OPINION: It’s a critical time for common sense in NYC’s rent stabilization policies
Mayor Bill de Blasio recently declared war on the rental housing industry by supporting tenant-backed state legislation that would cut off the life blood of the city’s existing rental housing. Perhaps the mayor does not realize that the ultimate casualties, if his proposals were to be adopted, will be renters, the city’s economy and his own housing plan.
The mayor’s proposals — straight out of the tenant playbook — would eliminate rent increases when apartments become vacant, prohibit the deregulation of stabilized apartments and limit incentives for apartment and building improvements.
The sources of income that the mayor would eliminate are precisely what keeps stabilized housing alive. They were enacted by the State Legislature because rent increases provided by the City Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) were insufficient to meet ever-rising building operating costs. Long-term, building operating costs have increased by 5-6 percent per year, while the RGB has allowed rents to increase by only 3 percent per year.
To make matters worse, last year, de Blasio’s RGB allowed only a 1-percent increase, when costs increased by 5.7 percent, and looks ready to set even lower increases, maybe even a rent freeze, this year.