Dec. 19 City Hall Rally to Demand RGB Changes By Kenny Schaeffer

Met Council will rally in front of City Hall on December 19, calling on the City Council to pass legislation to reform the New York City Rent Guidelines Board.

The nine-member RGB, which sets rent increases for the over 2 million New Yorkers living in 1,000,000 rent-stabilized apartments, is appointed solely by the Mayor. Although there are supposed to be five "public" members, along with two tenant representatives and two owner representatives, the "public" members appointed by Rudolph Giuliani are from the business and finance world and do not represent or even understand the struggle of low, moderate and middle-income tenants in New York City in the face of the ever-worsening housing-affordability crisis. Giuliani's RGB consists of nine prosperous men, with no women and only two people of color (both Latinos).

Giuliani's RGB has imposed unjustified rent increases year after year. This year it imposed the highest increases in five years, although landlords' profits rose 11% after rising 11% the year before, their average profit per apartment rose from $250 a month to almost $300 (that does not include profit from apartments which have been deregulated upon reaching $2,000 a month rent), and average tenant household income has declined slightly in real dollars over the past 20 years.

The RGB also once again included the "poor tax," an additional $15 a month charge on apartments renting below $500. The "poor tax" has two horrendous effects: It imposes a special burden on the tenants who can least afford it, as the people living in lower-rent apartments are predominantly low-income, mostly people of color, and include many on SSI or other fixed incomes; and it has contributed to the loss of more than half of all apartments renting for under $500 since 1993, from 417,000 in 1993 to under 200,000 now. This is a permanent loss of affordable housing.

Met Council is calling for the City Council to amend section 26-510 of the city administrative code, which governs the Rent Guidelines Board, by adding a provision giving the Council approval power over RGB appointments. The bill is expected to be introduced at the December 19 Council meeting, cosponsored by Stanley Michels, Chris Quinn, Bill Perkins, Phil Reed and Guillermo Linares of Manhattan, Helen Marshall of Queens, and Steve DiBrienza of Brooklyn, with additional sponsors expected.

"For too long, the Rent Guidelines Board has neglected the concerns of low and middle-income tenants. By giving the City Council a voice in determining who sits on the RGB, this important piece of legislation will ensure that the board is more representative of the tenants of this city," DiBrienza told Tenant/Inquilino. "Permitting members of the not-for-profit community to sit on the RGB will create a more diversified board, helping to ensure that the interests of all New Yorkers are heard."

"The real-estate industry has relied on the mayor's appointment of RGB members who are hostile to the very concept of rent regulations, to avoid the letter and spirit of the law by imposing unjustified increases year after year," declared Met Council director Jenny Laurie. "Instead of keeping rents affordable for New Yorkers, the RGB keeps jacking rents up. This has to stop. A good first step is to take exclusive control away from the mayor and give approval power to the more representative City Council."

Double Talk

Council Speaker Peter Vallone, whose iron-fisted control of the Council will end next year due to term limits, has sent contradictory messages regarding his position on the proposal for a more diverse and representative RGB, as he tries to appeal simultaneously for tenant votes and real-estate campaign contributions for his probable mayoral run.

According to Met Council member and longtime activist Clare Dockery, who questioned candidates about housing policy at a November 16 mayoral forum at Community Free Democrats, the largest reform Democratic club on Manhattan's Upper West Side, Vallone claimed to support the measure but expressed an opinion that it is "not in the Council's power." That position is rejected by numerous experts in the field, as the Council clearly has jurisdiction to amend the city administrative code.

Vallone's strategy of trying to please both tenants and landlords does not appear to be bearing fruit. A NY-1 poll released on December 1 showed him running fifth among likely mayoral candidates with only 9% of the prospective vote, behind Public Advocate Mark Green with 23%, Bronx Borough President Freddy Ferrer with 13%, city Comptroller Alan Hevesi with 12% and social activist the Rev. Al Sharpton with 11%; 31% were unsure.

"Tenants are too intelligent to be fooled by a candidate who pretends to understand and support our problems, yet uses his power to block our proposals," says Jenny Laurie. "If Peter Vallone wants to improve his numbers, he will have to deliver. He cannot avoid responsibility by hiding behind a dubious argument that the Council lacks power to do this. Let the landlords make that argument if they want. As Speaker of the City Council, it is Peter Vallone's responsibility to fight for New Yorkers."

To make sure tenants' voices are heard, Met Council has called a rally at City Hall from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. on December 19, to coincide with the City Council meeting where the measure is expected to be introduced. This follows an overnight vigil at Gracie Mansion on June 13 prior to the RGB's last vote, and a protest at City Hall on October 1-2 as the current guidelines went into effect.

For more information on the RGB and the fight to keep rents affordable, and to help build the December 19 rally, call Met Council organizer Dave Powell, (212) 693-0553 ext.6.