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continued on page 5
Park Slope Deal ................................ pg. 2
El Inquilino Hispano ........................ pg. 3
Annual Assembly .............................. pg. 5
203(k) HUD Scandal Update ............ pg. 6
AIDS Housing Cuts .......................... pg. 8
INSIDE THIS ISSUE !
Metropolitan Council on Housing
339 Lafayette St.
New York, NY 10012
PERIODICAL
Vol 33, No. 5
May 200325¢
Rent Guidelines Board Triesto Squeeze the Poor
Preliminary Guidelines Call for 5.5% and 8.5% Increasesby Jenny Laurie
On May 5, the RGB voted punishing guidelines for rent-stabilized apartments in their preliminary decision toallow 5.5% for a one-year lease renewal and 8.5% for atwo-year renewal. There will be a public hearing on June17, and the final vote will be held on June 19. The voteon the preliminary guidelines shocked tenants in theaudience, who had been quiet during the unusuallyrapid voting until the final proposal, when they beganbooing and chanting.
This year’s board has five new members, four publicmembers and one landlord member. The new publicmembers are Betty Phillips Adams, Gale Kaufman,Elizabeth Lusskin and Martin Zelnik; the new landlordrepresentative is Steven Schleider. The new memberswere only recently appointed by the mayor, and did notstart attending meetings until mid-April. Several of thenew board members made short speeches—eitherbefore the voting began or during the voting process—to explain their votes, blaming the need for high guide-lines on the spike in fuel costs and property taxes.
The landlord representatives itemized owners’ com-plaints: high fuel, high insurance, high property taxes,and a whole host of other things they claim are nevercounted. The tenant representatives, David Pagan andAdriene Holder, countered with an appeal to the pub-lic members not to lay the entire burden of the reces-sion on tenants. Holder illustrated her opening speech
with a Daily News bannerheadline that read “BigSqueeze,” along with acover story in a businessweekly, Crain’s, describ-ing how happy landlordsare to buy up rent-stabi-lized apartments becauseof what a great invest-ment they are. She wenton to describe in detailthe tenants’ declining in-comes and landlords’ ris-ing profits.
Kaufman, the publicmember with the closestworking ties to the real-estate industry, made herloyalties clear by makingthe winning proposal of5.5% and 8.5%. MarvinMarkus, the chair, made ashort speech to signal hisapproval, and the vote fol-lowed quickly. Public mem-bers Lusskin, Adams,Kaufman, and Markus
voted in favor, and werejoined by the landlord rep-resentatives to make thevote 6 to 3.
When the proceedingsbegan, the landlord repre-sentatives started the bid-ding with a lowersuggestion than most ten-
ants expected: 9% for aone-year lease and 12% fora two years lease. Thismotion was defeated, 7 to2. The tenant memberscountered with a proposalfor 1% and 2%, which was
continued on page 7
“They saw us,” the Chelseabus captain announced asthe returning caravanneared the Lincoln Tunnel.
It would have been hardfor a state legislator not tonotice the thousand-plustenants who invaded Al-bany for Tenant Lobby DayMay 13. Their brilliant yel-low “STRONGER RENTLAWS NOW” baseball capswere like a field of golden-rod amid the concretemonoliths of the AlbanyMall, a lemon-colored riverwith sources in Stuy Townand Harlem, Ridgewoodand Flatbush, meanderingthrough the LegislativeOffice Building hallwaysand eddying in the crowdedelevators, trying to findOlga Mendez’s office orTom Duane’s.
“The rents are going wayup high, sky high,” said onetenant, Luz Torres ofWilliamsburg. “It used tobe affordable, now it’s out-
rageous.”The state’s rent laws ex-
pire June 15. The Assem-bly has passed a billrenewing them and elimi-nating such loopholes asvacancy decontrol forapartments over $2,000 amonth, but the State Sen-ate has not acted on it yet.
The day began with a rallyon the capitol steps, at-tended by over 1,000people, including morethan half the city’s legisla-tive delegation and numer-ous City Councilmembers,chanting “Ho-ho, hey-hey,rent control has got tostay.”
“Six years ago we camehere to protect our hous-ing, and the governor toldus to take a hike,” MetCouncil chair ScottSommer said in the open-ing speech. “We’re here totell the governor that thetenant movement cannotbe beaten down.”
Speaker after speakerstressed the need tostrengthen the rent laws.“Just renewing the rentlaws is not enough,”Brooklyn Borough Presi-dent Marty Markowitz toldthe crowd, saying thatrents in New York are now“within striking distance”of the $2,000 vacancy-de-control threshold—whichhe called “the promisedland” for landlords. “Theextension is not enough,”City Council SpeakerGifford Miller warned, pre-dicting a loss of 500,000affordable apartmentsover the next 10 years ifthe laws aren’t strength-ened.
Assembly SpeakerSheldon Silver, who stayedrelatively aloof from thetenant movement in1997—and earned muchcriticism for his role in thelaw-weakening compro-mise that settled that
year’s impasse—sharplyattacked Governor Pataki.Pataki, he said, “doesn’tcare if working people aredriven out.” With teachers,city workers, and now ten-ants taking buses to Albanyto protest Pataki’s policies,Silver joked that he was“beginning to wonder if thegovernor has stock in Grey-hound.”
Major-capital improve-ments and gentrificationwere secondary themes, as
key components of thecombination of legal loop-holes and market forcesthat enables landlords tojack rents up. “We shouldnot have to pay MCIs for-ever. Nobody pays a carloan forever,” FlorenceFisher of the QueensLeague of United Tenantstold the crowd. And withgentrification, many neigh-borhoods outside “core
Yellow-Hatted Army Invades Albany,Demanding ‘Stronger Rent Laws Now’
By Steven Wishnia
Tenant Lobby Day
Over 1,000 tenants rallied in Albany, see story below.
2 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
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An effort to get more affordablehousing in Park Slope resulted onApril 30 in a deal that will likelycontinue the upscaling of theBrooklyn neighborhood.
An agreement made among theCity Council, the Bloomberg ad-ministration and the City PlanningCommission would allow develop-ers to build 12-story apartmentcomplexes along a 20-blockstretch of Fourth Avenue.
To try to encourage developersto include affordable apartmentsin these buildings, the city plans toset aside for five years $6 millionin subsidies. Under the plan, theDepartment of Housing Preserva-tion and Development would givea developer $45,000 for eachapartment he creates for low- ormoderate-income tenants. (Theexact income levels have yet to bedetermined.) That unit would re-main affordable for an average of20 years, after which the buildingowner could raise the rent to mar-ket rates.
While the program is strictlyvoluntary, Mayor Bloomberg, CityCouncil Speaker Gifford Miller, andother supporters of the plan expectthat 133 of the 644 new apart-ments built in the area will be af-fordable. The mayor alsoexpressed confidence that the planwould attract about $16 million inprivate investment.
