At a tough meeting at the Cooper Union in Manhattan, the Rental Guidelines Council voted 5 to 4 in favor of a 3.25 percent increase in one-year rental rents in fixed-income homes and a 5 percent increase in two-year leases. Many tenants supported the freeze or reimbursement, while landlords called for even higher increases, but the committee had signaled its intention to support a mid-street approach at a meeting last month. The increases affect about two million New Yorkers. New York, already one of the most expensive places to live in the country, has seen the cost of living rise amid a recovery from the worst of the pandemic. Rising inflation has hit tenants and property owners, and the impact on landlords’ ability to maintain buildings has been one of the most important factors the council has considered. But the vote also heightened concerns about a lack of affordable housing and the viability of the city’s recovery. The amphitheater on Tuesday was filled with dozens of people wearing orange and yellow T-shirts in bright colors that declared their participation in various tenant organizations. Their piercing whistles, their whistles on chairs, their screams and “home is a human right” voice resounded throughout the room, sometimes completely drowning out the voices of board members. As board chairman David Rice described the reasons behind the increases, dozens of people stood up, turned their backs on him and shouted, drowning him. The annual vote is always full and provokes strong protests and lobbying by lawyers for both tenants and landlords. But this year’s meeting came after tens of thousands of tenants lost their jobs and struggled to pay during the pandemic. It was also the first ballot to be held during the rule of Mayor Eric Adams, and the board took a different approach than it had under its predecessor, Bill de Blasio. The panel is effectively controlled by the mayor, who appoints all nine members – five representing the public and two for tenants and landlords. Representatives of tenants and landlords voted no on Tuesday afternoon. While Mr. Adams said he was pushing the board to adopt lower increases, he also expressed sympathy for small property owners who need rental income to offset rising costs. “The determination made today by the Rent Guidelines Council will unfortunately be a burden on tenants at this difficult time – and it is disappointing,” Mr Adams said in a statement after the vote. “At the same time,” he added, “small landlords are in danger of going bankrupt over the years without any increases, putting building owners at risk with mediocre means and endangering the quality of life of tenants who deserve to live in well-maintained, modern buildings.” Mr de Blasio had focused more on the cost of renting. During his term, the highest annual increases approved by the board were 1.5 percent for one-year leases and 2.75 percent for two-year leases. Inflation was also relatively low during his rule. The last time there was a significant increase – 4 percent for one-year leases and 7.75 percent for two-year leases – was in 2013, when Michael R. Bloomberg was mayor. The increases approved on Tuesday will apply to leases starting on or after October 1st. The New York rent stabilization system, first introduced in the late 1960s, remains a critical source of affordable housing. The median income for people living in rented flats is about $ 47,000, compared with $ 62,960 in uncontrolled homes, according to a recent city survey. The average monthly rent for rent-stabilized apartments is $ 1,400, according to the survey, compared to $ 1,845 for uncontrolled homes. And fixed rents are in stark contrast to the skyrocketing prices in recent months in some parts of the city: The average rent for a Manhattan apartment recently rented in May was $ 4,975 a month, up 22 percent from the previous year. , according to a report by real estate company Douglas Elliman. The result on Tuesday was a blow to tenants, many of whom struggled to pay their rent even before the pandemic. Housing advocates have been pushing aggressively in recent weeks for the board to reverse its course and support a freeze or rent rebate. Mei Xia Yu, who has lived in her fixed two-bedroom apartment in Chinatown for 15 years, said after the vote that “her heart is very upset.” “He added a lot,” he said. “No one can afford it.” Adán Soltren, who was appointed to the board this spring by Mr Adams and is one of the two employees’ representatives who voted against the increases, called the decision to support them “unfair”. “Your decision will result in millions of people suffering, while companies and investors continue to win,” he said. At the committee’s public hearing last week in the Bronx, more than 60 of the approximately 70 speakers were tenants, tenant advocates, and elected officials who supported the rent cut or the rent freeze. Many of the speakers were moved during their testimony, expressing their despair in the face of any increases and frustration over the poor conditions in their homes. The increases approved on Tuesday also disappointed landlords, who said the buildings would deteriorate without additional rental income to offset the increased costs. “We are risking the demolition of homes that have been stabilized by rent,” said Christina Smyth, one of two members representing landlords who voted against the proposed increases, saying they were inadequate. Landlords said they were pressured by tough new laws passed in 2019, which limited their ability to increase rents when an apartment was vacant or upgraded. Bryan Liff, a landlord who testified at the meeting last week, pushed for rent increases of at least 8 percent and said rental income was already too low to bring many units to sustainable standards. However, he said he was “disturbed” by what appeared to be a predetermined conclusion on the part of the tenants and that “decisions seem to be based on who is screaming louder”. Both Adams and landlords have been embroiled in the difficulties that “mom and pop” landlords face when it comes to rent rents. But because existing laws make it difficult to determine who actually owns a particular building, it is not clear how many of the homeowners with rent stabilization are actually owners of smaller properties versus owners with much larger and more diversified portfolios. A cursory analysis conducted by board staff in June 2020 showed that more than 61 percent of rented units were owned by landlords with 10 units or less. But a separate analysis of property records released last week by the JustFix.nyc group, a technology company that monitors property ownership, suggested just the opposite: that more than 60 percent of fixed-line homes are owned by owners with portfolios of more than 1,000 units in total. In contrast, about 1 percent of rental units are owned by owners who own less than 10 units in total. “The data clearly shows that the large landlords own the vast majority of homes that have been rented in New York,” the group said last week. Téa Kvetenadze contributed to the petition.
