tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-47714760812381161092024-03-13T03:19:28.624-07:00Rent Guidelines BlogA tenants' perspective on the New York City Rent Guidelines Board, featuring news, analysis, data, and critique. Sponsored by New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition.Unknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger38125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-91389196514708459012013-06-24T14:10:00.000-07:002013-06-25T20:36:20.895-07:00The 2013 Guidelines in Context<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">With one quick vote, the 2013 New
York City Rent Guidelines Board process came to a close Thursday night, with the
board approving apartment increases of <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/guidelines/guidelines2013.pdf" target="_blank">4% for one year leases and 7.75% for two year leases</a>, with a rent freeze imposed for Single Room Occupancy
apartments.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">For those of tenants who have
engaged with the process for the past third of a year, it was a startling end
and a disappointing result.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the media narrative and in the
popular imagination, the RGB’s final vote is a raucous and chaotic battle
between ever-warring constituencies, representing contentious democracy at its best or
worst (depending on the perspective). This is a myth. The vote is shockingly
dull, and executed with an efficiency born of repetition. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The scene Thursday was
ritualistic: the tenant members proposed a low increase; the owner members
proposed a high increase; the public members voted unanimously in between the
two, appearing as magnanimously Solomonic in the process. The press <a href="http://www.myfoxny.com/story/22648810/nyc-board-approves-rent-hikes" target="_blank">played</a> <a href="http://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/NYC-Rent-Stabilized-Apartments-Hike-Approved-Rent-Guidelines-Board-212402621.html" target="_blank">its</a>
<a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/184153/rent-guidelines-board-approves-increases-for-rent-stabilized-apartments" target="_blank">part</a>, reporting equally on the tenants’ and landlord’s frustrations with the result. When the vote was over, landlord representatives spoke to reporters, lit cigars, and posed for pictures with Jimmy McMillan.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The result of this process,
however, in anything but dull- it is a recurring regressive redistribution of
wealth from tenants to landlords. This year’s increase will be particularly
painful. At 4% and 7.75%, the rent hike is not only the largest since before the
recession, <a href="http://www.ny1.com/content/top_stories/184153/rent-guidelines-board-approves-increases-for-rent-stabilized-apartments" target="_blank">as reported in the press</a>, but is also higher than the average
increase under RGB Chair Jonathan Kimmel (3% and 5.88%, including the 2013 guidelines), higher than the
average increase for the much-maligned former Board chair Marvin Markus (3.44%
and 6.38%), and in fact higher than the average RGB increase for the board’s
entire history (3.3% and 5.84%).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">If there is any silver lining to
the vote, it is that the Board rejected landlords’ calls for a “supplemental” or
“minimum dollar” increase, which would have disproportionately stressed the
budgets of low income and senior tenants. Tenant advocates wonder, however, if
they are being forced into a pattern of relatively low increases with
pro-landlord provisos (like the 2012 vote) followed by high increases without
them (as we saw this year). </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The board also chose to freeze
rents completely for SROs, dispensing with the usual provision that the rent
freeze applies only to buildings with a certain percentage of occupied SRO
units. This is a victory for SRO tenants and their advocates, and it should be
celebrated.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The SRO rent freeze should not,
however, overshadow the impact the Board’s apartment increases will have on an
estimated 2.5 million tenants throughout the city. In addition to being a
mid-recession transfer of income from renters to property owners, this rent
increase will be another constraining factor on New Yorkers’ ability to make ends meet.
It will force many to chose between rent and other necessities of life, not to
mention the less vital aspects of commerce that keep the city running. It is
certainly no stimulus to our </span>depressive<span style="font-family: inherit;"> economy.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The high increase will also
encourage many tenants to sign one year leases, rather than two. Even though a
two year lease presents tenants with a slight (.25%) benefit over a one year
lease, many low income tenants will not be able to shoulder the up-front costs
of a 7.75% increase. This adds an additional layer of regression to the 2013
guidelines, as those most equipped to save with a two year increase are those
most able to pay higher up-front costs- i.e. higher income or higher net-wealth
households.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally, this increase cements
the Board’s image as a guarantor of landlord profits. Whether by inertia or
design, the Board has repeatedly chosen to increase rents to cover for any
perceived fluctuations in the cost of running a rent stabilized apartment. This
should not be a forgone conclusion; given that landlords have many ways of
making profit off their buildings- everything from commercial rents to cell
phone towers to the dreaded Major Capital Improvement- there is no need to
continuously fall back on renewal lease rent increases to recoup landlords for
any change in costs. The board must also rethink the way it calculates these
costs, as numerous reports have shown that the Price Index of Operating Costs-
the board’s main tool for estimating prices for goods purchased by landlords-
seems to overstate real expenses. Whether that is because landlords find a way
to economize their purchases or because the prices are overstated, we do not
know. All we know is that the price data overshoots the expense data, and is
leading Board members to vote for inflated guidelines.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Next year will bring in a new
Mayoral administration, and with it a new Rent Guidelines Board. Fixing this
broken institution should be a major priority for the next Mayor, both in terms
of making responsible appointments and rethinking the Prince Index of Operating
Costs. The Mayor should also call on the next Board Chair to hold more public
hearings at times and places convenient to the majority of rent stabilized
tenants, and present a full accounting of the Board’s decision to the City
Council and the public at large. While it is the State Legislature that has the
power to rewrite the rules regarding the RGB, it is in the Mayor’s power to
change the culture of the Board. Elected officials have spoken out against these
increases, and called for Board to change its ways (see examples <a href="http://www.council.nyc.gov/html/pr/062013rgb.shtml" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://myemail.constantcontact.com/Statement--Rent-Guidelines-Board-Ignores-Tenants.html?soid=1101804494631&aid=U9VLQJL7-7o" target="_blank">here</a>, and <a href="http://campaign.r20.constantcontact.com/render?llr=bob4y9cab&v=001Z75pTKZtbguuHB_iq0N0JpjUIzEL0q68ILNRAFKKbEYB74mx1cxp5LZ6JEOVVikvDOZ5HitXa-v501WXXyJRCl6RQCW9_EyUdpsshpyXO13XUdfiJb_K2Q%3D%3D" target="_blank">here</a>). Tenants have made their voices heard
throughout this process, whether at the People’s RGB, the formal public hearing,
or the vote itself. We all know this system flawed; the process must be
reconsidered before the board meets again in 2014.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-40890997739876773582013-06-24T08:01:00.001-07:002013-06-24T11:35:59.186-07:00Testimony: Kelley Boyd<div class="tr_bq">
The following testimony was presented by Kelley Boyd, a tenant in Washington Heights who has been actively fighting illegal overcharges in her building:</div>
<br />
<blockquote>
Hello, I am Kelley Boyd and I am a technologist working in the city’s startup movement. I have lived in the Washington Heights neighborhood for over 6 years and have become very active in the community. As an entrepreneur advocate I believe the biggest problem facing our culture is the unbelievable rents in the city. We could start more businesses and bring more fiscal diversity to the city with better rent oversight. Though I believe in a free market - many landlords have gotten the benefits they signed up for whether they deliver the value the city has bargained for or not! Full disclosure - most of my knowledge / experience in this area of springs from my having filed a rent overcharge complaint at HCR. At this time that claim is still in process.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Through the experience I have learned a lot about what is happening in my building – and in many buildings in my area. People are fleeing the exorbitant rents and moving to "WaHi" thinking they are getting a great deal when in reality they are paying "market rates" and over for apartments that should be rent stabilized. The new tenants are unaware that the apartments have been illegally deregulated because of the scheming of well schooled landlords. Our area is being hit especially hard because we are a largely residential neighborhood that has not seen the turnover of other areas which means there are lots of apartments that should be in the $900 - $1200 range but are being rented at $2000 and more. The landlords know how to work and beat the system that is supposed to keep them honest by inflating improvements, claiming false improvements and just filing false documents with HCR. Even if they are not lying, cheating and stealing, LL are in an enviable position as of now. It was reported just yesterday that Manhattan rents have soared 3.5% with median rent at $3200 - rent today is just $13 shy of an all time high! </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Owners should bear their fair share of economic burden because their profits are increasing. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
I do not begrudge anyone success but I estimate my LL has collected well over a million dollars in illegal overcharge in the last 5 years, and those are just the 5 apartments in my building that I know about! Add to that he inherited the buildings and has no mortgage on them, in fact hold them in trust in Texas to better manage his tax liability. Figure that he owns three buildings with another 11 under management and you can extrapolate that there is a big number to be at years end in someone’s account... he and his kind certainly do not need your help increasing rents and making money off their<br />
buildings. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
RECOMMENDATIONS</blockquote>
<blockquote>
I understand that the RGB serves a wide variety of constituents and in doing so you must make determinations that are fair to large and small landlords alike, all the while keeping true to the statutes and the spirit of fairness that tenants rely on you for. It used to be “impossible” to reliably get enough information from “everyone” and their unique situation but I think in real terms it is much easier than it ever has been. As a technologist there are ways to better manage the burden of how to treat landlords and tenants fairly in this process. Small landlords who are absolutely getting squeezed with resource increases and having a tough time with outstanding building repairs and improvements should have the mechanisms in place to apply for an receive relief in the form of increases, waivers or temp variances from codes. I have absolutely no heartburn with that. But there are so many that are not really challenged in their circumstances and are taking advantage of unwitting tenants, and then more that are simply thieves. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
The RGB should embrace innovation and craft a process that allows for some kind of "means test" for buildings when rent increases are in review. In my opinion there should be NO MORE RENT INCREASES AT ALL until you have a system in place to grant increases fairly.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-52488349840477669232013-06-20T13:30:00.001-07:002013-06-20T13:30:11.814-07:00Final Vote: Tonight, 5:30After four months of presentations, analysis, testimonies, and hearings (formal and otherwise), the Rent Guidelines Board will vote tonight on a rent adjustment for over one million stabilized apartments and SROs. We hope they have listened to the many tenants who testified that the RGB's proposed rent increases are simply too high. We hope they remember the invited guests who testified that New York is facing a severe affordability crises. We hope they recall the analysis presented on this blog, arguing that the Board's own data supports the case against another high rent increase.<br />
<br />
We hope we have cogently and persuasively made the case that tenants cannot afford the kinds of rent increases proposed by this Board, and that the hikes demanded by owner advocates are unwarranted. Countless households throughout the city are already forced to choose between basic necessities- such as food and medicine- and making the rent. These increases could push many over the edge, and into chaos. At the same time, property ownership in New York City continues to be an extremely profitable enterprise, despite the endless protestations of the landlord lobby.<br />
<br />
For all these reasons, and for the reasons elaborated on this blog many times before, we urge the board to reject the proposed increases.<br />
<br />
<i>The final vote of the New York City RGB will be held tonight at 5:30 PM in the Great Hall
at Cooper Union, located at 7 East 7th Street. We urge tenants to be there, bear witness, and speak to reporters after the vote about how the final guideline will affect you.</i>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-48150116591849554382013-06-19T07:17:00.001-07:002013-06-20T11:43:29.575-07:00Testimony: Mariel De La Cruz<div class="tr_bq">
The following testimony was presented by Mariel De La Cruz, a rent stabilized tenant in Washington Heights and a tenant organizer in HUD-financed buildings across New York state:</div>
<blockquote>
