Hello, let’s get into today’s news at the intersection of real estate and policy:
- The City Council today will vote to expand two rent-freeze programs for certain tenants that landlords actually support.
- Infrastructure gaps loomed large during a Council oversight hearing on City Planning’s efforts to target several neighborhoods for new housing.
- New construction rules are expected on the back of the city’s probe into the Pfizer building scare.
In this edition we mention: Council members Farah Louis and Kevin Riley, Department of City Planning Director Sideya Sherman, Department of Buildings Commissioner Ahmed Tigani and others.
We Heard
- Benefit bump: The City Council is slated to boost income-eligibility for seniors and people with disabilities to qualify for a rent freeze — one that’s actually popular with landlords because they get a tax credit that covers the difference.
- A bill to implement a state increase to the income cap for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) and Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) programs from $50,000 to $75,000 — the first increase in 12 years — is expected to head to a vote by the Committee on Finance Thursday, before being put to a full vote by the Council. The measure would apply the change retroactively to July 1, the start of the city’s fiscal year.
Council member Farah Louis, the bill’s sponsor, pointed to the eligibility change as a “major step” to keeping New Yorkers in their homes while supporting the operators who run their buildings, many of which are rent-stabilized owners or affordable housing providers. Housing groups support the initiative, including the New York Apartment Association and the New York State Association for Affordable Housing.
“I urge the Mayor to sign this legislation as soon as possible so that New Yorkers can begin receiving the relief they need,” Louis told The Real Deal in a statement…