Bronx, NY – Following the adoption of Rent Guidelines Board Apartment Order #50 on Tuesday, June 26 which increased rents for the second consecutive year, Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz issued the following statement:

“As New York City continues to suffer through an affordability crisis, where homelessness rates are rising amidst tenants being pushed out by ever-increasing rents, it has become even more necessary to ensure that all New Yorkers are able to continue to afford living in their homes. Property owners are making more money than ever before as real estate values continue to skyrocket and more rent-stabilized units are forced out of rent regulation.

There are already numerous giveaways to landlords in the form of unchecked Individual Apartment Improvement increases, permanent rent increases from Major Capital Improvements despite a mere eight or nine year amortization period, a broken preferential rent system where landlords can raise rents by substantial amounts, and many more. Landlords receive millions of dollars in tax credits each year, yet they cry poverty each year when the Rent Guidelines Board is deciding how much to increase rents on working-class New Yorkers.

If landlords really want to understand poverty, some of them need to look no further than their own tenants. Even small rent increases can make the different between whether a tenant is able to afford to stay in their apartment or if they are forced from their homes. What these tenants needed was a rent freeze, if not an outright rent reduction, but what they got instead was a bigger bill from their landlord. I am glad that the Rent Guidelines Board did not approve the landlord-promoted rent increase of 7.5%, but I am also deeply disappointed that many of our community members are less able to afford housing.”