My name is Mariel De La Cruz a rent stabilized tenant in the beautiful Washington Heights neighborhood in Manhattan. I have lived in the same apartment for almost exactly 19 years and wouldn't have it any other way. Now that I have grown up and have graduated Fordham College, I have come to a realization that I want to live in my neighborhood, my block, my apartment for a very long time. Many of us who attend Jesuit institutions find that they love to work with less resources themselves. Many of us go the nonprofit route, not making the big bucks. Besides what the “usual” narrative is for young people raised in Washington Heights, I work hard and I have invested my time, growth and energy to my neighborhood. Now that I take care of the bills I have been blessed enough to find full time employment, but with my many student loan payments (along with other expenses) I am still struggling to make ends meet. I am afraid that the yearly increases (especially those proposed for this year) threaten my ability to stay in the place that I know and love. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
As you all know, a rent increase from the tenants is not the only way for owners to make<br />
a profit. There has been significant turnover in some of the units in my building, allowing for the owners to renovate the units to get the big rent increases from each of the new tenants that have moved in. In addition, there have been substantial rent increases to benefiting the landlords every year. I understand that costs for owners have gone up but like I said before owners have been getting steep rent increases every year but sadly, our incomes don’t have the privilege of doing the same. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
While most of us tenants are struggling to make ends meet, owners on average are making major profits for each rent stabilized unit they own. So what I am saying is that tenants are ever increasingly carrying the burden, while owners are and will continue to make significant revenue for each unit. This is why I believe there should be no increases this year, to ensure that tenants are not priced out of their home in this increasingly difficult time for lower and moderate income tenants in NYC. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
I ask that when you all are making your decision, you think of recent college grads like me who have full time jobs, but who are drowning in student loans that make it harder for ends to meet. I am asking you to consider some of my neighbors and family members, like my mother, who live on fixed incomes in which a rent increase would be too much to bear because their incomes don’t increase just because their rents increase. Think of those people who think of their home beyond their apartment. Please think of us.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-41621597760897147722013-06-18T15:16:00.002-07:002013-06-20T11:40:02.611-07:00Voices from the People's RGB<span style="font-family: inherit;">Many tenants and advocates were upset that the Rent Guidelines Board chose not to hold an outer borough hearing this year. We found it unacceptable that the board would consider voting on an increase without first consulting with the communities most impacted by their decision.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">So, we organized. We asked the board if they would hold a hearing in the Bronx if we provided a free room and guaranteed a good attendance; they declined. We invited them to attend our "People's RGB" in the Bronx and make it formal part of their public calendar; only the tenant members chose to attend. We tried to bring their voices into the public hearing via video testimony; we were shut down. Outer borough tenants have tried to participate in the Rent Guidelines Board process, but their efforts have not been rewarded.</span></div>
<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Click on these names to see video clips from the People's RGB, and hear the testimonies of tenants who could not attend the one formal RGB hearing, held in Manhattan, primarily during business hours. These are the voices of outer borough tenants who cannot afford yet another RGB rent increase.</span><br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YCgs7cTzXT0&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Fitzroy Christian</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tPvg-IPO2Cw&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">June McMillion</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rcd8eLIOXxM&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Doris Attah</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R96YgYblb24&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Ignacio Garcia</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfAsKKnIf30&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Gladys Roble</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVVNMex9BQE&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Vincent Falls</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6SI8NjaIvuQ&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Melida Martin</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZPPQrPbBLu4&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Alfie Katz</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-xU32GYU2c4&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Carmen Guillen</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VcpUiZ7TIRs&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Soledad Franco</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y6Q3-WmE3KI&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Brenda Dawson</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTYWw5_Iqf8&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Maria Mejia Garcia</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5MpYvt2cWAI" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Grace Torres</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PAPUZ3N5Z-Y&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">George Sotroff</a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rjDub7cRJd8&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Lucy Arroyo</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6BxCgHSopIA&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Terri Ham</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eCxsbmSCE8w&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Jaime Valencia</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3vGHsif9sCM" target="_blank"><span style="font-family: inherit;">John Nevarez</span></a></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bLAEGJER3w4&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Catherine Wilson</a></span></li>
</ul>
<ul>
<li><a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_ZgMX2-8Ur4&feature=youtu.be" target="_blank">Ed Figueroa</a></li>
</ul>
</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-50941412666813162052013-06-18T10:48:00.000-07:002013-06-18T10:54:11.563-07:00Testimony: Nicole ZinardiThe following testimony was submitted by Nicole Zinardi, Tenant Organizer at Tenants & Neighbors, who has been working in rent stabilized buildings across Brooklyn, Queens, Manhattan and the Bronx:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My name is Nicole and I am a tenant organizer at Tenants &
Neighbors. I work almost exclusively in Rent Stabilized buildings. I work with
tenants in buildings in Inwood, <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city>,
various areas in the Bronx including Parkchester, <st1:placename w:st="on">Pelham</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Bay</st1:placetype>, <st1:city w:st="on">Norwood</st1:city>,
and <st1:placename w:st="on">Fordham</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Heights</st1:placetype>,
as well as in Flatbush, Brooklyn, and <st1:country-region w:st="on">Jamaica</st1:country-region>,
<st1:place w:st="on">Queens</st1:place>. The buildings I work in vary greatly
in terms of size and tenant demographics. Some are small, while the largest
building I work with has 169 apartments. Most tenants at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">2425 Nostrand Avenue</st1:address></st1:street> in Flatbush are from
Trinidad or <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Jamaica</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
The majority of tenants in my buildings in Harlem and <st1:placename w:st="on">Fordham</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Heights</st1:placetype> are African American, while
9016 171<sup>st</sup> in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:country-region w:st="on">Jamaica</st1:country-region></st1:place>
is home to a mix of Hispanic, Indian, and African American residents. In <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city>, most tenants I work with are from Eastern
Europe, Puerto Rico, and states across the <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">U.S.</st1:place></st1:country-region> I work with tenants who are
community organizers, musicians, researchers, receptionists, and dentists. I
work with tenants who are unemployed, retired, and in school. Most are low to
moderate income adults who work long hours to make enough money to support
their family in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>.<br />
<br />Despite differences in location, size, and tenant demographics,
all these buildings share distinct troubling characteristics that render any
major rent increase unwarranted, especially the increases proposed by the Rent
Guidelines Board last month. The poor management, bad conditions, and rent
overcharges currently festering in hundreds of buildings in the city contribute
to the decline of the well-being of people and the buildings they live in as
well as community vitality and cohesion. I have seen the situation expanded and
prolonged by these shortcomings: tenants are forced to live with degrading
physical conditions as well as the tormenting mental condition brought on by
landlord harassment and illegal overcharges. Failures of landlords cannot be justified
to continue through an inflated award of profit to landlord corporations.<br /> <br /> Tenants across the city
suffer from poor building management. Buildings are managed with blatant
incompetence and neglect of tenants‘ rights and needs. Conditions continually
deteriorate because of under-qualified staff, and there is a lack of
comprehensive communication systems between tenants and the landlord. At 3224
Grand Concourse in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>, there is one
superintendent for all 8 buildings. He is not qualified or certified to make
the electrical and plumbing repairs he is responsible for, and there is no
system for inspection or repair appointments. Tenants have had ongoing plumbing
and electrical issues that have been ignored and, if fixed, not fixed
sufficiently. Tenants are forced to use their own money to find other means of
repair. In addition, tenants have no straightforward means of contacting their
management or relaying their concerns and requests. There is no on-site
management besides the super, and the management is unresponsive to phone
calls.<br /><br />Another aspect of poor management is lack of organization in
regards to leases and rent. At 3224 Grand Concourse, tenants do not receive
rent slips, and many tenants have their rent rejected for no given reason. In
addition, a lot of tenants wait months to get a new lease after their last one
expires. Clearly, this opens the door for confusion and rent overcharges.
Management systems like this create uncertainty and frustration for tenants. It
is not acceptable that tenants are upholding their end of their lease while
landlords ignore their responsibility to provide management that correctly and
effectively provides required services and operates a transparent system of
communication and rent payment.<br /> <br />The conditions at 9016 171<sup>st</sup> in <st1:country-region w:st="on">Jamaica</st1:country-region>, Queens highlight the horrible
conditions I have seen in buildings across <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>. Landlords try to save money and
time by ignoring services, repairs, and maintenance. At <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">9016 171<sup>st</sup> Street</st1:address></st1:street>, there are
271 HPD violations registered on this 23 unit building, 217 of which are
classified as hazardous. The building has not had gas since April 3<sup>rd</sup>,
which means tenants are not able to cook in their apartments; they are forced
to spend money to buy meals for their families. In addition, tenants suffer
from leaks and the nuisance of mice and rodents. Tenants also claim that the
electricity is turned off at random times, and, like almost every single one of
my other rent stabilized buildings, the heat and hot water are grossly
inconsistent during the winter months, as the landlord tries to save money by
keeping the temperature at well below the legal levels, especially at night and
in the early morning. In addition, the landlord owes the Department of
Buildings $2,500 for failure to comply with the mandated boiler conditions. The
boiler is too small to provide adequate heat to all units in the building, and
half of the building consistently has no hot water. Any landlord that is
letting conditions deteriorate to this extent in a building does not deserve
the proposed rent increase. Landlords must be held accountable and demonstrate
that they are using tenants’ rent to keep the building in a legal and
acceptable condition for families to live. If they are not using rent to
provide required services and maintenance, it is not acceptable that those
rents are raised. In addition, because of these horrible conditions, tenants
are forced to use their own money for things such as space heaters, take-out
meals, and the hiring of exterminators and plumbers, and they cannot afford to
pay higher rents while simultaneously funding repairs and supplemental
purchases made necessary by the landlord.<br /><br />As you know, the system of rent stabilization creates huge
incentives for landlords to raise rent in an apartment above $2500. Illegally
overcharging tenants in rent works two-fold for landlords: in addition to
bringing the rent closer to the $2500 mark, they force many lower income
tenants out of their apartment who cannot afford the higher rent, thus gaining
a further increase through the vacancy bonus, in turn bringing the rent on the
unit even closer to the market rate threshold. I have seen evidence of rent
overcharge in a number of the buildings I work with. Tenants are charged
illegally inflated appliance surcharge fees and construction costs are
exaggerated so the landlord can tack on huge IAIs to the rent. Tenants at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">2425 Nostrand Avenue</st1:address></st1:street>
in <st1:place w:st="on">Brooklyn</st1:place> are charged over $20 each month
for an appliance surcharge, which in their case refers to the A/C unit in their
apartment, the fee for which should legally be around $5. And, one tenant at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">854 West 180<sup>th</sup> Street</st1:address></st1:street>
moved into an apartment with a rent of $2150. In addition to the apartment
being illegally listed as market rate on the lease, the rent was a huge
increase from the previous tenant’s rent of $1477.17, and there was no
explanation for the increase. While there was construction done on the unit in
between tenants, the landlord would have had to spend at least $41,000 on
construction in order to legally raise the rent by the amount it was raised.
