With the votes of five Republicans needed to renew rent controls in the State Senate, tenants are taking the campaign to the home districts of GOP Senators from the New York metropolitan area.

Met Council members have been spending Saturday mornings in Sen Roy Goodman’s Manhattan East Side district, handing out flyers reading "Thanks for Your Vote, Roy—But It’s Not Enough." The tactic is somewhat controversial, as Goodman was one of two Republicans to vote for renewing the rent-regulation laws in the State Senate on April 7. However, his critics say he should have spoken out in favor of rent controls on the Senate floor—Majority Leader Joseph Bruno ordered Republicans not to debate the issue that day—and should be using his influence to get other GOP Senators to support renewing tenant protections. "Roy Goodman has the strength to do more," Met Council organizer Jon Lilienthal told the Resident, an East Side neighborhood weekly.

In Queens, tenants are concentrating on Serphin Maltese, who represents the conservative Ridgewood and Glendale neighborhoods. "It’s the first time we’ve made contact in that area," says Penny LaForest of the Queens League of United Tenants. Tenant activists are phone-banking and handing out flyers in the district, including leaflets explaining to area merchants that massive rent increases in their neighborhood will hurt their businesses. However, Maltese is refusing to meet with tenant groups.

QLOUT is also urging Frank Padavan, the other Republican who supported rent controls on April 7, to do more than be "just one vote."

In the suburbs, the New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition has been canvassing in the districts of Republicans like Dean Skelos of Nassau and Nicholas Spano of Westchester. Spano and Bronx-Westchester Republican Guy Velella both say they support renewing the laws, but voted against it April 7 and have received thousands of dollars in real-estate money.