NYC's Rent-Stabilized Apartments Are Set To Get More Expensive

NEW YORK, NY — Tenants of New York City's 1 million rent-stabilized apartments could see rent hikes as large as 3.75 percent in the fall under a proposal the Rent Guidelines Board adopted Thursday. The board voted to consider increases of 0.75 to 2.75 percent for one-year leases and 1.75 to 3.75 percent for two-year leases.

The board won't vote on final hikes until late June. But the high end of the proposed ranges would represent the largest allowed increases since 2013.

Thursday's vote during a reportedly rowdy meeting at Cooper Union marked the start of an annual process to determine how much more landlords of the city's rent-stabilized apartments, lofts and hotels can force their tenants to pay.

The hikes on the table, which would take effect Oct. 1, are larger than what the Rent Guidelines Board has approved so far under Mayor Bill de Blasio. Rents for one-year leases were frozen for two years and haven't increased more than 1.25 percent since 2014. Two-year lease hikes in that time have ranged from 2 to 2.75 percent.

Tenants are upset that the board isn't considering another rent freeze, said Angel Vera, a housing organizer with Make the Road New York.

The proposal is better than the large hikes approved under former Mayor Michael Bloomberg, Vera said, but this year's increases would still be a burden to tenants, especially the low-income and immigrant New Yorkers who benefit from rent stabilization.

"I think it’s fair that New York City should consider tenants’ needs," Vera said.

But landlords say the plan is a raw deal for them, too. The Rent Stabilization Association, which represents 25,000 landlords of rent-stabilized apartments, wants increases of 4 percent for one-year leases and 7 percent for two-year leases, citing increases to their operating costs.

Joseph Strasburg, the association's president, said the board's landlord representatives weren't even allowed to propose a motion at the meeting.

"With the abysmally low numbers this Board has put on the table, it is clear that City Hall is still calling the shots," Strasburg said in a statement Thursday night. "This is unacceptable and continues to threaten the health of the City’s affordable housing stock."

Tenants don't want to put landlords out of business, Vera said, but their bottom line shouldn't come at tenants' expense.

"We agree that real estate should keep making profit but not because of tenants’ suffering," Vera said.

The Rent Guidelines Board will hear testimony on the proposed hikes at five meetings in June before voting on a final plan June 26. The full schedule is available here.

(Lead image: Apartment buildings are pictured in Chelsea, Manhattan in January 2018. Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)