Rent Board Raises Rates for Stabilized Apartments

By Kevin Korber of Village Confidential

New York City’s Rent Guidelines Board agreed to an increase in rates for leasers of stabilized apartments in New York yesterday. The approved changes would raise the limit on rent hikes to 3.75 percent on one-year leases and 7.25 percent on two-year leases.

The vote comes after the state agreed, at the last minute, to extend current statewide rent regulations until new laws can be agreed upon. As with the controversy upstate, city tenants have taken issue with the steady rent increases.  Joe Strasburg, chairman of the Rent Stabilization Association, told the New York Post that the decision was yet another step towards the elimination of affordable housing in New York.

The meeting, held at Cooper Union, was fraught with tension as tenants voiced their anger at the Rent Guidelines Board. Protests were held outside of Cooper Union as tenants objected to what they see as landlord greed.  New York’s rent-stabilized apartments are viewed as the last refuge for affordable housing in a city that is getting progressively more expensive.

Jesse Duperon, a 51-year-old East Village resident, told the New York Daily News that the decision was “economic injustice.” She added, “They’re chasing us out of our own city.”

The board decision is the latest increase for rentals in New York. Last October, rent hike limits on New York apartments increased to 2.25 percent for one-year leases and 4.25 percent for two-year leases.