After the committee tasked with setting rates approved a range of possible increases at a raucous , preliminary , on Tuesday, as tenants and their table representatives walked out in opposition, about 2 million New Yorkers who live in stabilized apartments are likely to see their rents rise for the second time in a column.
The rest of the , the Rent Guidelines Board, a nine-person panel headed by the mayor that also includes two owner representatives and five public ones, approved rent increases of 2 % to 4 % for one-year leases and 4 % and 6 % for two-year leases. These figures will be finalized at a vote later on June 17; they will be finalized at a vote later on June 17. After client members Genesis Aquino and Adán Soltren abandoned the vote, Soltren stated that the only voting we’ll be casting evening is one of no confidence in this president and this table, and the vote was 5 to 2 with two nays.
It comes amid a , generally poor accommodation shortage , and continued affordability crisis where , only half of New Yorkers are earning enough , to make a life.
Tuesday’s voting, hosted at LaGuardia Community College in Long Island City, was part of the laden annual tradition of tenant and landlord groups , lobbying the board , for fee reductions and book increases, both, that would change about 1 million apartments across the city.
Tens of thousands of people who spoke, chanted, and chanted banners in four different languages at the event were able to feel the frustration. Nestor Davidson, the head of the board, was completely drowned out by an unending cries of” Rent rollback” and boos.
Aquino remarked,” I would say no if you asked me if the voices of the New York City tenants mattered in this process.” ” The process is a sham”.
Crystal Velasquez, 48, has lived in a rent- stabilized apartment in Flushing for 15 years.
” There’s just no way that the average person can keep up with these rent increases”, she said. ” Rent stabilization is the best deal we’ve got, and even that is not complete protection”.
Ramón Méndez- Rivas, 31, is a tenant leader with the nonprofit , Woodside on the Move.
” Landlords, they always get a second chance, but tenants never get a second chance”, he said. ” If landlords ca n’t afford their buildings then they should n’t have their buildings. Why do these people’s rents increase year after year?
As in years past, tenants and advocates have pointed to surges in , homelessness , and , eviction rates, rent burden, inflation and the soaring cost of living in calling for rents to be rolled back or frozen.
The landlord lobby, in turn,  , wants significant rent raises , to offset operating expenses for their buildings, particularly older ones and those in outer boroughs.
The [Board ] can rely on its own data to support necessary rent increases to help stabilized building owners meet constantly rising operating costs. Rents are failing to meet these costs”, Steve Mangione, spokesperson for the Rent Stabilization Association, said in a statement. ” This trend has to change for the sake of owners, tenants, and the city’s affordable housing stock”.
The board’s final numbers typically correspond to the rent adjustment ranges chosen in the preliminary vote. During the de Blasio era, rent increases were comparatively low, and they remained frozen for some of the pandemic.
In 2022, the board approved a 3.25 % raise for one- year leases from a preliminary range of 2 %- 4 %, and a 5 % increase for two- year leases from a range of 4 %- 6 %. Last year , it was 3 % for one- year leases from a 2 %- 5 % range and 2.75 % for the first half of a two- year lease and 3.2 % for the second from an initial range of 4 %- 7 %.
The board will hold a number of meetings throughout the city to hear from the public before the final vote, which is scheduled for June 17. Any modifications would take effect starting on October 1.
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