“We think we’ve established aframework that sets the stage forother rezonings in neighborhoodsfrom Greenpoint, Brooklyn, to the
far West Side of Manhattan toHunters Point in Queens that intotal can produce tens of thou-sands of units of housing,” saidBloomberg in a housing policyspeech May 1.
Some affordable-housing advo-cates are not so sure, however.“Being left to the private sector,the plan will only work if the mar-ketplace is not strong,” said RonShiffman, director of the Pratt In-stitute Center for Community andEnvironmental Development and a34-year Park Slope resident. “If themarket sustains itself as it has, Idoubt people will opt into theplan.”
He laments that someCouncilmembers dropped theircampaign for a more certain way ofcreating affordable housing.Councilmembers David Yassky, Billde Blasio and Sara Gonzalez hadproposed implementing inclusion-
ary zoning in the area, which wouldhave required developers to makea proportion of their 8- to 12-storybuildings affordable.
“We challenged ourselves andthe administration to come up witha plan in which 20 percent of thenew units developed as a result ofthe rezoning would be affordable,”de Blasio said.
But Bloomberg and the New YorkCity Planning Commission arguedthat in Park Slope, inclusionaryzoning would actually deter devel-opment. While it has worked inparts of Manhattan, they argue,Brooklyn’s population is not denseenough to support it, and thearea’s housing market could notdemand rents high enough tomake up for the low rents of theaffordable apartments.
After realizing that their proposal
City Seeks ‘Voluntary’ Cheap Apartments in Park Slope DealBy Carolyn Bigda
would not go through, theCouncilmembers conceded to the$6 million capital commitment.
“This is a big first step, but westill have a long way to go and needto push forward even more,” saidYassky.
At least one large Brooklyn de-veloper, who asked that his namenot be used, predicts it will work:Small developers with few financ-ing options will find the program’ssubsidies attractive, he said, andbigger developers might see the in-centives as a way to mitigate therisk of building in a new area.
Shiffman hopes he’s right: “Weshould reinvigorate Fourth Avenue,but not on the backs of low-incomefamilies.”
Reprinted with permission fromCity Limits Weekly.
Complaint
Numbers
The Department of Housing,
Preservation and Development
(HPD) Central Complaints
hotline’s number is:
(212) 824-4328
The Department of Buildings has
condensed its borough phone
numbers into one complaint line:
(212) 227-7000
Tenants’ RightsEvery Wednesday 6 to 7:30 p.m.
Village Independent Democrats26 Perry Street (basement)
212-741-2994
3 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
Los Ajustes de la “Junta de Regulación de Renta” de la Ciudad de NuevaYork (Orden No. 34)
Para los contratos de apartamentos de Renta Estabilizada que comienzan el 1ro. de octubre de 2002 hasta el 30 de
septiembre de 2003, incluyendo las concesiones de Pataki adoptadas por la Legislatura Estatal el 19 de junio de 1997
Los topes de renta que apa-recen en el cuadro son los incre-mentos máximos que losdueños de edificios pueden co-brar legalmente por los aparta-mentos de renta estabilizada enla ciudad de Nueva York. Sonválidos para todos los contratosque comienzan dentro del perío-do de doce meses a partir del1ro. de octubre de 2002. Los in-crementos de alquiler basadosen las pautas para la renovacióndel contrato de 1 o 2 años pue-den cobrarse solamente una vezdurante el período cubierto pordichas pautas, y deben ser apli-cados a la renta legal estabi-lizada para el 30 de septiembrede 2002. Las cantidades queaparecen en el cuadro y los in-crementos para los apartamen-tos vacíos no se aplican a losapartamentos que estaban suje-tos a renta controlada en aquellafecha. No se permite lasobrecarga también conocidocomo el «impuesto de pobres.»
Los Contratos para Apar-tamentos Vacíos o NuevosEn junio de 1997, el gobernadorGeorge Pataki, al intentar des-truir la regulación de rentas, for-zó cambios que les dieron a loscaseros una sobrecarga muygrande por los apartamentos va-cíos. Una cláusula de la “Refor-ma al Acta de Regulación deRenta” de 1997 permite que losnuevos alquileres seanincrementados en un porcenta-je obligatorio: 20% para un con-trato de dos años, y por uncontrato de 1 año, 20% de incre-mento menos la diferencia en eltope de renovación para los con-tratos de 1 y 2 años. La nueva leypermite también incrementosadicionales para los apartamen-tos vacíos donde no se habíancobrado incrementos pordesocupación por ocho años omás.
Exceso de Cobro Losinquilinos deben estar al tanto deque muchos caseros van a apro-vecharse de la complejidad deestas regulaciones y subvencio-nes, así como del poco conoci-miento de los inquilinos delhistorial de renta de sus aparta-
mentos, para cobrar un alquilerilegal. Una vez que el inquilinohaya tomado posesión delapartamento, puede escogerentre llenar un formulario dequeja de exceso de cobro derenta con la oficina de la Divisiónde Vivienda y Renovación Comu-nal (DHCR), o disputar la canti-dad de la renta en la corte devivienda de la ciudad para que sedetermine cuál es el alquiler le-gal.
Si un posible inquilino damuestras de conocer sus dere-chos, lo más probable es que elcasero no firmará ningún contra-to con tal inquilino. Los caserosevitan contratar con inquilinosque les pueden dar problemas.El exceso de cobro de alquileres muy común. Todos los inqui-linos deben luchar contra posi-bles excesos de cobro. Obtengay llene un formulario Form RA-89
con la oficina de DHCR paradeterminar el alquiler correctoen los archivos oficiales. Llamea la DHCR a (718) 739-6400para obtener un formulario, obúsquelo en el sitiowww.dhcr.state.ny.us.
La Apelación de la Rentade Mercado Justa Otro tipo deexceso de cobro sucede fre-
cuentemente cuando se vacía unapartamento que previamenteestaba sujeto a renta controladay se alquila con rentaestabilizada. La Junta de Regula-ción de Renta (RGB) estableceanualmente lo que ellos llaman el“Tope Especial de la Renta deMercado Justa,” el cual esempleado por la DHCR parabajar las rentas de mercado in-justas de los inquilinos que llenanel formulario llamado “Apelacióna la Renta Justa de Mercado”(FMRA). Según la Orden 34, es laRenta de Mercado Justa de HUDo un 50% sobre la renta basemáxima. Ningún inquilino de unapartamento de renta estabi-lizada que fue descontrolado el1ro de abril de 1984 o despuésdebe dejar de poner a prueba lallamada “Renta Legal Inicial Re-gulada” (renta de mercado) quelos caseros cobran cuando haydescontrol del apartamento. Useel formulario de DHCR Form RA-
89. Indique claramente que suqueja es tanto una queja de “Ape-lación a la Renta Justa de Merca-do” como de “exceso de cobro.”La corte de vivienda no puede to-mar decisión sobre unaApelación de Renta de Mercado.Apartamentos vacíos que antes
1000.Unidades de Desván
(Lofts) Los incrementos legalessobre la renta base para lasunidades de desván son de un 1por ciento por un contrato de unaño y un 2 por ciento por uncontrato de dos años. No sepermiten incrementos para lasunidades de desván vacías.