Now, the tenant must go through the lengthy and burdensome process of applying
for a rent overcharge through HCR, which may or may not deliver any results. It
is unacceptable to grant landlords the proposed rent increases while they are
currently collecting illegal amounts of rent. Rent increase decisions should be
based on a determination of how completely legal rents are allowing landlords
to fulfill their obligations to rent stabilized tenants, this determination is
distorted when landlords charge illegal rents, and allowing an increase is not justified
if landlords are already collecting more money than they are legally allowed.<br /> <br />Rent Stabilization exists in <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">New
York City</st1:city></st1:place> for a reason-to keep acceptable and
comfortable living affordable for the city’s people. Clearly, the system has a
number of negative side-effects that inhibit the system’s intended goal, most
prominently: poor management, bad conditions, and rent overcharges. Any one of
these issues taken independently is enough justification to demand a more
moderate rent increase than the one proposed. When all three of these issues
clash and build upon one another, the proposed rent increase should be unthinkable.<br />
<br />And I can say this from first-hand experience. I have seen these
buildings, I have been inside these apartments, and I have formed relationships
with these rent stabilized tenants. I have experienced the worry, frustration,
and exhaustion tenants struggle with on a daily basis. Approving the rent increase will further break
down the intended purpose of the rent stabilization system by allowing and
strengthening these effects. To hand landlords an increase in profits under these circumstances
is absurd. They first must be held accountable and prove they are capable of
using their funds intended application: to foster affordability and livability
for tenants in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-29932327617721551542013-06-18T08:39:00.000-07:002013-06-18T08:39:02.408-07:00Testimony: Michael Gillett<div>
The following testimony was presented by Michael Gillett, a rent stabilized tenant in Sunset Park, Brooklyn who has faced repeated permanent and compound Major Capital Improvement rent increases, on top of the annual RGB adjustments:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Good afternoon Board Members and thank you for this opportunity. My name
is Michael and I'm a Rent Stabilized tenant in Sunset Park Brooklyn. I've lived in an 8-unit building since late 2006. Since I've lived in this apartment, my
rent has gone up over $500. I've come here today because I'd like to express to
you why it is that the magnitude of increase you've proposed for two-year leases
is entirely too high and would be burdensome to me.<br /> <br />There are a broad range of Rent Stabilized tenants in this city. Some have
lived in their apartments for many years but a lot of us are young adults
working 9-5 and have had virtually stagnant wages in this tough &
persistently negative economy. Personally, my Landlord has used at least 3
separate Major Capital Increases as a method to speed units within the building
to the high-rent threshold which would remove them from rent protections. I
have been the only person to stand against them in the building. One downstairs
neighbor of mine was so intimidated and unnerved by the process that he moved
his entire family out of the building when he deliberated the prospect of
compounding rents + MCI charges in the years to come. The Landlord wasted no
time in getting the permits needed and then gut-renovating that apartment and
charging the new tenants market rate rent. There is also another apartment in
the building with tenants paying market rent. Considering the perpetual nature
of MCI rent increases he will have permanent residual income aside from whatever
increase you decide. He also owns many buildings across Park Slope Brooklyn
with tenants paying market rate rents.<br /> <br />Landlords have also been receiving substantial profits in recent years. In
my borough of Brooklyn, the Net Operating Income stands at approximately
33%.<br /><br />I would like to board to know that if you go through with this increase,
you will harm the diversity of this city. I could not afford my apartment at
market rate, and having to pay this extra money would be burdensome and could
price a lot of people out of their apartments. With this being said, I would
like to strongly implore you to consider a 0% increase at this time.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-83969714960353609652013-06-18T07:09:00.003-07:002013-06-18T07:19:26.741-07:00Testimony: Margaret Coughlan<div class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The following testimony was read by Margaret Coughlan, a tenant in Staten Island who, like many others, has an oppressive rent burden but is just barely disqualified for SCRIE:</span></div>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">My name is Margaret Coughlan. I have lived in the same rent-stabilized apartment in Staten Island for 30 years. Since I retired 4 years ago, any rent increase is of much greater concern to me than while I was working.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I do not qualify for SCRIE. My income is my pension and Social Security. After health insurance and taxes, my rent is 48% of my income. While I can manage, I realize that there are many New Yorkers with less income and higher rents.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">While any rent increase is of concern to me, I know that the same increase would be felt even more keenly by those less fortunate.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you.</span></blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-76845986096750746722013-06-17T14:48:00.000-07:002013-06-18T05:26:22.946-07:00Comptroller: The Continued Decline in Affordable Housing<span style="font-family: inherit;">New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli has released a timely report decrying <a href="http://www.osc.state.ny.us/osdc/affordable_housing_3-2014.pdf" target="_blank">"the continued decline of affordable housing in New York City."</a> The study details the bind facing low income New Yorkers, who must put more than half their income towards rent as a condition of staying in the city. The Comptroller writes, </span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The housing burden is heaviest for low-income households. One-fifth of New York City’s households had incomes of $15,000 or less in 2011. Nearly 80 percent of these households devoted more than half of their incomes to rent, a higher share than any other income group. Even after government subsidies are factored in, more than half (56 percent) of these households had a severe housing burden, a much higher share than any other income group (see Figure 4). For households with incomes of $15,000 to $30,000, nearly 40 percent devoted more than half of their incomes to rent in 2011. </span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The report also details the wide-spread deregulation of the rent stabilized housing stock. Last year, the city lost nearly 9,500 rent stabilized apartments. This report puts that figure into historical context, showing that "the share of rental units subject to some form of rent regulation fell from 74 percent in 1991 to 61 percent in 2011." While other factors are also to blame, </span>persistent<span style="font-family: inherit;"> compound Rent Guidelines Board increases are certainly a major factor in this rampant deregulation.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is the context in which the RGB makes its decision: New Yorkers are facing historically high rent burdens, and the number of rent stabilized apartments left in the city is fading fast. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
The Rent Guidelines Board has just one job: to decide the rent adjustment for renewal leases on regulated apartments in a given year. Put that way, their mission seems narrow and perhaps obscure. But, as this timely report shows, their actions have significant impacts on millions of tenants trying to keep up with the rent in a challenging housing market.Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-34568062580076447042013-06-17T10:51:00.000-07:002013-06-17T10:51:20.971-07:00Testimony: Dale Goodson<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The following testimony was submitted by Dale Goodson, a rent stabilized tenant and neighborhood activist who has lived in his apartment for over 20 years:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
My name is
Dale Goodson and I have lived in my rent stabilized apartment at the corner of
Avenue A and <st1:street w:st="on">12th street</st1:street>
in the <st1:placename w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">East</st1:place> <st1:placetype w:st="on">Village</st1:placetype></st1:placename> since 1991. I am now 60 and
moved to <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state> in the mid-80's from <st1:city w:st="on">Seattle</st1:city> to pursue my
career as a performance artist and free-lance writer. My work has always had a
topical and socially conscious bent and consequently was not always the most
commercially viable. I was drawn to <st1:state w:st="on">New
York</st1:state> because of the vibrant mix of cultures, thriving
artistic scene and an economically feasible housing environment. You didn't
have to be rich to part of the fabric of the city. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
In 2000 an
opportunity came up to work as a homeless outreach worker at the Port Authority
Bus Terminal and that work became the focus of my life. Again, not the most
financially lucrative job, but tremendously satisfying in so many other ways.
Unfortunately 2008 took it's toll and the program I was working for was cut. In
addition, in 2005 our building was sold and the new owners began a policy of
turning vacated apartments into market rate housing for NYU students.
Admittedly they have not used untoward or harassing tactics against long term
tenants, but the culture of the building began to change immediately. Virtually
all of the culturally diverse and senior tenants have moved out. We've are
slowly turning into a college dorm. To date about a third of the 40 apartments
in our building have gone market rate. Most others are still rent stabilized. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
I am now
back to hunting up free-lance writing work and anything I else I can to stay
afloat. The artistic scene and opportunities which once supported me have all
but dried up. I have lived in NYC longer than any other place in my life. NYC
is my home, but the relentless rent increases by the RGB are taking their toll.
It never stops, even in the worst of economic times. I feel the vibrant
cultural mix of <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>
is fast disappearing, giving way to a culture of the affluent. Given this trend
I know of no neighborhood in the 5 boroughs I could afford to move to. Though
my rent is low compared to market rate it is all that I can afford and each
year becomes more and more precarious and unviable. My landlord on the other
hand has an ever increasing number of market rate apartments to draw on for
increased income as well as three street level businesses in the building and
yet every year the RGB asks for more on his behalf. This is a destructive
policy which not only brings hardship to those who can least afford it, but is
fast turning New York City and the East Village in particular into a high
income playground.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-30125833510004882712013-06-17T10:50:00.000-07:002013-06-17T10:52:21.809-07:00Testimony: Ben May<div class="tr_bq">
The following testimony was read by Ben May, a tenant in Washington Heights whose building was purchased by multi-billion dollar real estate investment trust:</div>
<br />
<blockquote>
Although I am testifying on behalf of tenants, ironically I find myself actually
representing a group of landlords who are not present today. My landlords are
John Harrison Streicker and his daughter Margaret Streicker-Porres. Mr.
Streicker founded his real estate company, Sentinel, in 1969 and grew it into
the $4.5 billion company that it is today. Sentinel owns properties in 28 states, around
10% of which are in the Northeast of the United States. Ms. Streicker-Porres
founded Newcastle Realty Services, our management company and one of almost 500
subsidiaries of Sentinel, in 2004. Today Newcastle manages $400m (according to
their website) worth of Sentinel's assets in the New York city area. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
When
our building was purchased, for under $10 million two years ago, Newcastle promptly
took away every preferential rent, and raised the rents on every non-regulated
unit in our building substantially. As a result, around a dozen tenants moved
out. All of those units were gut renovated and all have been since filled, at
prices in most cases double or more than the prior monthly rents. In one
particular case, an elderly couple in a rent controlled unit, the rent
quadrupled for the new tenants. Our building of around 50 units now has
approximately a half dozen one- and two-bedroom units remaining that are rent
stabilized, which range in price from $900/mo to just under $2000/mo. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
I
sympathize with the plight of the small landlords who have testified here today.
I think however that the board may be getting a skewed picture of reality when
it is the small landlords that testify and those like my landlords are not
present to tell their stories. I ask that the board consider all landlords in New York City, and keep in mind that there are a large number of large, rich,
powerful, and intelligent landlords in addition to the small resource-poor ones
that have spoken here today. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
Finally, I find it very interesting to hear from landlords
today that the only thing the board should consider is the incomes from
regulated units. As far as I know, with the exception of condominiums and coops,
when landlords buy and sell buildings, they are buying and selling all the units
in a building simultaneously. So it seems strange to me to not consider the
income of the entire building, rather than individual apartments, since the unit
of ownership is the whole building, not just individual apartments within that
building. </blockquote>
<blockquote>
I ask that the board consider increases on the low
end of the proposed range.</blockquote>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-15078397241323178622013-06-17T08:24:00.002-07:002013-06-17T14:48:48.173-07:00Testimony: Sam Stein, Tenants & NeighborsOn Thursday, June 13th, over 100 tenants testified against the Rent Guidelines Board's unusually high preliminary guidelines (<a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">3.25% - 6.25% for one year leases, and 5% - 9.5% for two year leases</a>), as well as their decision to jettison an outer borough hearing. We heard from apartment tenants and SRO tenants, long term residents and relative newcomers, young and old, representing diverse communities of regulated tenants from around the city. Across these differences, there was a unified message: the RGB's proposed increases are way too high. In today's economy, tenants simply cannot afford them. The board must reconsider, and reject these unwarranted increases.<br />
<br />
We will be posting the testimonies of a few tenants who spoke out that day, starting with Tenants & Neighbors' Rent Regulation Campaign Coordinator (and rent stabilized tenant) Sam Stein. Want to share your testimony with us? Please email a copy to sstein@tandn.org.<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Good morning. Thank you to Chairman Kimmel for holding this
hearing today, and to all of you for hearing the testimony of rent stabilized
tenants about the proposed guidelines for renewal lease increases. My name is
Sam Stein, and I am an organizer at New York State Tenants & Neighbors, a
grassroots organization that helps renters preserve at-risk affordable housing
and strengthen tenants’ rights in <st1:state w:st="on">New
York</st1:state>. We represent approximately 2500 tenants, most
of whom are rent stabilized, almost all of whom have low or moderate incomes,
and many of whom are elderly people on fixed incomes. I am also a tenant in a
rent stabilized apartment in <st1:place w:st="on">Queens</st1:place>.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">As a representative of my organization and our members, I
have attended every public meeting that this board has held over the past 4
months, and read each report that the board staff has ably produced. Based on
the information presented to the board by both staff and invited experts, as
well as my experience counseling rent stabilized tenants from around the city,
I believe the preliminary guidelines this board has approved are far too high.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the Income and Affordability report showed,
tenants are facing dire economic conditions, with unemployment rising again,
wages declining, and nearly a third of rent stabilized tenants city-wide
putting half their income towards rent.</span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the Income and Expense study reported,
landlord’s net operating incomes have risen for the 7<sup>th</sup> consecutive
year.</span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;">As the Mortgage Survey showed, the market for
rent stabilized buildings remains strong, even in light of a national housing
crisis.</span> </li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="background: white;">According the
RGB’s “Changes” report, at least 9,499 apartments left rent stabilization last
year. That is a staggering number:<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">it’s more New Yorkers than complained about bed bugs at the peak of that</span>
crisis<span style="background: white;">;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">it’s more New Yorkers than were killed by cigarettes last year</span><span style="background: white;">;<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">it’s more New Yorkers than are on the organ donor waiting lists</span><span style="background: white;">. It’s an ongoing crisis in this city, and one that
the RGB must take into account as it considers an abnormally high<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span><span style="background: white; color: windowtext; text-decoration: none; text-underline: none;">preliminary range of rent increases</span><span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">.</span></span><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p></li>
</ul>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d like to address the public members, because how you choose
to vote is of the utmost importance. Mr. Kimmel, Ms. Levy-Odom, Ms. Moore, Ms.
Shine, and Mr. Wenk: on April 30<sup>th</sup>, you voted for a preliminary
guideline of 3.25% to 6.25% for one-year leases, and 5% to 9.5% for two-year
leases. We believe this entire range is above the level many tenants can
afford, and beyond the need of most landlords. Additionally, the proposed
guidelines under consideration today would send many apartments over the
vacancy decontrol threshold, setting them up to leave rent stabilization when
the current tenant leaves. This would impact not just the rent stabilized tenants
we and our allied organizations represent; it would also disrupt the stability and
change the character of the these tenants' communities, and
would have broader implications for our city as a whole. As you are representatives of the
public- of the New Yorkers who care deeply about their neighbors and about the
communities in which they live- I would like to ask you each, personally, to
vote for a significantly lower adjustment this year than what was approved at
the preliminary vote.</span><o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;"> </span></o:p><span style="font-family: inherit;">Additionally, if a proviso targeting lower rent apartments
is once again introduced this year, I ask you to reject it. As data from the
Community Service Society has shown time and again, these provisos
disproportionately fall on the backs of the poorest, oldest and most long-term
of rent stabilized tenants. The tenants we represent, and many others, simply
cannot afford these kinds of increases.</span> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We urge the board to consider holding rents still in 2013.
