Res 0325-2018

By The Speaker (Council Member Johnson) and Council Members Cornegy, Chin, Rosenthal, Torres, Williams, Perkins, Rivera, Kallos and Constantinides Whereas, New York City continues to face a housing crisis, with the latest Housing and Vacancy Survey conducted by the United States Census Bureau revealing a vacancy rate of only 3.65 percent; and Whereas, The "Urstadt Law," enacted by the State in 1971 and amended in 2003, limits New York City's authority to regulate residential rents; and Whereas, There are almost one million apartments covered by rent regulations in New York City, which represents most of the City's affordable rental housing stock and roughly half of the City's rental units; and Whereas, The New York City Rent Guidelines Board recently reported that 4,690 rent-stabilized units were deregulated in 2012 with about 152,147 rent stabilized units deregulated since 1994 due to high rent vacancy deregulation; and Whereas, More New Yorkers are paying at or over 30% of their income towards rent, creating a financial hardship for low and middle-income tenants and forcing many low and middle-income tenants to relocate, live in substandard housing conditions or struggle to keep up with living expenses; and Whereas, The housing market in New York City is unlike other communities in New York State, and New York City's government is in the best position to comprehend and address its own housing problems; and Whereas, The Urstadt Law prevents New York City from strengthening the rent regulation laws to address the City's current housing crisis, which affects millions of tenants; and Whereas, S. 3179, introduced by State Senator Krueger and pending in the New York State Senate, and companion bill A.5557, introduced by Assembly Member Cymbrowitz and pending in the New York State Assembly, would give New York City the ability to regulate and control residential rents, evictions, the classification of housing accommodations and the enforcement of relevant local laws; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls on New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign, S.3179/A.5557, which would repeal the "Urstadt law" and allow New York City to regulate residential rents. JLC LS 5597 4/25/18 2:30 PM