Hoteles y Apartamentosde una Sola Habitación Nohabrá ningún aumento de larenta este año para los aparta-mentos de hotel de Clase A, ca-sas de habitaciones, hoteles declase B (de 30 habitaciones omás), hoteles de una sola habi-tación, y las casas de habitacio-nes (Clase B, 6-29 cuartos). Nose permiten incrementos paraapartamentos vacíos.
La Desregulación deRentas Altas y AltosIngresos (1) Los apartamentosque legalmente se alquilan por$2,000 o más por mes y que sedesocuparon entre el 7 de juliode 1993 y el 1ro. de octubre de1993, o en o desde del 1ro deabril de 1994 son sujetos a ladesregulación. (2) La mismadesregulación se les aplica,para el mismo período estable-cido en (1), a los apartamentosque legalmente pagan $2,000 omás mensualmente aunque nose desocupen, si el ingreso totalde la familia es más de$175,000 en los dos años con-secutivos previos. Para cumplirlos requisitos de esta segundaforma de desregulación, el ca-sero tiene que enviarle un for-mulario de cer- tificación deingreso al inquilino entre el 1rode enero y el 1ro de mayo, asícomo someter dicho formularioal DHCR y conseguir suaprobación.
Para pautas previas, llame a laRGB al 212-385-2934 obusque el sitio www.hous-ingnyc.com.
estaban controlados en edificiosque se han convertido encooperativas o condominios nose vuelven estabilizados y nosatisfacen los requisitos para laApelación de la Renta Justa deMercado.
Exención de Incrementospara las Personas de MayorEdad: Las personas de 62 añoso más que viven en apartamen-tos estabilizados y cuyos ingre-sos familiares anuales son de$20,000 o menos, y que pagan(o enfrentan un incremento dealquiler que los forzaría a pagar)una renta de un tercio o más desus ingresos, pueden tener de-recho al programa de Exenciónde Incrementos para lasPersonas de Mayor Edad(SCRIE, por sus siglas en inglés),si aplican al Departamento de laCiudad de Nueva York Sobre lasPersonas de Mayor Edad, cuyadirección es: SCRIE Unit, 2Lafayette Street, NY, NY 10007. Siel alquiler actual de un inquilinoque tiene derecho a esteprograma sobrepasa un terciodel ingreso, no se lo puedereducir, pero es posible evitarincrementos de alquiler en elfuturo. Obtenga el formulario deSCRIE por llamar al (212) 442-
pasa a la página 4
Contrato de 1 Año
Incrementos por desocupacíon cobradosen los últimos 8 años
Contratospara Aparta-
mentosVacíos
Más de$500
Menos de$300
Rentade $300 a
$500
Incrementos pordesocupacíon cobradosen los últimos 8 años
Incrementos pordesocupacíon no cobrados
en los últimos 8 años
Incrementos pordesocupacíon cobradosen los últimos 8 años
Incrementos pordesocupacíon no cobrados
en los últimos 8 años
Incrementos pordesocupacíon no cobrados
en los últimos 8 años
18% 20%
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incrementopor estar vacío, más el 18%
18% + $100 20% + $100
18% o $100,lo que sea mayor
20% o $100,lo que sea mayor
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incrementopor estar vacío, más el 20%
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incrementopor estar vacío, mas 18%,o $100, lo que sea mayor
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incrementopor estar vacío, mas 20%, o $100, lo que sea mayor
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incremento por
estar vacío, + 18% + $100
0.6% por el número de añosdesde el último incremento
por estar vacío, + 20% + $100
Renta Legal ActualTipo de
Contrato
Contrato de 2 Años
Renovacióndel Contrato
Todas 2% 4%
Viviendas para el pueblo, no para lucrarse
E L I N Q U I L I N O H I S P A N O
El 5 de mayo, la Junta deRegulación de Renta (RGB) votópor pautas castigadoras para losapartamentos de rentaestabilizada, medio su decisiónpreliminar de permitir incrementosde 5.5% por la renovación de uncontrato por un año y 8.5% por unarenovación de dos años. Habrá unaaudiencia pública el 17 de junio yel voto final se celebrará el 19 dejunio. El voto sobre las pautaspreliminares asombró a losinquilinos presentes, quienes sehabían mantenido tranquilosdurante la votación extraordinaria-
RGB intenta exprimir a los pobresPautas preliminares requerirían incrementos de 5.5% y 8.5%
Por Jenny Laurie
Traducido por Lightning Translations
mente rápida hasta la últimapropuesta, cuando comenzaron aabuchear y corear.
La junta de este año tiene cinconuevos miembros, cuatro de ellosmiembros públicos y uno de loscaseros. Los nuevosrepresentantes públicos sonBetty Phillips Adams, GayleKaufman, Elizabeth Lusskin yMartin Zelnik; el nuevo represen-tante de los caseros es StevenSchleider. Los nuevos miembrosfueron nombrados muyrecientemente por el alcalde, y nocomenzaron a asistir a las
reuniones hasta mediados deabril. Varios de los nuevosmiembros de la junta dieronbreves discursos antes de quecomenzara la votación o duranteel proceso para fundamentar larazón de sus votos. Culparon elalza súbita de renta en el costo decombustible y el alza de impuestosinmobiliarios causando lanecesidad de pautas mayores.
Los representantes de loscaseros detallaron las quejas de losdueños: alto costo de combustible,alto costo de seguros, altosimpuestos inmobiliarios y toda una
gama de otros puntos que segúnellos nunca han sido tomados encuenta. Los representantes de losinquilinos David Pagan y AdrieneHolder replicaron con unllamamiento a los miembrospúblicos para no echar toda la cargade la recesión sobre los inquilinos.Holder ilustró su discursoinaugural con un gran título queapareció en el Daily News y que leía“Grandes aprietos,” junto con unartículo en primera plana en unsemanario financiero, Crain’s,
4 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
Incrementosviene de la página 3
Viviendas para el pueblo, no para lucrarse
No se quede
helado:
¡ORGANIZESE!
La ley requiere que su caseroproporciona calefacción y aguacaliente a las temperaturassiguientes, desde el 1ro deoctubre hasta el 31 de mayo:
Desde las 6 a.m. hasta las 10 p.m.: Si latemperatura afuera es de menos de 55grados, la temperatura dentro debe seral menos de 68 grados en todo elapartamento.