If you determine that this is not possible, we encourage the board to consider
the lowest possible rent increase, and ask you to remember the tenants who
testify here today, and the hundreds of thousands more who this rent increase
would affect.</span></blockquote>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-80546629204979412502013-06-11T13:27:00.003-07:002013-06-11T13:46:04.701-07:00Testify Thursday!The RGB has heard from their staff about economic landscape facing tenants; they have heard from invited experts from both the landlord and tenant side; they have heard from government agencies that deal with housing. Now it's time for the RGB to hear from us.<br />
<br />
Tenants have just one chance to speak out about the board's <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/05/the-preliminary-vote.html" target="_blank">unusually high preliminary guidelines</a>, and this is it: Thursday, June 13th, at 49-51 Chambers Street, starting at 10 am. Registration closes at 7 pm, but testimonies will be heard until everyone who has registered has a chance to speak. You can pre-register by calling the RGB at 212 385 2934, or you can register in person on Thursday. Tenants have 3 minutes to testify. Sometimes board members- either tenant members, owner members or public members- will ask follow up questions about your testimony. Don't be nervous- we are just telling our stories, and expressing the truth as we see it.<br />
<br />
The Rent Guidelines Board needs to hear directly from tenants about the kinds of economic straights these proposed increase could put us in. They need to hear about the difficulties we face every day just to pay the rent, and the importance of long-term tenants to our neighborhoods and our city. They need to hear about the difficulty of finding suitable housing if we can't afford to stay in our rent stabilized apartments. And they need to hear about all the ways landlords manage raise rents, on top of the increases passed by the board. Please come and share your story with the Rent Guidelines Board. This is our one chance to formally speak out against these proposed guidelines, which would push too many of our homes beyond our budgets and towards deregulation.<br />
<br />
To RSVP, or to request additional information about the hearing, please contact Sam Stein at sstein@tandn.org, or call 212 608 4320 x316. Tenants & Neighbors can help you prepare your testimony, or answer any questions you might have about the process. Tenants & Neighbors staff will be there in our white and blue t-shirts, so please look for us and come say hi when you arrive.<br />
<br />
The RGB has proposed rent increases of 3.25% - 6.25% for one year leases, and 5% - 9.5% for two year leases. They have to hear from tenants that this is simply too high.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kmIKtwUstic/UbeDcLS6cJI/AAAAAAAAARU/KycCimXdTTE/s1600/Testimony.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="297" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kmIKtwUstic/UbeDcLS6cJI/AAAAAAAAARU/KycCimXdTTE/s400/Testimony.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-51395522391295381792013-06-06T08:08:00.000-07:002013-06-06T08:08:40.652-07:00200 Tenants Attend Bronx "People's RGB" Hearing<div style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It turns out that if you hold a public hearing on rent increases at a time and
place that's convenient to tenants, they show up in droves to tell their
stories. Unfortunately, only the tenant members of the Rent Guidelines Board
attended last night's "People's RGB" in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>. It's a shame, because the rest of the board missed
many thoughtful and heartfelt testimonies from tenants who will be unable to
speak at the Board’s one public hearing, to be held in lower <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city>, primarily
during working hours. It may be the case that meeting halls are expensive and
attendance at recent hearings has been dwindling, but CASA and Tenants &
Neighbors offered the RGB a free space and a guaranteed high turnout, and the
RGB still declined. The Rent Guidelines Board missed an important chance to hear
from tenants about the impact their proposed guidelines would have on households
across the city.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here is the <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/06/nyregion/rent-board-trims-roster-of-hearings-on-increases.html?ref=nyregion&_r=1&" target="_blank">New York Times'</a> take on the RGB's 2013 calendar:</span><br />
<br />
<img alt="The New York Times" src="http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/misc/nytlogo153x23.gif" /><br />
<h1 style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 2.4em; line-height: 1.083em; margin: 0px;">
<nyt_headline type=" " version="1.0">Rent Board Trims Roster of Hearings on Increases</nyt_headline></h1>
<h6 class="byline" style="color: grey; font-family: arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 1em; line-height: 1.2em; margin: 2px 0px;">
By <span itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/winnie_hu/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/h/winnie_hu/index.html" rel="author" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="More Articles by WINNIE HU">WINNIE HU</a></span></h6>
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Even as many New Yorkers face substantial rent increases, they will have one less chance to complain about it.</div>
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Citing poor attendance in the last few years, the Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-member board appointed by the mayor, has eliminated a public hearing this month that has traditionally been held in the Bronx, Brooklyn, or Queens since 2005. The remaining public hearing will be held in Lower Manhattan on June 13 from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m.</div>
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The rent board is proposing to allow rent increases for tenants living in about one million rent-stabilized apartments in <a class="meta-loc" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/classifieds/realestate/locations/newyork/newyorkcity/manhattan/?inline=nyt-geo" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="Find Real Estate listings and community news for New York City">New York City</a>. For a one-year lease, the proposal would allow an increase of from 3.25 percent to 6.25 percent; it would be from 5 percent to 9.5 percent for a two-year lease. Last year, it approved rent increases of 2 percent and 4 percent, respectively, after a dip in landlords’ operating costs. The board will make a final decision on June 20.</div>
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Renters outside Manhattan, and their advocates, say that many people want to testify this year because of the large increases that are being proposed, but will not be able to get to the Manhattan hearing because they cannot afford to take time off from work, or would find it difficult to travel there.</div>
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“This arrangement all but assures the working people most affected by the board’s decision will be unable to participate, and their voices will have no bearing on the final rent increase decision,” Bill de Blasio, the public advocate, said in a letter to the board. “This is not a mere inconvenience — it is a downright failure of the democratic process.”</div>
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In protest, tenant groups organized a hearing of their own on Wednesday evening in the Bronx that drew more than 180 people. Susanna Blankley, director of housing organizing for <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/New-Settlement-Apartments-Community-Action-for-Safe-Apartments-CASA/275463095900687" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="A link to the Facebook page. ">Community Action for Safe Apartments</a>, a project of New Settlement Apartments, said they had invited the rent board to attend, but the majority did not respond. The proposed rent increases are higher this year to help cover the increases in operating costs for rent-stabilized buildings, including the cost of real <a class="meta-classifier" href="http://topics.nytimes.com/your-money/planning/estate-planning/index.html?inline=nyt-classifier" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="More articles about estate planning.">estate taxes</a>, utilities, labor and insurance, said Jack Freund, executive vice president of the <a href="http://rsanyc.net/" style="color: #666699; text-decoration: none;" title="A link to the Web site. ">Rent Stabilization Association</a>, which represents about 25,000 building owners and managers. He noted that the price index of operating costs for rent stabilized buildings rose by 5.9 percent this year, compared with 2.8 percent last year. “It’s a necessary increase,” Mr. Freund said. “If you want to maintain that work force housing, you have to pass along the cost increases.”</div>
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Andrew McLaughlin, executive director of the Rent Guidelines Board, said the board had seen declining attendance at public hearings since the 1990s, when a few hundred people would rise to speak, and the board members would stay as late as midnight. He said that so few people attended the Queens meeting in 2010 that board members sat for an hour with no one to listen to. Last year’s meeting in the Bronx drew 21 speakers (of which 12 were tenants) compared with 55 in Manhattan, he said.</div>
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Tenant advocates say that many people do not know about the hearings because they are not well publicized, and the information is provided only in English. Mr. McLaughlin said that notices were sent out to major media outlets, community boards, council members and others, and that translations into Spanish and other languages are available through a function on its Web site.</div>
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Mr. McLaughlin added that the board, which had to cut its budget 20 percent last year, to about $450,000, saved between $4,000 and $5,000 by not renting space for the second meeting. He said that the Manhattan meeting was extended by an hour this year, to 7 p.m., and that the board would stay to listen to anyone who had registered by that time.</div>
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But renters like Alfreda Lee said it would be difficult, if not impossible, to get there in time. Ms. Lee, 59, said she answers phone calls on a domestic violence hot line in Brooklyn until 6 p.m. or later on weeknights. “We have to work full-time jobs to pay rent,” she said. “If you really wanted to hear from people, you would make it fair.”</div>
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Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-1884037507356916682013-06-05T11:08:00.001-07:002013-06-05T11:11:28.658-07:00Tonight: Tenants Host Bronx RGB Hearing<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
The Rent Guidelines Board is a public body. As such, it has a responsibility to seek input from the public, including rent stabilized tenants. This year, the RGB is holding <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">just one public hearing</a>, in lower Manhattan, primarily during work hours. This is not only insufficient, but unacceptable. After an offer of a free meeting space and a guaranteed turnout of tenants in the Bronx was rejected by the Board, tenants <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/05/june-5th-bronx-tenants-host-their-own.html" target="_blank">mobilized to hold their own hearing</a>, drawing press coverage and the support of numerous elected officials. That hearing will be held tonight. Tenants strongly encourage RGB members to attend, as this is the best opportunity to hear directly from them about conditions in rent stabilized apartments, the toll of escalating rents, and the impact a high RGB increase would have on rent stabilized households. </div>
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<br /></div>
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Information about the tenant-led hearing is below.</div>
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<b><br /></b></div>
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<b>For
Planning Purposes: Wednesday, June 5, 2013<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Contact: Raymond Rodriguez, <a href="mailto:raymond@berlinrosen.com">raymond@berlinrosen.com</a>, 646-200-5309<o:p></o:p></div>
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<st1:place w:st="on"><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;">Bronx</span></b></st1:place><b><span style="font-size: 14pt; line-height: 115%;"> Residents To Hold Public Hearing on
Proposed Rent Increases After Rent Guidelines Board Overlooks Outer Boroughs<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">Board
Proposes Over 6% Rent Hike Despite “No” Vote By Tenant Members<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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<b>WHAT:</b> <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>
residents will hold their own public hearing to express opposition to the Rent
Guidelines Board’s proposal to increase rents between 6.25% and 9.5% on
stabilized apartments. This year the RGB is refusing to hold a hearing in the
outer boroughs, making it difficult for working families and tenants to provide
input on the rent hikes. The Board’s two Tenant Members, who voted against the
proposed increases, will facilitate the hearing.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>WHO:</b> Bronx tenants who will be impacted by
proposed rent increases, RGB’s Tenant Members, the Community Development
Project at the Urban Justice Center, New Settlement Apartments’ Community
Action for Safe Apartments (CASA), Elected officials include: Speaker Christine
Quinn, Public Advocate Bill de Blasio, Councilwoman Helen Foster, Councilwoman
Annabel Palma, Councilman Ydanis Rodriguez, Assemblyman Brian Kavanaugh <o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>WHEN:</b> <b>Wednesday,
June 5, 5:30PM<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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<b>WHERE:</b> New <st1:place w:st="on">Settlement</st1:place>
<st1:place w:st="on">Community Center</st1:place>, <st1:place w:st="on">1501
Jerome Ave.</st1:place> at <st1:place w:st="on">172<sup>nd</sup> St.</st1:place>,
<st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>. D or 4 train to 170<sup>th</sup> St.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<b>BACKGROUND:
</b>The RGB, which establishes rent adjustments for 1 million
dwelling units and whose members are appointed by the Mayor, recently adopted a
proposal to increase rents up to 6.25% for stabilized tenants with 1-year
leases and up to 9.5% for 2-year leases. The Board’s two Tenant Members voted
against the proposed increases because these increases are unaffordable to
tenants throughout the city, especially in low-income areas of the outer
boroughs. <b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Traditionally, the RBG holds outer
borough public hearings for tenants to share their opinions on the proposed
increases, but this year the Board decided it will only hold one daytime
hearing in <st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place> therefore not taking into
consideration tenants from the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>. The <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>, where the average family income is $38,000, has
the highest concentration of rent-stabilized apartments.</div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-42817062635916798862013-05-30T11:41:00.002-07:002013-06-12T08:43:50.486-07:00Analysis: Housing Supply and Changes Reports<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">At their final public meeting this morning, the New York
City Rent Guidelines Board released their last reports of the year: the 2013
Housing Supply Report, and Changes to the Rent Stabilized Housing Stock in <st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place> in 2012.
