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.