NEWS FROM ASSEMBLYMAN JEFFREY DINOWITZ

ASSEMBLYMAN JEFFREY DINOWITZ STATEMENT ON RENT GUIDELINES BOARD RENT INCREASE DECISION

On June 26, 2018, the Rent Guidelines Board voted to increase rents of stabilized units by 1.5 and 2.5% for one and two year leases, respectively.

  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.”

STATE LEGISLATURE PASSES CRITICAL LEGISLATION STRENGTHENING ‘TRANSIT LOCKBOX’

Recently revived legislation from Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Martin J. Golden has now passed both chambers of the state legislature; advocates urge Governor to sign bill into law to promote fiscal transparency amid new MTA funding requests

   Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz and State Senator Martin J. Golden have successfully shepherded legislation through a divided state legislature to require funding dedicated to public transportation systems (including the MTA) be used for their intended purpose. The bill also requires any legislation that diverts public transportation funding to include a diversion impact statement which reflects the amount of the diversion from each fund listed separately, the amount diverted expressed as current monthly transit fares, the cumulative amount of diversion from the previous five years, and a detailed estimate of the impact on service, maintenance, security, and current capital program.

For many years, the MTA has seen their operational costs increasingly used to pay debt service. The MTA’s debt service payments have grown from essentially nothing in the early 1980’s to over $2.5 billion in 2018. Despite this increasing cost burden siphoning much-needed resources away from a subway system in crisis, the MTA and other transportation systems have remained a frequent target of Governors who wish to use dedicated taxes to support transit projects to cover budgetary shortfalls in unrelated areas. The diverted funds are then replaced with bonds or loans that are backed by these same taxes, further adding to the existing debt burden.

Assemblyman Dinowitz has championed this bipartisan and common-sense legislation with State Senator Martin Golden (R-Brooklyn), resurrecting the bill as the MTA is once again in a state of crisis. A similar bill was vetoed by Governor Cuomo in 2013. Transit and good government advocates have hailed the legislation as a much-needed salve of transparency which will both hold the Governor and Legislature accountable when it comes to adequately funding public transportation systems in New York State. The bill (A8511/S6807) will next be delivered to the Governor, where it faces an uncertain future despite an estimated $38 billion in needed capital funding to meet the aspirational goals of the MTA’s ‘Fast Forward’ Plan to bring its transit system into the 21^st Century.

Assemblyman Jeffrey Dinowitz said: “As we examine every way to raise dedicated and sustainable revenue for mass transit in New York, it has become increasingly clear that we need to ensure that our promises to straphangers remain kept. If the people of New York are expected to continue paying increased fares and new taxes or fees to fix our subways and buses, then they should be confident that this money is being spent in the right place. I am proud of my colleagues for supporting this bill, and urge Governor Cuomo to sign this bill into law.”

State Senator Martin J. Golden said: “As the Senate Representative on the Metropolitan Transportation Authority Capital Review Board, I know how important it is that resources dedicated to the MTA, stay with the MTA. The Executive should not be able to “sweep” monies dedicated for transportation and use them in other ways. This bill stops this shortsighted practice, and ensures that we have the funding needed to bring the MTA transportation system up to speed. This bill will help ensure that our transit system is efficient, reliable and a safe for commuters.”