These reports look at additions and subtractions to the universe of rent
stabilized apartments, as well as patterns in new construction, renovation,
conversion and other changes to the general New York City housing stock.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Lurking behind the figures in these reports is a quirk in
the rent regulations. Since 1993, <st1:state w:st="on">New
York</st1:state>’s rent stabilization system has contained a
poison pill- the Vacancy Decontrol system, whereby empty apartments that could
rent for over $2,500 are brought out of the regulatory system and into the
“free market”. This has given landlords a target to reach, creating an even
greater incentive to exploit every loophole available in the system to raise
rents. As a consequence, landlords will seek high turnover in their apartments,
so that they can collect “vacancy bonuses” and Individual Apartment
Improvements between tenancies. To extract higher rents from long term tenants,
they rely on Major Capital Improvements and Rent Guidelines Board increases,
and lobby for the highest imaginable increases annually. Eventually, their
apartments hit the magic number of $2,500, and loose the price and eviction
protections associated with rent stabilization.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the face of deregulation- primarily through Vacancy
Decontrol- New York City’s rent stabilized housing stock continues to decline
much faster than it expands. According the RGB’s “Changes” report, at least
9,499 apartments left rent stabilization last year. (Most likely far more were taken out of rent stabilization, but this figure reflects the number of apartments that formally registered with HCR as deregulated.) That is a staggering
number: <a href="http://columbianewstonight.org/2009/03/06/bed-bugs-invade-new-york/">it’s
more New Yorkers than complained about bed bugs at the peak of their reign of
terror</a>; <a href="http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/pr2007/pr031-07.shtml">it’s
more New Yorkers than were killed by cigarettes last year</a>; <a href="http://www.donatelifeny.org/news-events/press-releases/#newsrelease18">it’s
more New Yorkers than are on the organ donor waiting lists</a>. It’s an ongoing
crisis in this city, and one that the RGB must take into account as it
considers an abnormally high <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf">preliminary
range of rent increases</a>.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The city did add some rent stabilized apartments to the
housing stock, but many of them are far beyond the realm of affordability. A
very large portion of new rent stabilized apartments come from tax abatement
programs that mandate temporary rent stabilization. But in the case of 421-a, a
tax credit that added 2,509 rent stabilized apartments to the stock, the
average rents are $3,106. For that to be considered affordable by federal
standards, residents would have to make $124,240; the average income for rent
stabilized tenants, however, is less than one third of that figure- just
$37,000. Much of the new rent stabilized housing, therefore, is not only
temporary but out of reach for most prospective renters.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Perhaps as a consequence of the disappearance of affordable
rent stabilized housing, and the paucity of vacant rent stabilized homes, rent
stabilized apartments are also some of the most crowded. About 14% of rent
stabilized housing is overcrowded; 5.6% is considered “severely” squished.</span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In the meantime, like oil in <st1:state w:st="on">Texas</st1:state>,
real estate in <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state>
continues to thrive. After the downturn in construction in 2009, new permits
have risen every year for the past three years, with permits for 10,344
apartments issued last year. The <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place> is
especially booming, with a 128.7% rise in new permits in 2012. <br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Approximately 9,455 new apartments were constructed, matching
nearly 1-to-1 the number of apartments that were deregulated. Many- if not
most- of these new apartments are of the luxury variety, and do nothing to stem
the loss of affordable housing in <st1:city w:st="on">New
York City</st1:city>.</span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">The two reports issued today depict a rent stabilization
system facing planned obsolescence, and a resilient real estate industry that expanding
while other segments of the economy contract. An oversized rent increase will
hasten both of these trends, and push the city further into its housing crises.
For these reasons, and for all those articulated in previous Rent Guidelines
Blog analyses, we contend that the board should act with restraint and pass as
low a guideline as possible.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-72158240908590782822013-05-20T13:19:00.001-07:002013-05-20T13:21:24.694-07:00June 5th: Tenants host Bronx RGB hearingHave you noticed anything different about this year’s <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/p/rgb-calendars.html">RGB hearing
schedule</a>? Whereas for the past 8 years, the RGB has held two public
hearings for tenants and landlords to testify, this year there is just one.
Whereas for the past 8 years one of those hearings has been in the Bronx,
Brooklyn or Queens, this year the only hearing is in <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city>. And whereas in the past the
hearings have been scheduled to go well into the evening, this year’s hearing
will only accept registrants until 7 pm.<br />
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Why is this year different than all other years?</div>
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<br /></div>
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Tenants & Neighbors has been seeking an answer to that
question, to no avail. When asked, the RGB chair responded that renting a space
is expensive, and testimonies have dwindled at public hearings. We countered
with the offer of a large space in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>,
available free of charge, and a mobilized base of tenants who are genuinely
interested in testifying before the RGB. In a letter dated April 26<sup>th</sup>,
Tenants & Neighbors and New Settlement Apartments’ Community Action for
Safe Apartments (CASA) invited the RGB to a public forum we are hosting on June
5<sup>th</sup>. The letter read as follows:</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Dear Members of the <st1:place w:st="on">New
York City</st1:place> Rent Guidelines Board, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We would like to invite you to an exciting public hearing to
discuss issues in rent stabilized housing in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>
on <b><u>Wednesday, June 5<sup>th</sup>, at
5PM</u></b>.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
As you know, it has been customary for the Rent Guidelines
Board to hold one public hearing in <st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place>
and one in an outer borough, in the evening. This year, however, there has been
just one hearing scheduled for June 13<sup>th</sup> in <st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place>.
We are concerned that only holding a day-time hearing in <st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place> will make it
impossible for tenants in the rest of the city to testify. Many tenants cannot afford to take time off
work to testify, since doing so for many New Yorkers means risking a day’s pay
and even their jobs. We therefore urge
you not only to attend this evening hearing in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>
but to also <i><u>make this hearing an
official RGB Public Hearing.</u></i> </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
While we acknowledge that turnout at outer borough hearings
has been waning in recent years and that the RGB’s budget is constrained, this
year tenants have been reaching out to us and demanding another opportunity to
be heard. Demand for this hearing has been most concentrated in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>, where, as UNHP’s Gregory Lobo Jost discussed in
his invited testimony, tenants are facing severe crises of affordability.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
To meet this demand, New Settlement Apartments’ Community
Action for Safe Apartments (CASA) and Tenants & Neighbors invite you to
participate in a forum on <b>Wednesday,
June 5<sup>th</sup> at New Settlement’s Community Campus, <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">1501 Jerome Avenue</st1:address></st1:street> (at <st1:street w:st="on"><st1:address w:st="on">172<sup>nd</sup> St</st1:address></st1:street>) in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place>, starting at 5:00 pm.</b> We expect a full house of
tenants who would otherwise not be able to testify.</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
We strongly encourage the Board to attend this
community-supported Public Hearing and to add it to the RGB’s calendar of
official hearings. We know that you are all busy, but we believe it is
incredibly important to provide this community with an opportunity to have its
voices heard, and share crucial testimonies that may inform your deliberations.
This year, tenants in the <st1:place w:st="on">Bronx</st1:place> are coming
together to speak out about the affordability of their homes. Will you be there
to hear them?</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Many thanks, </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Susanna Blankley<br />
Director of Housing Organizing<br />
CASA- New Settlement Apartments</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Sam Stein<br />
Rent Regulation Campaign Coordinator<br />
Tenants & Neighbors</blockquote>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
This letter was distributed to every member of the Rent
Guidelines Board; to this day, we have received no response. We strongly
encourage members of the Rent Guidelines Board to attend, and hear from a
broader range of testifiers than those available to speak during the day in <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city>. This will be
an important event with a large showing. It is a gesture in good faith, and an
opportunity for the Board to make itself available to people in one of the most
densely rent stabilized districts in the city, as well as the tenants from all
5 boroughs who will convene there.</div>
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Whether or not the RGB holds an outer-borough hearing, the
people will speak out. Will the Rent Guidelines Board be there to listen?</div>
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<i>This
community-sponsored RGB hearing will take place Wednesday, June 5<sup>th</sup>
at New Settlement’s Community Campus, 1501 Jerome Avenue (at 172<sup>nd</sup>
St, near the 4 or D train stops at 170<sup>th</sup> street) in the Bronx,
starting at 5:00 pm.</i><b><i><span style="font-size: 16.0pt;"> </span></i></b><i>All
are invited to attend, speak, and listen.<o:p></o:p></i></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-86088380450097388902013-05-20T08:23:00.001-07:002013-05-20T12:23:36.375-07:00Urban rents and suburban poverty<div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The New York Times published an article today on <a href="http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Multimedia/Interactives/2013/job_sprawl/New_York.pdf" target="_blank">a new study</a> from the Brooking Institution that shows rising poverty in the New York suburbs. How does this relate to the NYC RGB? <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/nyregion/suburbs-are-home-to-growing-share-of-regions-poor.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0" target="_blank">The Times reports</a> that one of the leading factors behind this </span>phenomenon<span style="font-family: inherit;"> is the </span>disappearance <span style="font-family: inherit;">of affordable housing in the city. </span></div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;">Christopher Jones, vice president for research of the Regional Plan Association, blamed higher housing prices for the demographic shift. </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;">The rising cost of shelter pushed poorer people out of</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;"> </span><st1:city style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;" w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;"> </span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;">and</span><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;"> </span><st1:place style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;" w:st="on">Brooklyn</st1:place><span style="font-family: Georgia; font-size: 10.5pt; line-height: 17.6pt;">, in particular."</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">New York's rent regulations were spurred by an urgent "housing crises." That crises continues to rage today, and is causing working and middle class households to leave the city in search of lower cost options. If New York City hopes to retain these residents and workers, it must consider the impacts of high rent increases for rent stabilized apartments, and issue the lowest possible guideline in 2013.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Here's the article that appeared in today's New York Times:</span><br />
<br />
<h1 style="margin-bottom: 5.45pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: large;"><span style="font-size: 17pt; font-weight: normal;"><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/20/nyregion/suburbs-are-home-to-growing-share-of-regions-poor.html?ref=nyregion&_r=0" target="_blank">Suburbs’ Share of Poor Has Grown Since 2000</a><o:p></o:p></span></span></b></h1>
<nyt_byline>
</nyt_byline>
<h6 style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin-bottom: 1.35pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 1.35pt;">
<b><span style="color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;">By<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span></span></span></b><span itemid="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html" itemprop="author creator" itemscope="" itemtype="http://schema.org/Person"><span style="color: grey; font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 10pt; font-weight: normal;"><span style="color: #004276; font-family: Times New Roman;" title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html"><span title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html"><span itemprop="name" title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html"><a href="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html" title="http://topics.nytimes.com/top/reference/timestopics/people/r/sam_roberts/index.html
More Articles by SAM ROBERTS">SAM
ROBERTS</a></span></span></span></span></span></span></h6>
<br />
<h6 style="line-height: 14.4pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<b><span style="color: grey; font-family: Arial; font-size: xx-small;"><span style="font-size: 7pt; font-weight: normal;"> </span></span></b></h6>
<div style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;"><span style="background-position: 0px 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; cursor: pointer;">The
suburbs, which in 2000 accounted for 29 percent of the region’s poor people, a
decade later were home to 33 percent of metropolitan New Yorkers living below
the federal poverty level, according to an analysis of the latest census
results.<o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">
<br /></div>
<div style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The
analysis, released on Monday by the<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.brookings.edu/about/programs/metro" title="http://www.brookings.edu/about/programs/metro"><span style="color: #004276;" title="http://www.brookings.edu/about/programs/metro"><span title="http://www.brookings.edu/about/programs/metro">Metropolitan Policy Program
of the Brookings Institution</span></span></a>, also found that while the number
of poor people in <st1:city w:st="on">New York City</st1:city> and <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:city w:st="on">Newark</st1:city></st1:place> declined by 7
percent, or 120,000, the number in the suburbs rose by 14 percent, or 100,000,
from 2000 to the census’s rolling 2008-10<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><a href="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/" title="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/"><span style="color: #004276;" title="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/"><span title="http://www.census.gov/acs/www/">American Community
Survey</span></span></a>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The poor have
typically been concentrated in big cities and rural <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>.
