Sheldon Silver urges more protection for renters as regulated apartments vanish
Sunday, March 13th 2011, 10:58 PM
Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver is ratcheting up his campaign to extend and expand the city's rent regulations."It's time to declare once again a housing emergency," Silver said Sunday as he gathered 25 members of his Democratic conference on the City Hall steps to release a report on what Silver called a housing crisis in New York.
The report, from the Community Service Society, found that more than 10,000 rent-regulated apartments are removed every year from the city's affordable housing rolls.
"Affordable housing for our working families is under threat of disappearing every day," Silver said as he blasted landlords who use "loopholes" to raise rents.
"Vacancy decontrol and exorbitant rent hikes are rapidly eroding our stock of affordable housing," he charged.
The city's current rent regulations will expire in June unless Silver can cut a deal with Gov. Cuomo and the Republican-controlled Senate to renew them.
An Assembly bill introduced in January would make it more difficult for landlords to raise rents, lower the allowable increases following apartment renovations and vacancies and increase the rent ceiling for stabilized apartments from $2,000 to $3,000 per month.
A spokesman for Cuomo wouldn't comment on the Assembly bill but said the governor supports rent regulation and wants an agreement before the law expires.
A spokesman for Republican Senate leader Dean Skelos says he's focused on the April 1 deadline for the state budget and doesn't yet have a position on the rent bill.
Silver has pushed to make the bill a part of budget negotiations. It's a Democratic priority that could help his conference swallow some of the deep budget cuts favored by Republicans.
Silver has also discussed tying the rent bill to Republican priorities like extending a tax break for developers known as 421-A.
"We are anticipating that we will have success," Silver said. "I have spoken to my Senate counterparts. I have spoken to the governor repeatedly, and we are confident that the governor will join us in making a priority about enhancement of rent regulation as we go forward."
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2011/03/14/2011-03-14_silver_urges_more_protection_for_renters_as_regulated_apts_vanish_saying_city_ha.html#ixzz1GdTBp8yC
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