Desde las 10 p.m. hasta las 6 a.m.: Si latemperatura afuera es de menos de 40grados, la temperatura dentro debe seral menos de 55 grados en todo elapartamento.
Se tiene que proporcionar agua calientea un mínimo de 120 grados en el grifolas 24 horas del día, todo el año.
Si su casero no mantiene estastemperaturas mínimas, usteddebe:
� Comenzar una “Acción HP” (HPAction) en la Corte de Vivienda. Pidauna inspección por orden de la cortey una Orden de Corrección (Orderto Correct)
� Llamar al Buro Central de Quejas(Central Control Bureau) de laciudad de Nueva York al (212) 824-4328 inmediatamente, paradocumentar la violación del casero.Llame repetidamente. Se supone queun inspector vendrá eventualmente,aunque a veces no lo haga.
� Exhortar a los otros inquilinos en eledificio a llamar al CentralComplaint. Todos deben llamarrepetidamente, al menos una vez aldía, todos los días en que tengaproblemas con la calefacción.
� Comprar un buen termómetro paraafuera y adentro, para documentarlas fechas exactas, las horas, y lastemperaturas, tanto afuera comoadentro, mientras tenga problemascon la calefacción. Esta documenta-ción es su evidencia
� Llamar a la División de Vivienda yRenovación Comunal del Estado deNueva York (DHCR, por sus siglas eningles) al (718) 739-6400, y pedirque le envíen el formulario de Quejade Calefacción y Agua Caliente.Llene el formulario y consigue la
participación de todos los inquilinosen su edificio que pueden firmarlo.Reclame una orden para restaurar lacalefacción y el agua caliente, y quese reduzcan y congelen (¡disculpe lode “congelen”!) todas las rentas.
� Necesitarán una fuerte asociación deinquilinos para obligar al casero aproporcionar la calefacción y el aguacaliente. Escriban y llamen al caseropara demandar las reparaciones yaceite. Prepárense para una huelgade renta (sobre todo con asesoríalegal)—de relámpago si es necesa-rio.
Las leyes sobre la calefacciónestablecen también:
� Que el Departamento de Reparacio-nes de Emergencia de la ciudad leproporcione la calefacción si elcasero no lo hace. (No se siente en unbloque de hielo—otra vez, ¡discul-pe!—mientras espere que lo haga.)
� Una multa de $250 al casero por cadadía que se produzca la violación.(Pero la verdad es que la Corte deVivienda raras veces impone lasmultas, y mucho menos las cobra).
� Una multa de $1,000 al casero sialgún aparato de control automáticose instala en la caldera paramantener la temperatura por debajodel mínimo legal.
� Si el tanque de combustible de lacaldera está vacío, los inquilinostienen el derecho de comprar supropio combustible después de haberpasado 24 horas sin calefacción ytambién sin obtener ningunarespuesta del casero. Esto no se aplicasi la caldera está rota y necesita tantoreparación como combustible.
¡Cuidado! ¡proteja su dinero! Si losinquilinos deciden comprar elcombustible, hay que seguir losprocedimientos legales cuidado-samente. Consiga la ayuda y elconsejo de un organizador deinquilinos. La existencia de leyes decalefacción y agua caliente vigentesno garantiza que el gobierno lasimplemente. No se quede heladopor esperar que la ciudad o elestado actúe. ¡Organízese!
describiendo lo felices que estánlos caseros al comprarapartamentos de renta estabili-zada, a causa de la gran inversiónque representan. Ella continuódescribiendo en detalle eldeterioro continuo en los ingresosde los inquilinos y los aumentos enlas ganancias de los caseros.
Kaufman, la representantepública quien tiene los lazos detrabajo con la industria de bienesraíces más estrechos, hizo ver suslealtades haciendo la propuestaganadora de 5.5% y 8.5%. MarvinMarkus, presidente de la junta, dioun breve discurso para mostrar suaprobación, realizándose lavotación poco después. Losmiembros públicos Lusskin,Adams, Kaufman y Markus votarona favor y los representantes de los
caseros se sumaron a ellos paraterminar con una votación de 6 a 3.
Al comenzar el proceso, losrepresentantes de los caserosabrieron con una oferta menor delo que esperaba la mayoría de losinquilinos: 9% por un contrato dearrendamiento de un año y 12%por dos años. Esta sugerencia fuederrotada 7 a 2. Los re-presentantes de los inquilinosreplicaron con una propuesta de1% y 2%, que fue derrotada 7 a 2.El miembro público Zelnik sejuntó a los dos representantes delos inquilinos para apoyar unasegunda propuesta hecha porellos para alzas de 2% y 4%, que fuederrotada 6 a 3. La siguientemoción fue la de Kaufman, para el5.5% y 8.5% que finalmente triunfó.
La propuesta relativamente baja
de los caseros para el aumento de9% y 12% sorprendió a algunosobservadores, ya que los medios decomunicación habían indicado queiban a respaldar pautas máscercanas al 20%. Pero en unadeclaración hecha a los medios unasemana antes de la votación, elalcalde Bloomberg sugirió que a élno le parecía justo que a losinquilinos les impusieran unaumento de dos cifras. Claramenteel presidente Markus comprendióel mensaje así como los caseros,quienes comenzaron con unaoferta más baja para dar laimpresión de estar siendorazonables.
Muchos defensores de losinquilinos creen que el alcaldeseñaló a la junta, directa oindirectamente, las pautas que leparecían razonables. El díaposterior a la votación, el diarioDaily News informó que el alcalderespaldaba las pautaspreliminares. El interés del alcaldeen el resultado probablementesurge de su aumento sinprecedentes en los impuestosinmobiliarios: tal vez paramantener a los caseros de su lado,les recordó que todo el incrementofiscal podía ser traspasado a losinquilinos por medio de la RGB.
Los inquilinos se han mostradoescandalizados y asombradosdesde que se celebró la votación.El día siguiente, el Daily News y elNew York Times publicarongrandes informes sobre el impactode las pautas. Todas las emisorasde televisión cubrieron la votacióny entrevistaron a los inquilinos. Lahistoria más importante, porsupuesto, es el hecho de quequienes pagarán los platos rotos deNueva York son los inquilinos. Laciudad está entrando en el terceraño de una recesión cada vez peor;sus residentes están enfrentandola tasa de desempleo más altadesde hace años; el costo delpasaje para el transporte públicose ha elevado un 33%; existe laamenaza de que se elevará el costode la educación en CUNY; estamosenfrentando aumentos en losimpuestos a las ventas.
Mientras tanto, segúninvestigaciones hechas públicaspor la RGB, los caseros se lo hanllevado todo. Por ejemplo, se hanestado quejando de grandesincrementos en gravámenes, perolos gravámenes más altos enedificios con renta estabilizadason el resultado directo de altosingresos. Los informes de la RGB
muestran que los ingresos deoperación de los caseros despuésde los gastos han aumentado 20%en diez años.
