New York Is Our Home! : Affordable Rent Campaign

2008-04-17T06:59:00.004-05:00

Gov. Signs Shelter Allowance Increase for NYCHA

2007-09-13T08:58:00.000-05:00

On Aug. 15, the Governor signed a bill to increase NYCHA's shelter allowance to the level that private landlords receive for tenants on public assistance. This is an important step forward in the effort to secure public housing for the 600,000 New Yorkers who live in these developments. The shelter allowance increase will provide an additional $63 million in funding to NYCHA over the next two years.Thanks to all who campaigned for this. The intensive push of calls and letters, press work and other grassroots organizing paid off. The Governor was under pressure to avoid this spending, but ultimately did the right thing. There is much more to do to ensure full funding for public housing and to preserve other types of housing low and middle-income families rely on, but this is an important moment to celebrate.

Message from Starrett City Tenant Leader on Buy Out Notice

2007-09-04T08:37:00.000-05:00

From Linda Tilton, ACORN member and Starrett City Leader:

We got rid of the potential buyer, Clipper Equity, who was trying to buy Starrett City for $1.3 billion. For that much money, Clipper would have had no choice but to raise rent and displace tenants who could not afford the new high rents.

But here we go again! We just got a buy out notice – the landlord wants to leave the Mitchell-Lama program. It’s sad to think that Starrett City might not remain as it is. The people who built Starrett City built something wonderful and should be proud of this. Instead, the money becomes most important, not the people or the place. We are going to remain strong and united. We are not giving up.

Starrett City Receives Buy Out Notice

2007-08-30T08:09:00.000-05:00

Tenants of Starrett City, the country's largest federally subsidized complex with 5,881 apartments, received notice on Wednesday August 29 of their owner's intention to buy out of the Mitchell Lama program.

Join tenants and elected officals for a rally and meeting on Wed. Sept. 5th at 7pm at the Christian Cultural Center at Flatlands and Louisianna Avenues (across the street from the Pathmark).

Knickerbocker Tenants Hit with Buy Out Notice

2007-08-28T08:57:00.000-05:00

Along with Castleton (Staten Island) and General Sedgwick (Bronx), Knickerbocker Plaza (Manhattan) was recently hit with a notice that their landlord plans to buy out of the Mithcell Lama program.

Without the cultural history of Genderal Sedgwick -- this development produced hip hop artist Kool Herc -- Knickerbocker lacks the same creative option to avoid buy out. (Sedgwick tenants are working to get their building historic landmark status.) But Knickerbocker tenants are organizing as energetically as ever, and recently secured a piece in the New York Times featuring this photograph.

Support Castleton, Sedgwick, Knickerbocker, Starrett City and all Mitchell Lama tenants -- organize for affordable housing and Mitchell Lama preservation!

MESSAGE FROM RITA POPPER, KNICKERBOCKER TENANT LEADER:

Although shocked by our buy out notice --we thought it was due much later --
we remain united in our effort to make sure that all the tenants, not only enhanced voucher-eligible tenants, get the right to remain in their apartments.

Loss of Knickerbocker Plaza from the affordable housing pool would be a tragedy, as would be the loss of other Mitchell Lama developments. I look around my neighborhood and see nothing but luxury housing or walk-up tenements where the median monthly rent is $2,500 and I am shocked. In a way, getting rid of all affordable housing is akin to "financial cleansing." Luxury or market rate housing produces a very transient community. Affordable housing is the strong thread in the fabric of a community – it means stability.

This is a sad day because of the lack of foresight of our city planners. We have worked very hard to get legislation to preserve affordable housing. Unfortunately, immediate financial gain by owners who do not live in our community is superseding the will and ability of our city’s affordable housing planners. Let's keep working to get preservation legislation. It's the tenants’ only hope.

Spitzer signs 421a legislation

2007-08-28T08:48:00.000-05:00

Gov. Spitzer signed the 421a legislation on Friday August 24th. Some key provisions are:

-Expansion of the area within which affordable housing must be built to include all Manhattan and more outer borough neighborhoods

-Affordable units must be in the developments themselves -- no off-site certificates allowed

-Special provisions for the Atlantic Yards project, allowing it to claim tax breaks for higher income housing; however, this special treatement may be amended in further legislation

Check out the Pratt Center for Community Development's website for a map and more info: http://www.prattcenter.net/nyc421areform.php.

Read about Public Housing in the Gotham Gazette

2007-08-23T10:23:00.001-05:00

Did you know NYC was the first US city to build public housing? Learn more in Joe Lamport's recent article, "Hard Times in the Projects."

http://www.gothamgazette.com/article/housing/20070820/10/2261

Excerpts from Press Coverage on NYCHA Shelter Allowance Increase

2007-08-16T11:29:00.000-05:00

Daily News
August 16, 2007
Adam Lisberg

47M Boost to City Housing

Gov. Spitzer yesterday signed a bill giving an extra $47 million a year to the New York City Housing Authority - which may help the cash-strapped agency avoid devastating job cuts.

"We must do everything we can to preserve our affordable housing so New Yorkers don't have to spend their entire paycheck on rent or mortgage payments alone," the governor said.

