Letters

Don’t Trust Vallone

As the article (“Keep the Pressure On,” Feb. ’00 Tenant/Inquilino) says, wait till the ink is dry on the Vallone bill and is actual law. Do not trust Peter Vallone for one second no matter what he promises or says. My experience writing letters to elected officials, such as City Council Speaker Vallone, Mayor Giuliani, Governor Pataki, Public Advocate Mark Green, Borough President Howard Golden, Councilmember Stephen DiBrienza, and others, is often no answer after four to six weeks; answer, but avoid the subject and thank you; yes, we need safeguards but no answer on renewing rent controls. No one says they will go the distance and get full renewal and maybe increased protection.

Let’s hope for the best and keep the pressure on till the very last minute.

Nick Dipson, Brooklyn

Don’t Kill Vallone Bill

While I respect the view of some (including Councilmember Margarita Lopez) that the Vallone-sponsored bill regarding renewal of the rent-stabilization/control laws does not go far enough to address the housing crisis, I think it is destructive to encourage Councilmembers not to support the bill. A division of support is exactly what the landlords are looking for. It doesn’t, in the end, matter why Councilmembers vote “no”; it just matters that they do if the bill is defeated and further erosion of protections is the result.

Barbara Sandman, Forest Hills

Minimum Rent Is Dangerous

Last spring, the city Rent Guidelines Board voted a minimum rent of $215 a month for stabilized tenants. It passed by one vote. The issue was brought up at the last moment and debated hastily. One question that should have been discussed was whether it is appropriate for the RGB to decide on issues beyond actual increases.

The $215 probably passed because it is such a low figure. But there already is another minimum rent floor, the one used to calculate supplementary “poor tax” increases. This figure seems to go up $50 a year. Based on that, if the $215 minimum were also to go up $50 a year, maybe five years from now significant numbers of tenants will start to get pushed out of their homes. Just imagine the social dislocation after 10 years!

What is to be done? The $215 floor should be reargued and repealed, or at worst, frozen forever at the current figure. For those of us who are able to contact RGB members, it would be important to do so now. We must object to both minimum-rent mechanisms with loud voices now… or be sorry later.

Name Withheld, Manhattan