Por otro lado, los inquilinos hansufrido una disminución de susingresos en el mismo periodo. Hoyen día, la familia promedia que viveen un apartamento de rentaestabilizada gana $32,000 al año ygasta una tercera parte de eseingreso antes de deducirimpuestos a las ganancias. Unacuarta parte de los inquilinos conrenta estabilizada gasta 50% o másde sus ingresos en renta.
Residentes de hoteles yapartamentos de una solahabitación (SROs) tambiénrecibieron duros golpes por partede la RGB este año. En una mociónpresentada por el presidente de lajunta, Marvin Markus, la junta votópor las pautas de 4% para todas lascategorías de hoteles y SROs,comparado con 0% el año pasado.La junta anexó una condición,parecida a la anexada en añosanteriores, la cual obliga a lospropietarios a mantener ocupadopor inquilinos permanentes el 70%de todos los apartamentos en eledificio para poder cobrar elaumento. Kaufman respondió a lassugerencias presentadas por losrepresentantes de los inquilinosque las pautas volverían a ser de 0,diciendo que lo encontró “irónicoque estemos considerando rehusarun aumento a esta reserva devivienda cuando deberíamos estartratando de conservar las viviendasque funcionan como últimorecurso para la ciudad.”
De acuerdo con Terry Poe delProyecto de Ley SRO GoddardRiverside/West Side, losincrementos serán difíciles desoportar: “Las rentas para estasunidades han saltado 8% en losúltimos cuatro años solamentebajo las pautas. Los estudiosmuestran que más allá de eso, elingreso y los cobros de rentaverdaderos de los caseros estánpor las nubes. Mientras losinquilinos de hoteles han sufridouna disminución importante ensus ingresos, que cayeron de$9,100 en 1993 a $7,300 en 1999[la información más recientedisponible], los ingresos de loscaseros han aumentado 40%durante el mismo periodo.”
La última votación fue paraincrementos de renta paradesvanes de renta estabilizada. Lajunta votó para fijar estosincrementos en 4% y 7%.
Inquilinos: ¡escriban, llamen, declaren!Los inquilinos que renuevan sus contratos de arrendamientoentre el 1 de octubre de 2003 y el 30 de septiembre de 2004deberán hacer declaraciones en la audiencia del 17 de junio (veala página 7) y escribir cartas a la Junta de Regulación de Rentasy al alcalde Bloomberg explicando cómo les lastimarán las pautaspreliminares si son aprobadas este junio.
NYC Rent Guidelines Board51 Chambers Street, Suite 202New York, NY 10007
Missed an issue of TENANT?see www.metcouncil.net
Alcalde BloombergCity HallNew York, NY 10007212-788-3000
5 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
Manhattan” are now seeing luxury-level rents. “Living in Brooklyn’slike living anywhere else now,” saidone protester, Daniel Irizarry ofWilliamsburg.
“Ninety percent of the 203(k)buildings are rent-stabilized. We’regoing to work with anybody who’sfighting for affordable housing andto stop displacement andgentrification,” James Lewis ofHarlem Operation Takeback—wearing a yellow shirt a shade morebrilliant than the hats—told Ten-ant/Inquilino. Improving buildingsand bringing in artists and busi-nesses is good for the community,he explained, but it has to be donewithout driving the existing resi-dents out—“We don’t want to be-come Williamsburg or Chelsea.”
“If we don’t pass these laws,we’re going to be the ones takendown,” said speaker Joanne
Lawson, a Mitchell-Lama tenantfrom East Harlem. “East Harlem isnot exempt.”
After lunch, tenants split intogroups to lobby individual legisla-tors. The Chelsea contingent vis-ited Assemblymember RichardGottfried. As Gottfried is stronglypro-tenant, the meeting wasmainly taken up by complaintsabout MCIs, the state Division ofHousing and CommunityRenewal’s anti-tenant policychanges under Pataki, and the in-creasing number of personal-useevictions by landlords. “I have beenin this building for 50 years, and I’mnot going to leave,” said longtimeactivist Jane Wood, 95. Her land-lord, she told Gottfried, put uppartitions to divide one tenant’sstudio into three rooms—and thenadded three rooms worth of MCIcharges to the rent.
As for the State Senate, word was
that Majority Leader JosephBruno, rent-law renewal’s worst foein 1997, was not accepting visitors;neither was Bronx-WestchesterRepublican Guy Velella, one of thefew city legislators to oppose re-newing the laws in ’97, but thenominal cosponsor of a bill tostrengthen them this year. Newlyelected Republican Martin Goldenof Bay Ridge, considered a keyswing vote, was not around.
That was frustrating for PennyLaForest of QLOUT, who com-plained that “we ran around fromlegislator to legislator, each onetelling us that the other is respon-sible for passing these bills.” Hergroup lobbied Assembly HousingCommittee chair Vito Lopez (D-Brooklyn) to investigate theDHCR—“a corrupt agency, andthey’re knocking our housing out.”
Others say it’s important tolobby even pro-tenant legislators,
to keep housing issues at the topof their agenda.
Before leaving, tenants filed intothe State Senate chambers for ashow of numbers, though the yel-low hats were nixed by thelegislature’s no-demonstrations-in-the-galleries rule. It’s possiblethat the fate of rent stabilizationfor 1 million households will besettled here, among red leatherchairs, marble arches, and gildedwalls. It’s also possible that it willbe settled in the legendary 8x10back room with three chairs, oneeach for Pataki, Bruno, and Silver.
Pataki’s mantra about “job-killingtaxes” was on the mind of BillHennings of CommunicationsWorkers of America Local 1180.“Nothing will chase jobs out of NewYork City faster than an inability forworking people to find housing,” hetold the crowd. “It’s about the fu-ture.”
Property Taxcontinued from page 1
Met Council’s Annual Assembly
On Saturday, May 3, Met Council held its 2003
Annual Assembly at DC 37 on Barclay Street. De-
spite the confusion caused by the street’s clo-
sure (Barclay borders the ruins of the former World
Trade Center), more than 100 hundred people
attended. Speakers included State Senator Liz
Krueger and Adriene Holder, tenant representa-
tive on the Rent Guidelines Board and a Legal
Aid attorney. Workshops were held on topics such
as rent control, Major Capital Improvement in-
creases and landlord SLAPP suits (when a land-
lord tries to silence a tenant activists with
fraudulent libel litigation or tort interference). Sev-
eral new members were elected to Met
Council’s Board of Directors, on nominations from
the floor as well as a pre-nominated slate. The
members include James Lewis, Alex Schafran,
Jen Flynn, Artemio Guerra, Charles Seelig, Lydia
Padilla, Elizabeth Klaber, and Beverley Clark-
Griggsby. Members Deb Schutt, Brenda Turner,
and Dave Powell are leaving the board, and Met
Council thanks them for their service.
r Liz
Board member Grover Foster,head of the Patio Gardens TAassociation in Flatbush.
