Assembly Member Harvey Epstein Hand Delivers Letter Signed by 35 Assembly Colleagues Calling on the Rent Guidelines Board to Support a Rent Freeze

First time a wide coalition of Assembly Members representing constituents across New York City joined together to call for freezing rents for struggling tenants

NEW YORK – At the Rent Guidelines Board’s (RGB) final public hearing before its June 26th vote to determine rents for the City’s million-plus rent-stabilized tenants, former tenant member on the RGB and recently elected Assembly Member from the 74th District, Harvey Epstein, delivered a letter signed by 35 colleagues to members of the Board, urging them to support a rent freeze.

“Owners face overwhelmingly favorable conditions when compared to rent-stabilized tenants - for owners, a marginal increase in operating costs has coincided with the twelfth year in a row of increasing net operating incomes, which continued to tick up even during years in which rents were frozen,” Said Assembly Member Epstein. “My colleagues and I are in agreement: the scales have been tipped in landlords’ favor for years and tenants in our districts need a rent freeze now.”

The call from a coalition of Downstate Albany lawmakers comes as the city enters its ninth consecutive annual increase in the number of homeless New Yorkers, which rose to a stunning average of 59,467 persons a night in the last year of available data. Despite Mayor de Blasio’s historic drive to create more affordable housing for New Yorkers, the city reported a net gain of just 4,387 units in 2017. With a median rent of $2,685, many of these new units will be out of reach for everyday New Yorkers, and in particular rent-stabilized tenants, who currently pay a median gross rent of $1,375, according to research released by the Rent Guidelines Board this year. Tenants find themselves in increasingly precarious circumstances as they are forced to deal with a Department of Housing and Urban Development bent on further disinvesting in public housing, eliminating subsidies that make affordable housing possible, and other programs help low income New Yorkers rely on.

Assembly Member Epstein sat on the Rent Guidelines Board as a tenant member from 2013 to 2017 and helped to organize communities across the city to orchestrate a historic two rent freezes in a row during his tenure, which provided much-needed relief to the millions of New York tenants that live in the City’s ever shrinking rent-stabilized housing stock.

After winning a special election and taking office on April 30th, less than two months before the end of this year’s legislative session, Assembly Member Epstein has introduced several bills relating to housing, including a bill (A.11083A/ S.08675A) directing the Department of Financial Services to study predatory equity, a practice that has accelerated the deregulation of rent-stabilized housing and contributed to the loss of over 150,000 rent-stabilized units since the 90s.

Assembly Member Rebecca A. Seawright said: “As the State Assembly Member of the 76th District, I am compelled to submit testimony with Assembly Member Epstein to testify to the struggles of my rent stabilized constituents in the ever changing neighborhoods of Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Majority of people that come to my office are seniors of limited income who are afraid of losing their independence and the home they have lived in for many years. It is disheartening to hear that there is no option to freeze the rents of the rent stabilized constituents who are burdened by the skyrocketing cost of living and stagnation of income. A rent freeze would provide relief for thousands of my constituents who are struggling to pay rent.”

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: "As New York City continues to suffer through an affordability crisis, where homelessness rates are rising amidst tenants being pushed out by ever-increasing rents, it has become even more necessary to ensure that all New Yorkers are able to continue to afford living in their homes. Property owners are making more money than ever before as real estate values continue to skyrocket and more rent-stabilized units are forced out of rent regulation. I urge the Rent Guidelines Board to reconsider their preliminary vote and support the lowest possible rent increase, if not a rent freeze or even a rent reduction.”

Assembly Member Brian Barnwell said: “I join my colleagues in requesting that the Board votes to freeze rents around the City. As we all know, the rent in NYC is out of control, and thousands upon thousands of individuals are being pushed out of their homes. The Board can help prevent this by freezing rent increases and protecting the most vulnerable New Yorkers.”