Press Release
Statement on Rent Guidelines Board vote
David R. Jones
Contact: Jeffrey N. Maclin
(212) 614-5538 (office)
(718) 309-2346 (cell)
jmaclin@cssny.org
Rent-regulated apartments remain the largest source of housing for low-income New Yorkers, which is precisely why last night's Rent Guidelines Board vote was so closely watched by both tenants and landlords. The RGB voted to approve a modest increase of one percent for annual leases and 2.75 percent for two year leases; a historically low rent increase and, to be sure, far lower than what landlords had hoped.
While it won't accomplish the kind of relief a flat-out rent freeze would, the low increase approved by the RGB will significantly slow down the incessant rent pressures on low-income New Yorkers in rent-stabilized apartments. Rents have been rising faster than incomes in New York, a fact of life not lost on our mayor, who lent his voice early-on to the call for a rent freeze and kept the pressure on the RGB. Indeed, the mayor and tenant advocates across the city deserve credit for making sure rent increases were kept to a minimum.
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For 170 years, the Community Service Society of New York has been the leading voice on behalf of low-income New Yorkers and continues to advocate for the economic security of the working poor in the nation’s largest city. We respond to urgent, contemporary challenges with applied research, advocacy, litigation and innovative program models that help the working poor achieve a better quality of life and promote a more prosperous city.