Yesterday, state Senate Majority Leader Pedro Espada introduced a bill that would freeze rents for 10 years for families earning less than $45,000/year and paying more than a third of that in rent. Espada touted the legislation, which would apply to about 30 percent of the city's rent-stabilized households, as tenant-friendly. Which means it's now backlash time! Tenant advocate Michael McKee tells the Times the bill would nullify the Stuy Town decision by allowing landlords to keep their apartments at market rate in exchange for returning any tax benefits to the city. Those tax benefits are smaller than a landlord's typical losses for returning a unit to rent-stabilization, and once handed over, they would fund the first year of Espada's 10-year program. And most Stuy Town renters will probably just shrug.
· Espada's Proposed Rent Limits Faulted by Tenant Groups [NYT]
· Rent Wars: Everybody Freeze! [Curbed]
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