New board member JamesLewis, a tenant organizer withHarlem Operation Takeback.
New board member AlexSchafran, a West Side SROorganizer.
RGB tenant representative Adriene Holder.
New board member LydiaPadilla, a Mitchell-Lamatenant and attorney.
New board member ArtemioGuerra, organizer for the union-run NYC Participation Project.
New board member JenniferFlynn is co-director of theNYC AIDS Housing Network.
6 March 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
This rent guidelines table showsthe maximum increases land-lords in New York City can legallycharge for rent stabilized apart-ments on all leases commencingin the twelve-month period begin-ning October 1, 2002. Increases inrent based on the 1- or 2-year re-newal guidelines can be chargedonly once during the period cov-ered by the guidelines, and mustbe applied to the legal stabilizedrent on September 30, 2002. Theabove guidelines and vacancybonuses do not apply to an apart-ment which was rent controlled onthat date. There is no low rentsupplement, a.k.a. poor tax, al-lowed.
Sublease Allowance
Landlords can charge a 10 per-cent increase during the term of asublease that commences dur-ing this guideline period.
Vacancy Leases
In June 1997, Governor GeorgePataki, as a part of his efforts todestroy rent regulation, forcedchanges that gave landlordslarge vacancy bonuses. Provi-sions of his Rent Regulation Re-form Act of 1997 allow the rents ofapartments to rise by a statutorypercentage: 20 percent for a2-year lease, and 20 percent mi-nus the difference between the 1-and 2-year renewal guidelinesfor 1-year leases. The new lawalso allows additional vacancyincreases for apartments whichhave had no vacancy allowancein eight or more years.
Rent OverchargesTenants should be aware thatmany landlords will exploit thecomplexities of these guidelinesand bonuses, and the tenant’sunfamiliarity with the apartment’srent history, to charge an illegal
rent. The tenant can choose be-tween filing an overcharge com-plaint with the Division ofHousing and Community Re-newal or challenging the rent inHousing Court to get a determi-nation of the legal rent.
A prospective tenant who ex-presses knowledge of their rightswill probably not be given a leaseto sign. Landlords avoid renting totenants who may be troublesome.Overcharging is very common.Every tenant should challengepossible overcharge. With DHCR,obtain and fill out Form RA-89 todetermine the correct rent from of-ficial records. Call DHCR at (718)739-6400 to obtain the form or goto: www.dhcr.state.ny.us
Fair Market Rent Appeal
Another type of overchargefrequently occurs at the time that apreviously rent controlled apart-
ment becomes vacant and isre-rented as a stabilized unit. TheRent Guidelines Board annuallysets what they call the “SpecialFair Market Rent Guideline” that isused by DHCR to lower unfairmarket rents for tenants who filethe Fair Market Rent Appeal(FMRA). Under Order 34, it is HUDFair Market Rent or 50% abovethe maximum base rent. No sta-bilized tenant of an apartment thatwas decontrolled on or after April1, 1984 should fail to challengethe so-called Initial Legal Regu-lated Rent (market rent) that land-lords charge upon decontrol. UseDHCR Form RA-89. Indicate clearlythat your complaint is both a com-plaint of “overcharge” and “FairMarket Rent Appeal.” The Hous-ing Court cannot determine a FairMarket Rent Appeal. Formerlycontrolled vacant apartments inbuildings converted to co-ops or
condos do not become stabilizedand are not eligible for a FairMarket Rent Appeal.
Senior Citizen Rent
Increase ExemptionRent stabilized seniors, 62
years or older, whose disposableannual household income is$20,000 or less and who pay (orface a rent increase that wouldcause them to pay) one-third ormore of that income in rent maybe eligible for a Senior CitizenRent Increase Exemption(SCRIE) if they apply to the NYCDept of the Aging, SCRIE Unit at2 Lafayette Street, NY, NY 10007.If an otherwise eligible tenant’scurrent rent level is alreadyabove one-third of income, itcannot be rolled back, but futurerent increases may be avoided.Obtain the SCRIE applicationform by calling (212) 442-1000.
NYC Rent Guidelines Board Adjustments (Order No. 34)
for Rent Stabilized Leases commencing Oct. 1, 2002 through Sept. 30, 2003, including
the Pataki vacancy bonuses adopted by the State Legislature on June 19, 1997
Loft UnitsLegalized loft unit increasesabove the base rent are 1 per-cent for a one-year lease and 2percent for two years. No va-cancy allowance is permittedon vacant lofts.
Hotels and SROs
There will be no rent increasesthis year for Class A apartmenthotels, lodging houses, Class Bhotels (30 rooms or more), singleroom occupancy (SROs) hotels,and rooming houses (Class B,6-29 rooms). No vacancy allow-ance is permitted.
High-rent, High-incomeDeregulation
(1) Apartments legally renting for$2,000 or more a month that be-came vacant from July 7, 1993through October 1, 1993, or onApril 1, 1994 and thereafter aresubject to deregulation. (2) Thesame deregulation applies in thetime periods set forth in (1)above to apartments legally rent-ing for $2,000 or more a monthwithout their becoming vacant ifthe total household income ex-ceeds $175,000 in each of theprior two consecutive years. Tobe eligible for this second form ofderegulation, the landlord mustsend an income certification formto the tenant between January 1and May 1 and file it with and getthe approval of DHCR.
For previous guidelines call theRGB at 212-385-2934 or go towww.housingnyc.com.
Vacancy allowance chargedwithin last 8 yearsVacancy
leases
Morethan$500
Lessthan$300
Rent$300 to
$500
Vacancy allowance chargedwithin last 8 years
No vacancy allowancecharged within last 8 years
Vacancy allowance chargedwithin last 8 years
No vacancy allowancecharged within last 8 years
No vacancy allowancecharged within last 8 years
18% 20%
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy
allowance, plus 18%
18% plus $100 20% plus $100
18% or $100,whichever is greater
20% or $100,whichever is greater
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy
allowance, plus 20%
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy allowance,
plus 18%, or $100,whichever is greater
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy allowance,
plus 20%, or $100,whichever is greater
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy allow–ance, plus 18% plus $100
0.6% times number of yearssince last vacancy allow–ance, plus 20% plus $100
Current Legal RentLease Type One-year Lease Two-year Lease
RenewalLeases
All 2% 4%
More than four years aftera massive federal housingscandal left hundreds ofbuildings abandonedacross New York, the city’shousing agency in earlyMay announced its firstround of ambitious plansfor fixing up the properties.It will sell 56 to neighbor-hood housing groups and23 to private developers.
