Housing Starts: Rent Freeze for New York? | Renters face tough choices | Stuy-Town’s Future

1. Landlords, tenants in crossfire as rent freeze battle looms. Keisha Jacobs says 40% of her income goes to rent and she can’t afford a penny more. Chris Athineos can’t imagine how he would maintain his Brooklyn buildings without rent hikes. The Rent Guidelines Board will consider the conflicting and passionate views of tenants and landlords like them when it votes on June 23 on what could be the city’s first ever rent freeze for stabilized tenants. [New York Daily News – 06/15/14]
2. Home, food or heath care: A choice many renters can’t afford.    The mortgage crisis that devastated the economy has received endless attention, but it’s not just homeowners who have suffered badly in this economy. As of 2012, renters made up 35 percent of American households. Their numbers are growing, reversing a decades-long uptick in home ownership. And in the last 50 years, the percentage of income they’re spending on the rent has increased dramatically. A quarter of renters are spending more than half their income on rent. [NPR – 06/15/14]
3. Affordability threatened at some city co-ops, experts say. Heather Horgan has spent the past year focusing on Housing Development Fund Corporation (HDFC) co-ops, a once under-the-radar form of affordable housing that has caught the attention of bargain hunters trying to buy in booming neighborhoods like Hamilton Heights and the Lower East Side. Although the incomes of HDFC buyers are usually capped, the sale prices of these co-ops often are not, and housing advocates say prices have crept up as sellers look to capitalize on the desirability of their locations. Advocates said the rising prices go against the spirit of the program, making it virtually impossible for many buyers to afford some of these homes without help from a trust fund or relative. [DNAInfo – 06/11/14]
4. Stuyvesant Town tenants rally to preserve affordability. Residents of Stuyvesant Town-Peter Cooper Village,  Manhattan’s largest apartment complex, rallied at City Hall today to keep rents affordable and give tenants a chance to buy the property as it is prepared for a sale. Hundreds of residents, joined by local officials including U.S. Senator Charles Schumer, called for inclusion in the sale process of the 80-acre (32-hectare) community. The tenants association is working with Brookfield Asset Management Inc. for their own bid on the complex, home to about 30,000 New Yorkers [Bloomberg News – 06/13/14]
5. Bill de Blasio’s plan to take Brooklyn progressivism national. De Blasio, after six months in office, has managed to shift the political polarity of the city and the state. So why stop there? The mayor has always aspired to lead not just a city but a progressive movement, and de Blasio’s bid to bring the 2016 Democratic National Convention to New York is a sign of his ambitions. [New York Magazine – 06/15/14]
6. Jamaica bets on rezoning for a delayed boost. After decades marked by blight and lackluster economic growth, Jamaica, the large, south-central Queens neighborhood, was poised to benefit from new zoning rules in 2007, but then the bottom fell out of the real-estate market. Community leaders say development is only now beginning to move forward with new construction. Examples of new work set to begin include an apartment building with 500 units as well as retail space, and a hotel with more than 200 rooms. [Wall Street Journal – 06/13/14]
7. Bronx tenants boo landlord and call for a rent freeze at raucous city meeting. Chanting ‘slumlord’ and calling on a citywide rent freeze, hundreds of tenants shouted down one brave landlord willing to appear at a Rent Guidelines Board hearing Thursday. ‘People are struggling,‘said Shanequa Charles, 34, one of more than 350 rent stabilized tenants at Hostos College for the first of four hearings leading up to a June 23 vote on rent increases. ‘There’s no quality of life for these tenants and the fact that only one person was there is indicative that they know they’re in the wrong,’ added Charles. [New York Daily News – 06/13/14]
8. What’s in store for East New York. When it comes to parts of New York City primed for new development, Brooklyn’s East New York may not be the first to come to mind. But this transit-rich and under-utilized node is first in line as the de Blasio administration embarks on 15 neighborhood re-zonings, part of the mayor’s plan to build and preserve 200,000 units of affordable housing over the next ten years. [New York YIMBY – 06/13/14]
9. At the head of her class, and homeless. On Wednesday, Rashema Melson will graduate at the top of her class as the valedictorian of Anacostia High School in Washington, D.C. She’s headed to Georgetown University this fall on a full scholarship. Melson has excelled at her homework - but for the past six years, she hasn’t had a home to do that work in. She currently lives in the D.C. General homeless shelter, along with her mother and two brothers. The shelter houses up to 300 adults and 500 children and has come under scrutiny for its poor conditions. [NPR – 06/11/14]
10. City officials push for providing lawyers for tenants facing eviction. Councilman Mark Levine has introduced a bill to provide legal services to low-income tenants facing eviction or foreclosure. Council members and housing advocates say tenants should have the same free access to a lawyer that criminals receive. [New York Daily News – 06/12/14]