CWA 1180 - Political Action

Lobby day set for May 13 to push better rent laws
Vacancy decontrol is the death knell of affordable housing
February 2003

Whenever a tenant moves out of a rent-stabilized New York City apartment, the landlord is allowed to raise the rent by 20%, more if he makes capital improvements. Whenever the rent reaches $2,000, that apartment is no longer subject to rent stabilization. Given the prices in today's rental market, it's easy to see how this "vacancy decontrol" provision of the rent regulation laws is eroding the stock of rent-regulated housing. Since 1991, over 150,000 apartments in the city have been deregulated.

Without rent regulation, there is no affordable housing in New York City. And without a repeal of vacancy decontrol, there will be no meaningful rent regulation left in the very near future.

This year's Local 1180 lobby day in Albany will focus on renewing rent regulations and repealing vacancy decontrol. It is not enough to simply renew the existing laws. We must strengthen them so that our children and grandchildren will be able to live in New York City, and so that our city does not turn into an exclusive urban enclave for the rich.

The landlord lobby is strong in Albany, and both Governor Pataki and the Republican-led Senate are opposed to repealing vacancy decontrol. That means that it will take an enormous amount of pressure from constituents like 1180 members to get the legislature and the governor to act. The Assembly has already passed a bill, but the key will be getting Senate action and the governor's signature.

You can do your part by writing and calling your State Senator, Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno and Governor Pataki. (If you don't know who your representatives are, click here to find out.) Next, tell your family, friends, neighbors and co-workers to do the same. And then, on May 13, get on the bus and come lobby in Albany!

To sign up for the May 13 lobby day, click here for a registration form you can download. (To download the form, you will need Adobe Acrobat Reader. Most browsers now have this software. If yours does not, click here to download and install Acrobat Reader.)

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