A total of 593 buildingswith more than 2,000apartments were caught upin the 203(k) debacle,through which mortgagelenders, realtors and ap-praisers conspired to de-fraud the federalDepartment of Housingand Urban Development.In late 2001, HUD and thecity Department of Hous-ing Preservation and Devel-opment announced a $130million plan to fix up theabandoned buildingsthrough the city’s existing
housing programs.As part of its plan for the
properties, HPD will sell 11buildings in Bushwick andBrownsville to private de-veloper Loewen Develop-ment and the MutualHousing Association ofNew York, the housing-de-velopment wing of ACORN.Together, they will rehabthe apartments under thecity’s HomeWorks pro-gram, through which de-velopers fix up smallbuildings and sell them viaa lottery to interestedhomebuyers.
ACORN housing directorIsmene Speliotis says she’s“happy” that HPD is award-ing her group the build-ings, but she hopes toconvince the agency to letit sell the rehabbed proper-ties exclusively tohomebuyers with limitedincomes. MHANY has puttogether financing to make
them affordable for fami-lies earning as little as$32,000 a year.
“We want to sell these topeople whose income re-flects the income levels ofthese communities,” saidSpeliotis, “instead of usingthem to fuel gentri-fication.”
A much larger contro-versy is brewing around thefate of several dozen other203(k) properties inHarlem and Bushwick,which HPD has yet to sell.Tenants of these buildingshave asked the city to givetheir buildings to nonprofitgroups that want to formlow-income cooperatives.
Other organizationsseem to be interested, too,however. According toMichael Figueroa, a tenantat 432 Jefferson St. inBushwick, a staffer fromRidgewood-Bushwick Se-nior Citizens Council, a lo-
cal nonprofit housinggroup, knocked on his doorearly this month and toldhim she was there to “‘or-ganize the tenants.’”
“I told her we’re alreadyorganized,” said Figueroa,whose building, along with17 others in the area, hasasked to create coopera-tives with the Urban Home-steading Assistance Board.“I’m president of the ten-ants association!”
Figueroa and his neigh-bors fear HPD may awardthe buildings to Ridge-
Attention All On-line!
If you have an e-mail address, join the
Met Council “ACTIVE! list.” We’ll send you alerts
about demonstrations, hearings and other activities.
Simply send us a message,
subject heading “subscribe”, to:
Repairing the HUD Scandal:City Sells First Properties
By Bob Roberts and Matt Pacenza
wood-Bushwick becauseof its connection to localAssemblymember VitoLopez, who chairs theAssembly’s housing com-mittee and founded the or-ganization.
HPD says it will makedecisions on roughly an-other 250 buildings, in-cluding those in Bushwick,over the next few months.
Reprinted with permis-sion from City LimitsWeekly.
7 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
The Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) is the city agency which determines rentguidelines for renewal leases on all rent-stabilized apartments in New YorkCity. Although landlord profits from stabilized housing have risen to newheights over the past four years, the RGB has still hammered tenants withrent increases that its own data reveal are unfair. This year, with landlordsalready screaming about fuel costs and the property-tax increase, tenants willhave to come out in record numbers to stop the highest rent increases in adecade. Below is the current schedule of RGB hearings and votes.
all addresses are in Manhattan
* Public Testimony/Tuesday, June 17/Cooper Union, the Great Hall,7 East 7 Street/ 10:00 am - 10:00 pm
* Final Vote/Thursday, June 19/Alexander Hamilton US Custom House,basement auditorium,
1 Bowling Green/ 5:30 - 9:30 pm
Register to testify and confirm times, dates and locations, call the RGB at(212) 385-2934 or to view schedule info, www.housingnyc.com
also defeated 7 to 2. A secondproposal by the tenant represen-tatives for 2% and 4% hikes wassupported by public memberZelnik in addition to the two ten-ant members, and was defeated 6to 3. The next motion wasKaufman’s, for the winning 5.5%and 8.5%.
The landlords’ relatively lowstarting proposal of 9% and 12%surprised some observers, sincemedia reports indicated that theywere supporting guidelines closerto 20%. But in a statement to themedia a week before the vote,Mayor Bloomberg suggested thathe didn’t think double-digit in-creases would be fair to tenants.Clearly, Chairman Markus pickedup on that cue, as did the landlords,who started lower to give the ap-pearance of being reasonable.
Many tenant advocates believethat the mayor signaled to theboard, directly or indirectly, theguidelines that he thought wouldbe reasonable. The day after thevote, the Daily News reportedthat he was supportive of the pre-liminary guidelines. The mayor’sstake in the outcome probablyarises from his unprecedented18.5% increase in real propertytaxes: perhaps to keep the land-lords on his side, he remindedthem that the entire tax increasecould be passed on to their ten-ants via the RGB.
Tenants have been expressingoutrage and shock ever since thevote. The Daily News and the NewYork Times had major stories thenext day about the impact of theguidelines. Television stations allcovered the vote and interviewedtenants. The big story, of course,is the fact that tenants are footingthe bill for New York’s economic
RGBcontinued from page 1
crisis. The city has started its thirdyear of a deepening recession;residents face the highest rate ofjob loss in years; the transit farehas been increased by one-third;there is a threat that CUNY tu-ition will be raised; and we face anincrease in the sales tax.
Meanwhile, according to re-search released by the RGB, land-lords have been making out likebandits. For example, they’vebeen complaining about huge in-creases in assessments, buthigher assessments in rent stabi-lized-buildings are a direct out-come of high incomes. RGBreports show that landlords’ oper-ating income after expenses hasgone up 20% in ten years.
Tenants, on the other hand, havesuffered a decrease in income overthe same period. Today, the aver-age rent-stabilized householdmakes $32,000 a year, and pays athird of that pre-tax income inrent. One-fourth of rent-stabilizedtenants pay 50% or more of theirincome in rent.
SRO and hotel tenants were alsohit hard this year by the RGB. Ona motion presented by the boardchair, Marvin Markus, the board
Tenants who will be renewing leases between October 1, 2003and September 30, 2004 should testify at the June 17 hearing(see below) and write letters to the Rent Guidelines Board andto Mayor Bloomberg explaining how the proposed guidelineswill harm them.
NYC Rent Guidelines Board51 Chambers Street, Suite 202New York, NY 10007
Mayor BloombergCity HallNew York, NY 10007212-788-3000
Tenants: Write, Call, Testify!
voted for 4% guidelines for all cat-egories of hotels and SROs, com-pared to 0% for last year. The boardattached a proviso, similar to oneattached in previous years, thatrequires owners to be renting 70%of all the units in the building topermanent tenants in order tocollect the increase. Kaufman re-sponded to the tenant members’suggestions that the guidelines
2003 Rent Guidelines Board Schedule
again be zero by saying that shefound it “ironic that we are con-sidering not giving increases tothis stock when we should be try-ing to preserve the housing thatserves as the city’s safety net.”