Increasing poverty in the <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state> metropolitan
area’s historically affluent suburbs mirrored a national trend detailed in the
analysis, “Confronting Suburban Poverty in <st1:country-region w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">America</st1:place></st1:country-region>” by
Elizabeth Kneebone, a fellow at the Metropolitan Policy Program, and Alan
Berube, a deputy director of the program.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The first decade
of the 21st century was a tipping point, the authors wrote. Suburbia, they said,
is now home to the “fastest-growing poor population in the
country.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">While <st1:state w:st="on">New York</st1:state> and <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Newark</st1:place></st1:city>’s combined share of poor people in the
region dipped from 71 percent to 67 percent, the cities were home to twice the
800,000 or so people who officially qualified as poor in the suburbs in
2010.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“It seems like as
the city prospered and got more expensive over the 2000s, poverty crept up in a
lot of the region’s older suburban communities,” Mr. Berube
said.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“It might not have
been people moving from city to suburban neighborhoods per se, but as the region
creates more low-wage jobs, and attracts more new immigrants, low-income
households that in the past might have located in the Bronx or Brooklyn are now
settling in places like northern <st1:state w:st="on">New Jersey</st1:state> and
<st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Westchester</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype></st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">“It’s telling that
the city’s ‘suburban’ borough, <st1:place w:st="on">Staten Island</st1:place>,
is the only one that saw its poor population increase over the
2000s.”<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Christopher Jones,
vice president for research of the Regional Plan Association, blamed higher
housing prices for the demographic shift.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">The rising cost of
shelter pushed poorer people out of <st1:city w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:city> and
<st1:place w:st="on">Brooklyn</st1:place>, in
particular.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Also, he said, a
smaller percentage of workers from suburban areas like <st1:placename w:st="on">Nassau</st1:placename> <st1:placetype w:st="on">County</st1:placetype>
were commuting to high-paying jobs in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place></st1:city>, and the jobs that were in their
hometowns were at shopping malls, in health care and in landscaping, and
generally paid less.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">At the same time,
tenants were doubling up and living in illegal
apartments.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Dozens of smaller
cities, townships and boroughs registered double- and even triple-digit
increases in their poverty rates over the decade.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Among the places
where the population of poor residents increased since 2000 were, in New Jersey,
Bayonne, Bergenfield, Clifton, Edison Township, Garfield, Hoboken, Hunterdon
County, Lakewood, Linden, Mount Olive, New Brunswick, Passaic, Paterson, Perth
Amboy, Raritan, Summit, Teaneck and Woodbridge; on Long Island, Brookhaven and
Glen Cove; in Westchester, Ossining; in Putnam County, Carmel; and in Rockland
County, Ramapo.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">Poverty rates
increased in some places even after the recession officially ended in 2009,
according to the Brookings analysis, but the poor population declined from 2000
to 2010 by 11 percent in Brooklyn and by 10 percent in <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">Manhattan</st1:place></st1:city>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">It rose 18 percent
on <st1:place w:st="on">Staten Island</st1:place>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div itemprop="articleBody" style="line-height: 17.6pt; margin-bottom: 12pt; margin-left: 0in; margin-right: 0in; mso-margin-top-alt: 0in;">
<span style="color: black; font-family: Georgia; font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-size: 10.5pt;">According to
federal guidelines, the current poverty level for a family of four is annual
income below $23,350.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-48148407808771796322013-05-10T08:23:00.000-07:002013-05-10T08:54:40.434-07:00THE WORST ROOM<span style="font-family: inherit;">So you've been displaced from your rent stabilized apartment because you couldn't afford the rising rents. Where can you go? Take a look at "<a href="http://theworstroom.tumblr.com/" target="_blank">THE WORST ROOM</a>" for a sampling of what's available in New York these days.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-athInMteHIY/UY0O8Q8jmfI/AAAAAAAAAQs/wqNk7tbLBT4/s1600/worst+room+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="340" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-athInMteHIY/UY0O8Q8jmfI/AAAAAAAAAQs/wqNk7tbLBT4/s400/worst+room+2.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYnazFV4Sfs/UY0OkvP699I/AAAAAAAAAQk/yJ5NrKF9VEE/s1600/worst+room+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TYnazFV4Sfs/UY0OkvP699I/AAAAAAAAAQk/yJ5NrKF9VEE/s400/worst+room+1.jpg" width="242" /></a></div>
<br />
THE WORST ROOM is getting a lot of buzz (see <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/worst-room-blog-dishes-horrid-new-york-rentals-article-1.1339812" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/the-worst-room-tumblr-shames-craigslist-2013-5" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://nymag.com/daily/intelligencer/2013/05/worst-room-in-nyc-tumblr-is-perfectly-pathetic.html" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="http://www.buzzfeed.com/ryanhatesthis/the-worst-room-tumblr-collects-all-of-the-worst-craigs-list" target="_blank">here</a>, <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=the+worst+room&aq=f&oq=the+worst+room&aqs=chrome.0.57j60l2j61l2j59.6654j0&sourceid=chrome&ie=UTF-8" target="_blank">...</a>). But it wouldn't be funny if it weren't true. There's a terrible shortage of apartments in New York City, and what's available is often laughably uninhabitable at infuriatingly high rents. Another year of high guidelines would undoubtedly send many renters over the edge, and into a market full of unaffordable "affordable housing" and luxury-priced shoe boxes.<br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-24865965849715524772013-05-09T11:47:00.000-07:002013-05-09T11:51:36.661-07:00(Un)affordable ApartmentsA good apartment is hard to find. As two recent stories
documented, even those supposedly “affordable” units included in large
developments are out of reach for the average New Yorker.<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="http://ny.curbed.com/archives/2013/05/07/you_must_make_73000_to_afford_this_affordable_housing.php">Curbed
pointed out</a> that the “affordable” apartments in one new TriBeCa tower are only available for households with incomes ranging from $73,166 to $150,325. That
would exclude the vast majority of renters, whose average income is about half
the low end of this scale. “Affordable” rents in this building begin at over
$2,000, nearly double the average rent per unit citywide.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y8a_9UXAKTc/UYrL8L1e8JI/AAAAAAAAAQU/Nacm38DBI04/s1600/Washington+Mews.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="268" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y8a_9UXAKTc/UYrL8L1e8JI/AAAAAAAAAQU/Nacm38DBI04/s400/Washington+Mews.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<o:p><br /></o:p></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
Uptown a bit, <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-hudson-yards-lags-affordable-housing-article-1.1337789">The
Daily News found</a> that the promised “affordable” apartments in the Hudson
Yards development have not materialized in the promised quantities, and those
that have been built are tiny. They write:</div>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
“Many
of those units are tiny studios and one-bedrooms of 400 to 600 square feet —
often far smaller than similar market-rate units in the same buildings. At one
site, the twin 60-story <st1:place w:st="on"><st1:placename w:st="on">Silver</st1:placename>
<st1:placetype w:st="on">Towers</st1:placetype></st1:place> on <st1:street w:st="on">W. 42nd St.</st1:street> and <st1:street w:st="on">11th Ave.</st1:street>,
developer<span class="apple-converted-space"> </span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;">Larry
Silverstein</span><span class="apple-converted-space"> </span>erected a
separate 88-unit 'affordable' building at the back of his complex. </blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
The
towers boast spacious and luxurious lobbies and the biggest indoor pool in the
city. The affordable building has a dark, tiny lobby that faces the back of an
MTA bus depot and the entrance to the Lincoln Tunnel.”</blockquote>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
Community Board 4, when they first rejected this plan,
<a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/gonzalez-hudson-yards-lags-affordable-housing-article-1.1337789">described</a>
this housing as <span style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">“separate and unequal,” saying that it has
“the look and feel [of] the maids’ quarters for the rest of the project.”</span><span style="border: 1pt none windowtext; padding: 0in;"><br />
<!--[if !supportLineBreakNewLine]--><br />
<!--[endif]--><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">It’s important to keep this in mind when people
point to subsidized housing- often in “<a href="http://www.nyshcr.org/Topics/Developers/MultifamilyDevelopment/8020HousingProgram.htm">80/20</a>”
packaging- as an alternative for those priced out of rent regulated housing.
The apartments created through these incentives are no replacement for
affordable, integrated rent stabilized housing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<br /></div>
<div style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin: 0in; mso-line-height-alt: 10.3pt; vertical-align: baseline;">
<span style="border: none windowtext 1.0pt; mso-border-alt: none windowtext 0in; padding: 0in;">At the preliminary vote, a landlord
representative stated that rent regulated housing is not the “housing of last
resort” for poor tenants. If they are priced out of rent regulated housing,
they are clearly not going to find a home in these “affordable” apartments. Waiting lists are growing for public housing. Where, exactly, should tenants go if rising
annual rent increases price them out of rent stabilized housing?</span><b><o:p></o:p></b></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-6167130562622610042013-05-07T07:56:00.000-07:002013-05-07T09:45:00.056-07:00NY Observer: "The Return of Hooverville"<span style="font-family: inherit;">The New York Observer has published <a href="http://observer.com/2013/04/the-return-of-hooverville-the-deepening-crisis-of-family-homelessness/?show=all" target="_blank">an important feature</a> about the explosion of homelessness in New York City. More and more families are entering the shelter system every day. Many of them have been priced out of their apartments, and cannot find new affordable accommodations. This is one piece of the growing affordability crises in New York, which tenants described to the Board in testimony on April 25th (see samples <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/testimony-tom-waters-css.html" target="_blank">here</a> and <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/05/testimony-gregory-lobo-jost-unhp.html" target="_blank">here</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The RGB alone cannot solve homelessness, but they have the power stop to the rent increases that have put so many families on the street. The "Supplemental Rent Increases" the board has considered in recent years have disproportionately hurt very low income tenants; stopping this practice would be an important step in the right direction.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;">An excerpt from <a href="http://observer.com/2013/04/the-return-of-hooverville-the-deepening-crisis-of-family-homelessness/?show=all" target="_blank">"The Return of Hooverville: The Deepening Crises of Family Homelessness"</a>:</span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Brooklyn is now the second most expensive place to live in America (after Manhattan), with townhouses that sell for $12 million and jars of pickles that sell for $9, but nearly half of its population can’t afford to live there. According to a recent study from the Center for an Urban Future, almost 40 percent of the borough’s population works in low-wage jobs, making less than $27,000 a year. At that salary, affordable rent (affordable is defined as costing no more than 30 percent of income) tops out at $675 a month. Minimum-wage workers can’t afford to pay more than $375 a month—a virtual impossibility.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">A lot of people make do, of course. They triple up with relatives, live four to a room, work two jobs, display the scrappy ingenuity and hardscrabble bravado that we like to think of as quintessentially New York, until something goes wrong.</span></blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The huge increase in families seeking shelter is proof of how precarious the lives of New York’s working poor are.</span></blockquote>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://observer.com/2013/04/the-return-of-hooverville-the-deepening-crisis-of-family-homelessness/?show=all" target="_blank">Click here</a> to read the full article.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span>Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-18638439110924762262013-05-03T10:31:00.001-07:002013-05-03T10:32:35.068-07:00Testimony: Gregory Lobo Jost, UNHPAt the apartment tenants' Invited Group Testimony before the RGB, University Neighborhood Housing Program Deputy Director Gregory Lobo Jost presented some extremely important information gathered and presented in UNHP's new report, <a href="http://unhp.org/pdf/NowhereToGo.pdf" target="_blank">Nowhere to Go: A Crises of Affordability in the Bronx</a>. UNHP's testimony and report take a comprehensive look at the housing affordability crises in the Bronx, and ask how it is that in many neighborhoods, more than half the renters spend in excess of 50% of their income on rent. <i>Nowhere to Go </i>looks at numerous factors, including changes in the regional economy, immigration patterns, historic ebbs and flows of population, rates of eviction in Bronx housing court, and more. One thing is certain: with Bronx tenants suffering through outrages rent burdens, a high RGB rent increase will be a severe hardship for many tenants.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IXCOswBK7uk/UYP0L5MF1BI/AAAAAAAAAQA/9TgfpWTkBkQ/s1600/UNHP.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="367" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-IXCOswBK7uk/UYP0L5MF1BI/AAAAAAAAAQA/9TgfpWTkBkQ/s400/UNHP.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-76042269056177393342013-05-01T11:40:00.000-07:002013-05-03T10:17:37.717-07:00The Preliminary Vote<span style="font-family: inherit;">Last night, the RGB conducted their
preliminary vote, and set a range of percentages for the board to consider at
the final vote in June. For the most part, the proceedings went according to
schedule: the owner representatives proposed a high guideline (7% for 1-year leases and 11% for 2-year leases); the tenant representatives proposed a rent
freeze; both were rejected by the public members, who instead voted as a block
for the Chair’s proposal (<a href="http://www.housingnyc.com/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">3.25% - 6.25% for 1- year leases and 5% - 9.5% for 2-year leases</a>). A similar dynamic was at play for the SRO vote: landlords
proposed a 3% increase, and were rejected; tenants proposed 0%, and were
rejected (with one abstention); the Chair proposed <a href="http://www.housingnyc.com/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">a range of 0% - 3% increases, effecting only buildings with 85% or more occupied SROs</a>, and it was passed
unanimously. This is what was reported in the press, which tends to focus on
the familiar “</span> horse race<span style="font-family: inherit;">” element of the RGB. With landlords and tenants
unhappy, this trope implies, the RGB must be doing the right thing.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This narrative, however, glosses over
some interesting moments in the margins. It fails, for example, to look
historically at these rates. Since the RGB began using a range for their preliminary vote
in 2004, the average range has been 2.89% – 5.14% for 1-year leases, and 5.1% –
7.69% for 2-year leases. Last night’s vote resulted in an uncommonly high
range.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The public narrative also fails to interrogate
the source of these approved preliminary guidelines. As the Chair stated during
the vote, they come straight out of the <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/research/pdf_reports/pioc13.pdf">Price
Index of Operating Costs (PIOC) report,</a> which closes with a sample set of
guidelines that would keep landlords profits steady. Readers of the Rent
Guidelines Blog know that we are critical of the PIOC’s centrality in Board
decisions- it is just one report produced by RGB staff, and it is not in and of
itself an accurate measure of landlord costs. <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/analysis-income-and-expense-study-and.html">As
discussed earlier</a>, it is simply a measure of <i>prices</i>, not <i>costs</i>.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The PIOC names a “‘Net Revenue’
Commensurate Adjustment with Vacancy Increase”, which is an estimate of how
much rents would have to rise to keep landlords’ Net Operating Incomes steady,
with the assumption that some percentage of tenants will leave and the
landlords will receive vacancy bonuses. What would that increase be? <a href="http://www.housingnyc.com/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">3.25% for1-year leases, and 6.25% for 2-year leases</a>, exactly the low-end of the increase
proposed by the Board Chair and approved by all of the public members. The PIOC
also names a “‘Net Revenue’ Commensurate Adjustment”, assuming no vacancy
bonuses will be taken by the landlord. This figure is listed as 5% for 1-year
leases, and 9% for 2-year leases. The high end of the range voted on last night
comes directly from these figures: <a href="http://www.housingnyc.com/downloads/guidelines/RGBproposed2013.pdf" target="_blank">5% for 1-year leases, and 9.5% for 2-years</a>.
