members Carlina Rivera and Gale Brewer and all the others who signed on in support of the bill.  Next the bill goes to the Mayor. 

"City Council Passes Bill Enabling Tenants to Report Vacant Apartments

In response to “warehousing” and THE CITY’s coverage, measure cues up inspections of hazardous conditions in empty units.

BY SAM RABIYAH 

DEC. 6, 2023, 4:36 P.M."

 

Rally this Wed., Dec.6 at 10 AM - City Hall Park - Intro. 195B

If you live near a warehoused (empty) apartment that is not well maintained, or whose open windows keep your apartment freezing, or that poses a fire hazard (got squirrels or rats chewing the wires?) or vermin, or some similar problem, then City Council bill Intro. 195B is for you!

The bill permits HPD inspection of a vacant apartment when a neighbor (reasonably) complains of harms coming from it. 

Join the rally this Wednesday, Dec. 6 at 10 AM at City Hall Park.

We're on our way to getting the bill passed!