From rent regulations renewal in Albany to decisions about the future of NYCHA to the roll-out of the mayor’s plan for 200,000 units of subsidized housing, 2015 will see a crucial test of efforts to keep New York affordable. All City Limits reporting on New York’s housing crisis is supported by the Charles H. Revson Foundation.
Advocates disputed media reports that efforts to reform 421-a and repeal vacancy decontrol—two priorities of Mayor de Blasio—were dead, as a report found a huge loss of affordable apartments from 2002 to 2014.
Many people agree that New York City’s property tax system is marred by inequities and the unintended consequences of attempts to address them. But reforms could be costly or create winners and losers.
As tenants rallied in Albany to call for saving and strengthening rent regulations, one Asssembly member called for changes to assist the overlooked regulated tenants of three non-NYC counties.
The tax break now at the center of negotiations in Albany over essential city housing policies is really rather complicated. Here are the basics.
For months tenant advocates have waited and wondered what Gov. Cuomo’s position on rent regulations would be. Now they’ve gone from wondering where the governor stands to fretting about whether he can deliver.
The housing-policy perfect storm that was visible on the radar months ago has arrived right on time: 10 days from the deadline for the state to renew rent regulations and the 421-a tax abatement program, there’s no hint of an agreement. Here’s a pocket guide to what’s at stake and where the players stand.
Depending on whom you ask, the 421-a tax exemption is an inexcusable boondoggle, an indispensable economic engine or a flawed but useful tool that can be salvaged. Let’s start simply: Who’s getting it?
From 2007 through 2014, nearly 5,000 people were “permanently excluded” from NYCHA because of an arrest—not necessarily a conviction—on or near NYCHA property.
During the Bloomberg administration, rents were hiked dramatically at one Brooklyn complex in order to keep it operating. The city believes the move preserved a Mitchell-Lama development. Some tenants say it did so in name only.
In the aftermath of the deadly March 26 blast, rent-stabilized tenants whose apartments were destroyed may have a right to return—depending on what happens at the site and who’s deemed responsible for the blast.
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