(It is not at all clear, however, why the Board voted to grant the landlords an
extra half percent on the high end of the 2-year lease range.)<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">After months of public meetings,
pouring over scores of data and debating their merits, the board settled on the
figures provided for them in the PIOC to keep landlords whole. What about the <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/research/pdf_reports/ia13.pdf">Income and
Affordability study</a>, which outlined the <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/analysis-income-and-affordability-study.html">woeful
economic circumstances for tenants</a>? What about the <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/research/pdf_reports/ie13.pdf">Income and
Expense study</a>, which showed <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/analysis-income-and-expense-study-and.html">rising
revenues for landlords</a> in an otherwise stagnant economy? What about the <a href="http://www.nycrgb.org/downloads/research/pdf_reports/13MSR.pdf">Mortgage
Survey</a>, which showed <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/03/analysis-mortgage-survey-report.html">a
healthy market for buying and selling rent stabilized properties</a>? What
about the <a href="http://furmancenter.org/files/publications/SandysEffectsOnHousingInNYC.pdf">report
from the Furman Center</a>, which spoke to the <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/03/beginning-to-assess-sandys-impact-on.html">crises
facing thousands of tenants after Hurricane Sandy</a>? What about the
testimonies from Bobby Sackman, <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/testimony-tom-waters-css.html">Tom
Waters</a>, <a href="http://unhp.org/pdf/NowhereToGo.pdf" target="_blank">Gregory Lobo Jost</a> and Barika Williams, which spoke both to tenant
hardships and opportunities for landlords to reduce costs at no expense to
tenants? For that matter, what about the landlord’s testimony, which confirmed
that the vast majority of rent stabilized apartments are owned by very large
real estate companies, often controlled by private equity? All of these factors
should have pointed to a lower preliminary guideline. The fact that the Board
voted on the numbers straight out of the PIOC, and even inflated them slightly,
is discouraging to tenants and their advocates.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It is also interesting that this year’s
range <i>starts</i> at a rate higher than
last year’s final guideline, all but assuring a rise in the rate of rent
increases for 2013. Even if they disagree on the merits of a rent freeze, it is
disappointing that the board seems to have foreclosed on the possibility of a
lower rent increase this year.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Finally,
the Board Chair rejected amendments from both owner and tenant representatives
to carve out more specific guidelines. The owner representatives, as usual,
proposed a “supplemental rent increase,” imposing a disproportionate rent
increase on lower rent apartments. As <a href="http://rentguidelines.blogspot.com/2013/04/testimony-tom-waters-css.html">CSS’
testimony shows</a>, this increase falls primarily on low income tenants, and
can therefore be characterized as a poor tax. We commend the Chair for
rejecting this supplemental increase, and urge the Board to reject it at its
final vote in June.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The
Board also rejected provisos from the tenant members, which would have limited
rent increases to buildings with a solid majority of rent stabilized
apartments. Buildings that are 60% or more market rate, they argued, do not
need RGB rent increases to meet expenses. This proviso was also rejected as a
matter of procedure- the Chair decided that provisos will only be heard at the
final vote, after tenants and owners have had a chance to testify before the
board. We therefore encourage tenants to talk about how much of their building
they believe has been decontrolled, and we encourage board members to ask
landlords what percent of their stock is subject to rent regulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This year's preliminary vote established a historically high range of rates. We urge the board,
in its internal deliberations and its final vote, to consider establishing the
lowest possible guideline.</span></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-30121595795169764352013-04-30T11:55:00.001-07:002013-05-01T12:13:22.216-07:00Testimony: Tom Waters, CSS<div style="text-align: center;">
</div>
Last week, the RGB heard testimony from advocates for apartment tenants, apartment owners, and SRO tenants. (SRO owners, for whatever reason, declined to testify.) Tom Waters, Housing Policy Analyst for the Community Service Society, spoke expertly about the increasing hardships facing tenants, the pressures rising rent burdens put on households, and the regressive nature of the "supplemental increases" that the board has passed in recent years. Below is a transcript of Mr. Waters' testimony, with accompanying charts. For more analysis, check out CSS' new housing report, "<a href="http://b.3cdn.net/nycss/1c9817fd6343bf9c88_lkm6va7t8.pdf" target="_blank">Good Place to Live Hard Place to Work</a>", written by Tom Waters and Victor Bach.<br />
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<br /></div>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EbOaOrwgv_c/UYANDgYnfdI/AAAAAAAAAO4/drR0PTz265g/s1600/CSS+logo.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.cssny.org/">http://www.cssny.org</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: 14pt;">Invited
Testimony</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tom Waters and Victor Bach <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Housing
Policy Analysts</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Community Service Society of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">At Public
Meeting<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on"><span style="font-size: 14pt;">New York City</span></st1:place></st1:city><span style="font-size: 14pt;"> Rent Guidelines Board<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">April
25, 2013<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you for the
opportunity to present our concerns about the potential impact of this year’s
RGB decisions on low-income New Yorkers. Rent-regulated
apartments are still the primary source of housing for the city’s 1.1 million low-income<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[1]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> households—about
two out of five of these families will be affected by the rent guideline
increases set by this body. Only 18 percent of the city’s low-income rent
stabilized tenants have a Section 8 voucher, leaving more than 336,000 poor and
near-poor households without one. The slow recovery of the city’s economy is
still not producing enough jobs, with dire consequences for these low-income
renters. The unemployment rate remains at 8.9 percent,<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[2]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> almost
double its level before the financial crisis of 2007.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YqAkNt9lE1w/UYANYoO8cKI/AAAAAAAAAPA/zoVFqQJz7sw/s1600/CSS+chart+1.jpg" imageanchor="1"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="242" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-YqAkNt9lE1w/UYANYoO8cKI/AAAAAAAAAPA/zoVFqQJz7sw/s400/CSS+chart+1.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tenant
Experience in the Private Rental Market, Pre- and Post-Recession<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The 2011 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey and
the 2011 American Community Survey, both conducted by the U.S. Bureau of the
Census, are still the most recent sources of statistical information on <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>’s rents and
incomes. These surveys allow us to draw a picture of <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state> tenant experience before and after
the recession. The city’s continued high unemployment rate suggests that this
picture remains largely accurate in 2013. <b><o:p></o:p></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Chart 2 describes rent and income shifts
experienced by tenants in private unassisted rentals over the three most recent
HVS studies conducted in 2005, 2008, and 2011. Net increases in median rents
over the six-year period vastly outpaced net gains in median incomes for the
typical renter. Overall, rents soared to a net gain of 31 percent over the six
years, compared to an income gain of only 12 percent. The disparity between the
two is a clear indication of rapidly rising rent burdens, the portion of
household income that is paid for rent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The disparity between rent and income trends is
evident in both rent-regulated and unregulated apartments. Even under regulated
rents, the median contract rent escalated by 26 percent over the six years,
more than twice the 12 percent net increase in median renter income. In
unregulated units, rents increased by 36 percent against an increase in tenant
incomes of 25 percent. Belts tightened for all tenants, regulated and
unregulated, as rent escalation took a larger and larger bite out of household
income, leaving families with less residual income to cover other non-housing
living costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The triennial HVS surveys also
confirm the dramatic impact of the recession on renter incomes and their
ability to keep up with rising rents. Median income increases roughly
paralleled rent increases through 2008, a growth period in the local economy,
after which there is post-recession fall-off in household incomes while median
rents continue to escalate.</span></div>
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<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 487px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ALL PRIVATE RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2005<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$900 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,176 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$38,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
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<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$44,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$45,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
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<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
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<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">REGULATED RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
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<br /></div>
</td>
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<br /></div>
</td>
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<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$832 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$909 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,050 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$33,700 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$38,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$38,132 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">UNREGULATED RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,200 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,369 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 144.8pt;" valign="bottom" width="241"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$44,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$50,200 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$55,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The ACS data provide a clearer
annual picture of rent and renter income trends from 2005 through 2010, which
we compare to city unemployment<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[3]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>
in Chart 3. Again, the picture is one of persistently rising median rents
through the six years against median renter incomes that rose through 2008 and
fell off dramatically while the unemployment rate was high from 2009 to 2011. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Unemployment declined from 2005 to 2008 during the
city’s upward economic cycle, then spiked in 2009 and 2010 following the
recession.<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[4]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span> Per
capita household residual income—the income remaining per member once rent is
paid—is arguably the best proxy for rent-income stresses, because it takes into
account household size. As a whole New York tenants across the rental sectors
experienced a net loss of over 2 percent in residual per capita income
(constant 2010 dollars), largely occurring after 2008. Once the recession
struck, <st1:state w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York</st1:place></st1:state>
renters, regardless of income, had to tighten their belts to make ends meet and
keep up with market rents that persistently increased while rising unemployment
and an unfavorable labor market were taking a toll on tenant incomes.<span style="line-height: 150%; text-indent: 0.5in;"> </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1028" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:361.2pt;height:217.2pt;
visibility:visible'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\sstein\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image006.png"
o:title=""/>
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="f"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DO3tTns2h-g/UYAN7T8gyMI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/33rTXPq85KQ/s1600/CSS+chart+3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DO3tTns2h-g/UYAN7T8gyMI/AAAAAAAAAPQ/33rTXPq85KQ/s400/CSS+chart+3.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">It can be assumed that the picture for renters in
unassisted private apartments, particularly lower-income renters, is bleaker
than the ACS data indicate. ACS data do not distinguish among the range of housing
types that renters occupy, from public housing to private government-subsidized
housing, to private unassisted rentals, both regulated and unregulated. As a
result the ACS renter population includes over 300,000 households who live in
government-assisted housing, where rents are affordable and based on income.