According to Terry Poe of theGoddard Riverside/West SideSRO Law Project, the increaseswill be hard to bear: “Rents forthese units have jumped 8% inthe last four years just under theguidelines. Beyond that, studiesshow that landlords’ real incomeand rent collections have skyrock-eted. While hotel tenants haveseen an income drop—their in-comes fell from $9,100 in 1993 to$7,300 in 1999 [the most recentdata available], landlords’ in-comes have gone up 40% duringthe same period.”
The last vote was for rent in-creases for rent-stabilized lofts,which the board voted to set at 4%and 7%.
8 May 2003 — TENANT/INQUILINO
Join Met CouncilMembership: Individual, $25 per year; Low-income, $15 per year; family(voluntary: 2 sharing an apartment), $30 per year. Supporting, $40 peryear. Sustaining, min. of $100 per year (indicate amount of pledge). Foraffiliation of community or tenant organizations, large buildings, tradeunions, etc. call 212-979-6238.
Name
Address Apt. No.
City State Z ip
Home Phone Number Emai l
Send your check or money order with this form to:Metropolitan Council on Housing, 339 Lafayette St., NY, NY 10012
My apartment is � controlled � stabilized � unregulated � other_____________
� I am interested in volunteering my time to Met Council. Please call me to scheduletimes and duties. I can � counsel tenants, � do office work, � lobby public officials,� attend rallies/protests.
LOWER MANHATTAN
LOFT TENANTSSt. Margaret’s House, Pearl & Fulton Sts.,
212-539-3538
Wednesdays ................ 6 pm-7 pm
VILLAGE INDEPENDENT
DEMOCRATS26 Perry St. (basement), 212-741-2994
Wednesdays ................................. 6 pm
WEST SIDE TENANTS UNION200 W. 72nd St. Room 63; 212-595-1274
Tuesday & Thursday .......... 2-5 pm
Tuesday & Wednesday 6-7:45 pm
LOWER EAST SIDE BRANCH at
Cooper Square Committee61 E. 4th St. (btwn. 2nd Ave. & Bowery)
Tuesdays ........................... 6:30 pm
CHELSEA COALITION
ON HOUSINGCovers 14th St. to 30th St., 5th Ave. to the
Hudson River.
322 W. 17th St. (basement), CH3-0544
Thursdays ........................... 7:30 pm
GOLES (Good Old Lower East
Side)525 E. 6th St. (btwn. Aves. A & B) Lower
East Side tenants only, 212-533-2541.
HOUSING COMMITTEE OF RENACovers 135th St. to 165th St. from Riverside
Dr. to St. Nicholas Ave.,
544 W. 157th St. (basement entrance).
Thursdays ................................. 8 pm
METROPOLITANCOUNCIL
ON HOUSINGMet Council is a citywide tenant union.
Our phones are open to the public
Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays from 1:30 to 5 p.m.
We can briefly answer your questions, help youwith organizing or refer you to other help.
212-979-0611
WHERE TO GO FOR HELP
More than a year after he took of-fice, Mayor Bloomberg gave hisfirst public address outlining howhis administration would fight thespread of HIV in New York City andserve the 40,000 New Yorkers liv-ing with AIDS. During this speech,at a national AIDS conference inmid-March, the Mayor droppeda bomb: He proposed disman-tling Local Law 49, the law thatguarantees low-income peoplewith AIDS the right to emer-gency housing.
When the Mayor was ques-tioned about this position, hequickly had Human ResourcesCommissioner Verna Egglestonset up a formal meeting atGracie Mansion. About 50 ofNew York’s largest (or loudest)AIDS service-organizationheads were invited to the break-fast. No self-identified servicerecipients (the low-incomepeople living with AIDS who relyon the city’s services for sur-vival) were invited.
At the meeting, Eggleston wasquestioned about theadministration’s desire to changeLocal Law 49 and privatize the jobof handling public-assistance ben-efits for people with AIDS. “Eversince the day I stepped foot in thisoffice, why has so much account-ability been demanded from me?”she responded. “ Where are my civilrights?”
Low-income New Yorkers, whoare required to prove that they arehomeless, poor, and in fact sick,often ask the same question.
Eggleston and MayorBloomberg both informed thesecommunity leaders that theywould be consulted prior to anychanges to the current safety-net system. One group that theydidn’t even pretend to get inputfrom was the 45,000 people withAIDS and their families that cur-rently receive lifesaving servicesfrom the city’s HIV/AIDS Ser-vices Administration. After thebreakfast, attendees were met asmall group of angry HASA cli-ents who wanted to get in to the
Bloomberg Cuts AIDS-Housing ServicesBy Jennifer Flynn
meeting.Throughout the following few
weeks, the Bloomberg administra-tion representatives continued tomeet with community advocatesand low-income people living withHIV/AIDS. They repeatedly deniedany intentions to make any changes
to Local Law 49.Then on April 14, Mayor
Bloomberg released his budget. Inthe $600 million spending reduc-tion plan, the mayor clearly illus-trated his intent to privatize thecurrent system of case manage-ment—determining eligibility forpublic assistance and dispensingfinancial benefits—at the welfarecenters for all 30,000 clients ofHASA, plus an additional 15,000family members. The job would beturned over to community basedorganizations who “are alreadydoing many of the services for lessmoney.”
In the Mayor’s contingency bud-get, he included a whopping $4.5million cut to existing AIDS hous-ing, which could result in 4,000formerly homeless people withHIV/AIDS returning to the streets.He also outlined his intention todestroy Local Law 49 and wipe outthe welfare agency that serves low-income New Yorkers with AIDS.This change would mean that in-stead of being able to handle alltheir social-service needs in one
stop, agency clients would have togo to job centers (read workfarefor people with AIDS) to obtaintheir case assistance, travel toanother office for food stamps andyet another one for Medicaid.
Without HASA, there is noagency—other than the Depart-
ment of Homeless Services—tohandle emergency housing. TheMayor has not said what his plansfor that are, but he had continuedthe previous administration’s poli-cies of sending 3,000 homelesspeople living with AIDS to commer-
cial single-room-occupancy ho-tels, at a cost to taxpayers of $1,500to $2,200 per month.
On April 30, 2,000 peoplemarched across the BrooklynBridge to demand more perma-nent housing for people living withHIV/AIDS, which makes fiscal
sense. Fixing HASA ratherthan dismantling it is the prag-matic solution to the prob-lems that have plagued theagency and resulted in thou-sands of people with AIDS fall-ing through the cracks.
Jennifer Flynn is co-directorof the NYC AIDS Housing Net-work.
Protesting Bloomberg’s AIDS-housing policies at City Hall.
