Res 0697-2023

By The Public Advocate (Mr. Williams) and Council Members Louis, Richardson Jordan, Stevens and Hudson Whereas, According to the 2021 New York City Housing and Vacancy Survey, New York City has 1,006,000 rent stabilized apartments; and Whereas, Rent stabilization provides many New Yorkers affordable housing by protecting tenants from steep rent increases; and Whereas, The New York City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) establishes an allowable rent increase each year for rent stabilized apartments based on a comprehensive review of data that includes recent statistics on tenant income, economic trends, owner revenue, owner costs, and other changes in the housing supply to determine rent increases; and Whereas, According to the 2021 Housing and Vacancy Survey from the New York City Department of Housing Preservation and Development, the median income for a rent stabilized household was $47,000 per year in 2020; and Whereas, Public health crises, such as the COVID-19 outbreak, can create a dramatic downturn in economic activity that may result in significantly elevated unemployment levels, businesses declaring bankruptcies, economic inflation or deflation, budget shortfalls for state and local governments and a decrease in available credit for businesses and consumers; and Whereas, New York City's economic recovery is not matching the rest of the state or the nation, with 2022 analyses from the New York State Comptroller's Office and the Partnership for New York City showing that New York City's job recovery lags the rest of the nation by as much as 4.5 percent; and Whereas, New York City is dealing with Monkeypox, classified as another public health emergency by the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene on July 30, 2022, in addition to ongoing efforts to battle novel COVID-19 variants, alongside increased costs of living spurred by historic nationwide inflation and supply chain issues; and Whereas, On June 21, 2022, the Rent Guidelines Board voted 5-4 to pass the largest hike on rent-stabilized housing in nearly a decade, voting in favor of a 3.25 percent increase on one-year leases and a 5 percent increase on two-year leases; and Whereas, Rent stabilized tenants who have lost their jobs and incurred other unexpected costs, such as medical bills, are facing financial ruin due to the COVID-19 pandemic and should not have to bear an additional burden, such as rising rents; and Whereas, A.3148, introduced by State Assembly Member Harvey Epstein, and companion bill S.6776, introduced by State Senator Julia Salazar, would prohibit the rent guidelines board from increasing the rent for any one year lease during a declared state disaster emergency; now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Council of the City of New York calls upon the New York State Legislature to pass, and the Governor to sign A.3148/S.6776, in relation to prohibiting the rent guidelines board from increasing rents on one year leases during a state disaster emergency. Session 12 CCK LS # 4526 08/11/2022 Session 11 JLC LS # 14789, 14896 Res 1405-2020 5/27/2020