Even so, the ACS data point to a rapid rise in the incidence of high gross rent
burdens (rent plus utilities at 50 percent or more of income) to new highs over
the 5-year period, with a net 3.7 point post-recession increase between 2008
and 2011. (See Chart 4.)</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="_x0000_i1029" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:361.2pt;height:217.2pt;
visibility:visible'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\sstein\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image008.png"
o:title=""/>
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="f"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hdzAAv6GhC0/UYAOLL22R1I/AAAAAAAAAPY/XTAN8e0oYcc/s1600/CSS+chart+4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hdzAAv6GhC0/UYAOLL22R1I/AAAAAAAAAPY/XTAN8e0oYcc/s400/CSS+chart+4.jpg" width="400" /></a></span></b></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Low-Income Tenants in the Private Rental Market, Pre- and
Post-Recession<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b> </b>The experience of low-income
tenants in the private rental market mirrors that of renters throughout the
city. But because their unemployment rates are roughly double those of renters
as a whole<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[5]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>,
the impacts on rent-income stresses and residual incomes is much more severe. Chart
5 confirms the extent to which net rent increases over the 6-year period
outpaced income gains. Surprisingly, based on the 2005 starting points, the net
rent increases in regulated units (29 percent) exceeded those in unregulated
apartments (25 percent). By comparison, household incomes increased by from 14
percent. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> Residual
per capita incomes declined sharply by 11 percent for low-income renters, but
the impact was far more severe in the unregulated market (21 percent decrease)
than in the regulated market (7 percent decrease). In short, the dynamics of an
escalating local rental market, combined with the post-recession effects on
employment and income, have left low-income renters in far worse economic
circumstances than they were in before the recession.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fuGfqDVkmL0/UYAOXATyAoI/AAAAAAAAAPg/eICI9lLMMFo/s1600/CSS+chart+5.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="251" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fuGfqDVkmL0/UYAOXATyAoI/AAAAAAAAAPg/eICI9lLMMFo/s400/CSS+chart+5.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<!--[if gte vml 1]><v:shape
id="Chart_x0020_3" o:spid="_x0000_i1030" type="#_x0000_t75" style='width:361.2pt;
height:226.8pt;visibility:visible'>
<v:imagedata src="file:///C:\DOCUME~1\sstein\LOCALS~1\Temp\msohtml1\01\clip_image010.png"
o:title=""/>
<o:lock v:ext="edit" aspectratio="f"/>
</v:shape><![endif]--><!--[if !vml]--><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: inherit;"><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="MsoNormalTable" style="border-collapse: collapse; margin-left: 5.4pt; mso-padding-alt: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-yfti-tbllook: 1184; width: 487px;">
<tbody>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-firstrow: yes; mso-yfti-irow: 0;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">ALL PRIVATE RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2005<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2008<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">2011<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 1;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$800 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$900 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 2;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$15,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$16,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$17,160 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 3;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. PC Res Inc Mo ($2011)<a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_edn6" name="_ednref6" title=""><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="color: black; font-size: 11pt;">[6]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span></a><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$388 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$371 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$346 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 4;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">REGULATED RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 5;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$750 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$830 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$966 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 6;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$14,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$15,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$16,220 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 7;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. PC Res Inc Mo ($2011)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$395 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$377 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$367 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 8;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">UNREGULATED RENTALS<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 9;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Contract Rent<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$920 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,050 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$1,150 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 10;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. Household Income<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$16,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$18,000 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$18,590 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
<tr style="height: 15.0pt; mso-yfti-irow: 11; mso-yfti-lastrow: yes;">
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 148.5pt;" valign="bottom" width="248"><div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Med. PC Res Inc Mo ($2011)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 45.4pt;" valign="bottom" width="76"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$408 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$368 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
<td nowrap="" style="height: 15.0pt; padding: 0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; width: 49.1pt;" valign="bottom" width="82"><div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: 11pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">$323 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"> As a
result, median rent burdens and the incidence of high rent burdens (rent at 50
percent or more – this time not including utilities) among low-income renters
reached a 6-year high as of 2011. (See Chart 6.) Estimates based on the CSS
subsample<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><!--[if !supportFootnotes]--><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-size: 12pt;">[7]</span></span><!--[endif]--></span>
indicate a 4-point increase in median rent burdens in both regulated and
unregulated apartments—a rise from 45 to 49 percent in regulated units by 2011,
and from 48 to 51 percent in unregulated units. The growing incidence of high
rent burdens was even more dramatic. By 2011, a majority (51 percent) of
low-income renters in the market were carrying burdens of at least half their
incomes, up from 43 percent in 2005. In the regulated stock, high rent burdens
rose from 45 to 49 percent of low-income families. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
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o:title=""/>
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<b><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nf2UT6vHCDQ/UYAOlhTjYjI/AAAAAAAAAPo/cyTnJZRybao/s1600/CSS+chart+6.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nf2UT6vHCDQ/UYAOlhTjYjI/AAAAAAAAAPo/cyTnJZRybao/s400/CSS+chart+6.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Supplemental rent increases<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The New York City Rent Guidelines
Board sometimes considers adding extra rent increases for apartments renting
for under $1,000. They added such a supplemental increase last year. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This supplemental increase would
seem to be based on the assumption that a $1,000 rent is excessively low. But
from the point of view of affordability, this is simply not true. In 2010, the
median income for rent-stabilized tenants was $38,000. That means that for half
of the tenants affected by the RGB’s actions, an affordable rent (30 percent of
income) is no more than $950. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">The tenants living in the city’s
under-$1,000 rent-stabilized apartments are primarily people who cannot afford
more. Their median income is $28,000, and half of them have incomes below twice
the poverty line (23 percent poor and 29 percent near-poor). More than half of
these tenants (54 percent) live in lower-rent areas of the Bronx, Brooklyn,
Queens, and <st1:place w:st="on">Staten Island</st1:place>. Just 10 percent
live in Manhattan below Harlem, 13 percent in Upper Manhattan, 8 percent in the
gentrifying areas of Brooklyn and Queens adjacent to Manhattan, and 15 percent
in higher-rent outer-ring neighborhoods such as Flushing or Bay Ridge. Three
quarters of these tenants are people of color: 30 percent black, 38 percent
Latino, and 6 percent Asian. Almost half (47 percent) are in households headed
by an immigrant. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Conclusions<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In light of rent escalation trends that persisted
before and since the recession struck the city, it would appear that the
private rental industry has not suffered a decline as a result of the economic
crisis, certainly not a decline comparable to the losses in income and
employment that continue to beset New York renters, particularly low-income
tenants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">Certainly the impacts of a global recession and
financial crisis on the income and employment of New Yorkers, and their ability
to pay for their apartments, are hardly within the control of the city or of
the RGB. However, RGB decisions over recent years have contributed
significantly to the growing rental affordability crisis at this stage of the
presumed recovery. At a time when the RGB should have exercised restraint to
ease the impacts of the recession on its struggling resident constituency, it
has tended to err on the side of owners by granting larger guideline increases
than were necessary. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">In recent years, the RGB has overestimated
projected operating costs compared to the actual cost increases later reported
in owner surveys, resulting in excessively high guidelines. The 2009 Price
Index of Operating Costs projected a 4 percent increase, and the RGB adopted a
guideline of 3 percent – a little more than enough to cover the projected
increase in expenses, given that operating costs consume less than 75 percent of
rent. But the actual increase in costs
as measured by Real Property Income and expense statements was only 0.1 percent.
In 2010 and 2011, the Price Index again greatly overestimated cost increases.
Chart 7 shows the evolution of the Price Index, rent guidelines, and RPIE costs
since 1990, clearly showing the great divergence in recent years. This divergence has resulted in higher,
unaffordable rent increases for tenants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left; text-indent: 0.5in;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">This is an important time for the RGB to reflect on
and revise the methodology it uses to determine what it considers reasonable
rent guideline increases. Before and since the recession struck the city, it
has tended to over-compensate owners to the expense of rent-stabilized tenants.
This is certainly a time for the RGB to exercise greater restraint by keeping
guideline increases to a minimum, for an industry that appears to be prospering
in the wake of recession. RGB should consider its unique potential contribution
to stabilizing the rental market and easing the rent-income stresses that New
Yorkers continue to experience.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8oL8iLIqY4E/UYAO0ywAfHI/AAAAAAAAAPw/4q9HAUJqb-o/s1600/CSS+chart+7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="263" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-8oL8iLIqY4E/UYAO0ywAfHI/AAAAAAAAAPw/4q9HAUJqb-o/s400/CSS+chart+7.jpg" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<br />
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: inherit;">Recommendations
<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;">1)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->CSS urges the
New York City Rent Guidelines Board to take into account the disastrous effects
of the recession on many New Yorkers, regardless of income, and exercise overdue
restraint in setting new, minimal rent guideline increases. In past years CSS
has recommended a rent freeze; we continue to do so in light of the persistent
rent escalation that has benefited the industry in the face of a major economic
set-back for many tenants. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left; text-indent: -0.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: inherit;">2)<span style="font-size: 7pt; line-height: normal;">
</span><!--[endif]-->CSS urges the
RGB to refrain from further supplemental increases at lower rent levels—what
tenant advocates refer to as the “poor tax.” RGB should do its best to minimize
increases at the low-rent levels where the poorest tenants tend to live.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b></b></span><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><span style="font-style: italic;"><br /></span></b></span></div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b>
</b>
</span><br />
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;">APPENDIX: <u>CSS Renter Sub-Sample</u></span></i></b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Because
of unavoidable inconsistencies and inaccuracies, in respondent reporting of
household income and contract rent, this analysis of rent burdens is based on a
sub-sample of renter households within each of the HVS samples used. The CSS
renter sub-sample for each HVS year was selected on the following basis:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1) Rent-paying households only
(exclude rent-free and owned housing)<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2) Head of household age at least
25 and less than 65. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 3) Households with a positive HVS
contract rent burden<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 4) Households within the middle
90 percent of the income distribution for renters<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">(excludes 5-percent outliers at either extreme) . The
resulting household income intervals used for each HVS year are as follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2011 $7,896 to $175,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2008 $6,912 to $160,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2005 $6,006 to $133,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2002 $6,000 to $130,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1999 $5,700 to $131,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1996 $5,000 to $119,950<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">5) Households within the middle 90 percent of the contract
rent distribution for renters (excludes 5-percent outliers at either extreme.)
The resulting contract rent distributions used for each HVS year are as
follows:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2011 $342 to $2,800 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2008 $252 to $2,500 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2005 $208 to $2,100 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2002 $200 to $1,900 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1999 $177 to $1,550 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1996 $163 to $1,300 monthly<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">6) Residual (after-rent) household income of at least $100
monthly, in 2002 dollars. For each HVS year, the residual income threshold, in
2002 dollars, was:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2011 $129<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2008 $123<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2005 $111<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 2002 $100<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1999 $93<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-left: 0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> 1996 $87<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The
resulting CSS sub-sample can be considered a more "mainstream" sample
of <st1:city w:st="on"><st1:place w:st="on">New York City</st1:place></st1:city>
renters than the HVS renter sample as a whole. The comparison below of some of
the key parameters for each of the two samples suggests that the CSS results
are more likely to underestimate rent burdens and related measures of
rent-income pressures for the city as a whole. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Comparison: HVS and CSS Renter Samples<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <u>1996</u> <u>1999</u> <u>2002</u> <u>2005</u> <u>2008</u> <u>2011</u><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Income <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-right: -0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HVS: $24,680 $27,600 $32,000 $33,904
$40,000 $40,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="margin-right: -0.5in; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CSS: $31,000 $35,000 $39,000 $40,050
$46,400 $50,000<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Contract Rent <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HVS: $ 600 $ 648 $
706 $ 850 $ 950 $1,100<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CSS: $ 600 $ 650 $ 730 $
850 $ 996 $1,100<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Median Contract Rent Burden <o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HVS: 28
% 27 % 27 % 28 %
29 % 31 %<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CSS: 24
% 23 % 23 % 25 %
25 % 27 %<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Percent Households with High
Burdens (50% or more)<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">HVS: 26
% 26 % 23 % 26 %
26 % 29 %<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">CSS:
12
% 12 % 12 % 14 %
15 % 18 %<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
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<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_ednref1" name="_edn1" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><b><span style="font-size: 12pt;">ENDNOTES</span></b></span></span></div>
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<span class="MsoEndnoteReference"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">1</span> Preliminary estimate from the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<sup><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br /></span></sup></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">2 </span>We use the term “low-income” to refer to
households with incomes no greater than twice the federal poverty threshold, in
2010 about $34,114 for a family of three persons. Household incomes recorded in
each HVS are for the previous calendar year. Low-income households include the
poor, as well as the “near-poor” with incomes above poverty but no greater than
twice the poverty threshold.</span></div>
</div>
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<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn3">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-size: x-small;">3 </span>Unemployment rates are
calculated by the Bureau of Labor Statistics from the Census Bureau’s Current
Population Survey.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn4">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_ednref4" name="_edn4" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">4</span> Unemployment
figures are for individuals at least 18 years old and below 65.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn5">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_ednref5" name="_edn5" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">5</span> ACS
2005-2010 data estimate renter unemployment rates of 9, 8, and 12% for 2005,
2008, and 2010 respectively, against unemployment rates of 19, 15, and 22 % for
low-income renters.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn6">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_ednref6" name="_edn6" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">6</span> Median
monthly per capita residual income figures were calculated only for the CSS
renter subsample (See Appendix)</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div id="edn7">
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><a href="file:///C:/Documents%20and%20Settings/sstein/Local%20Settings/Temporary%20Internet%20Files/OLK116/RGB%202013%20testimony.doc#_ednref7" name="_edn7" title=""></a><span class="MsoEndnoteReference">7</span> For
description of the CSS subsample, see Appendix.</span></div>
<div class="MsoEndnoteText" style="text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
</div>
</div>
<br />Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4771476081238116109.post-63141764257418233262013-04-29T11:38:00.001-07:002013-04-29T11:39:27.978-07:00Preliminary Vote: Tuesday, April 30th<span style="font-family: inherit;">Tomorrow evening, the NYC Rent Guidelines Board will hold
their preliminary vote on this year’s rent adjustment for rent stabilized
apartments and SROs. In recent years, they have opted to vote on a range of
increases (i.e. 0% - 3%). While the Board is not legally obligated to choose a
final guideline that fits within the range they approve at the preliminary vote,
they have often voted that way in the past.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">What would be an acceptable preliminary guideline? Well, the
landlords’ lobbyists have suggested an increase of 7% for one year leases and
11% for two year leases. We consider this to be dangerously high. It would
represent an increase far in excess of the data presented by RGB staff, and would
drive many rent stabilized apartments out the realm of affordability and
towards deregulation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">We are asking the Board to take seriously the tenant
movement’s entreaty: consider a 0% adjustment. We ask that they consider the
possibility of holding rents steady for the year, after decades of rent
increases which have been unaffordable to many low and moderate income tenants-
and in light of voluminous data suggesting that rents have increased beyond all
other economic markers.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: inherit;">If you are interested in attending the preliminary vote, it
will take place on April 30<sup>th</sup> at 5:30 pm at <a href="https://maps.google.com/maps?q=1+Bowling+Green&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=0x89c25a13e871adab:0xa2961666d6fb051,1+Bowling+Green,+New+York,+NY+10004&gl=us&ei=3r1-UbK4L4eq4APW0oGACA&ved=0CD0Q8gEwAQ" target="_blank">1 <st1:place w:st="on">Bowling Green</st1:place></a> (the Alexander Hamilton US
Customs House). Please note that the preliminary vote will not take place at
Cooper Union, as it has in recent years.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
Unknownnoreply@blogger.com0