BP MARKOWITZ URGES RENT GUIDELINES BOARD TO DENY LANDLORDS RENT INCREASE REQUEST

“I urge the Rent Guidelines Board to vote down any and all rent increase proposals presented. Last year’s increases of 2.7% for one-year leases and 5.5% for two-year leases for the city’s rent stabilized apartments came as a disappointment. The call by landlords for yet another increase far beyond the rate of inflation is outrageous. A landlord who properly maintains a building has the right to a fair return. But as incomes decline or stay flat for tenants, revenues for landlords again far outpaced costs in every borough last year. A rent increase of any amount imposes unacceptable hardships on thousands of New Yorkers who survive on modest incomes. I never want to see a New York City home only to the very rich and the very poor and I call on the Rent Guidelines Board to join those working to maintain Brooklyn and New York’s ethnic and income diversity by turning down the landlord’s request, and beefing up support for tenants.”