The bill eliminates a funding disparity under which private landlords were given more funds than public-housing authorities to help subsidize residents on public assistance.

NY Post
August 16, 2007 -- Albany
Kenneth Lovett

City Gain As Spitzer OKs Housing $$

"After a long period of neglect, state government is finally focused on solving the housing crisis that has pushed too many working New Yorkers out of the middle class and prevented those struggling New Yorkers from climbing up into economic security," Spitzer said.

Bloomberg called the new law "a major win" for the city housing authority's 400,000 tenants.

NY Sun
August 16, 2007
Special to the Sun

Housing Authority To Receive Additional $40M

The New York City Housing Authority will receive more than $40 million in additional taxpayer funds, as Governor Spitzer signed into law a bill increasing the state's contribution to the public housing agency.

The legislation calls for the state and city to each increase their contributions to NYCHA by about $11 million a year, with the federal government contributing about $22 million.

Deal reached on 421a luxury tax break program

2007-08-15T16:59:00.000-05:00

In an attempt to require more affordable housing from luxury developers receiving tax breaks -- and responding to the efforts of advocates and tenants -- the City Council passed Local Law 58 in December 2006. The law required greater numbers of affordable units from those landlords claiming 421a tax benefits.

In June 2007, the state legislature expanded on this local law, including new outer borough neighborhoods in the "exclusion zone," the area within which affordable units must be included to receive the tax break. The state legislation requires that 20% of the units in these buildings be affordable to households at 60% of the area median income ($42,540 for a household of 4) and that units remain affordable for 40 years. Employees of these buildings must be paid at the City's prevailing wage.

For more information, and for a map of the exclusion zone, check out http://www.prattcenter.net/nyc421areform.php.

Gov. Spitzer closes "unique or peculiar" loophole!

2007-08-15T15:07:00.000-05:00

Closure of the "unique or peculiar" loophole -- which allowed landlords of pre-1974 Mitchell Lamas to unfairly deregulate their units upon buy out -- has been a long-time goal of affordable housing activists! Congrats to all NY Is Our Home campaign leaders, Mitchell Lama tenants and housing organizers who helped make this happen!

Governor Spitzer puts kibosh on rent hike loophole
BY ADAM LISBERG
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Wednesday, July 18th 2007, 4:00 AM

Gov. Spitzer has closed a loophole that could have let landlords in the Mitchell-Lama housing program jack up rents by thousands of dollars.

"I was so happy I cried," said Sue Susman, president of the tenants association in an upper West Side building where she said a one-bedroom apartment could have jumped from $450 a month to $2,100.

Apartments in former Mitchell-Lama buildings are subject to New York's rent stabilization rules.

Owners of 24 buildings recently told the state Division of Housing they faced "unique and peculiar" circumstances and were entitled to raise rents on almost 5,000 apartments to market rates. Some rents would have tripled.

"Some landlords have attempted to get around the rent stabilization laws by manipulating the so-called unique and peculiar loophole," said Dina Levy of the Urban Homesteading Assistance Board. "Spitzer has done the right thing by closing the loophole and protecting the rights of thousands of tenants."

Call on Governor Spitzer to pass the NYCHA shelter allowance increase!

2007-08-08T17:04:00.000-05:00

Join Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh, community groups and other assembly leaders to call on Governor Spitzer to pass the legislation to increase the shelter allowance for NYCHA!

WHEN: FRIDAY AUGUST 10th, arrive at 10:45AM

WHERE: Steps of City Hall

WHY: This legislation (A7905/S4329) would enable NYCHA to receive the same shelter allowance payments for residents who receive public assistance that are now provided to private landlords. This increase would be a huge step towards closing NYCHA's budget deficit.

For Your Phone: Affordable Housing Ringtone

2007-06-29T14:28:00.000-05:00

"Starrett City and its 20,000 residents can't wait until the fall for the legislature to protect their homes. Their homes are set to be sold before the next session begins - and then they'll have nowhere to turn . . . We can't wait one minute longer. The Assembly has passed this important legislation, but we need the Senate and the Governor to put these bills on their agendas before they can become law. If Governor Spitzer and Senator Bruno do not act during this session, we will immediately lose 6,000 affordable apartments and thousands more in other Mitchell-Lama buildings . . . There are only two possibilities - either we pass these vital reforms, or thousands of the voters who believed we would change New York for the better will be pushed out of their homes."
- Assemblyman Darryl C. Towns, chair of the Assembly's Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus

The state legislative session ended with the Republican-controlled State Senate refusing to take action to protect affordable housing, even though thousands of units of affordable housing are going to be lost this summer without Senate action.

New York Is Our Home made a trip to Albany during the legislative session to demand that Governor Spitzer and Senate Majority Leader Bruno pass A795, the Save Starrett City bill, and A352. The Assembly Housing Committee and the Assembly Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic and Asian Caucus joined with us. So what was our reception in the Senate?

Republican Senate Majority Leader Joe Bruno flat out refused to meet with us.

That's a disgrace. With rents the way they are, Joe Bruno and his Senate Republican majority ought to be ashamed. And we're going to make sure everyone knows it.

First, tell your State Senators to pass affordable housing legislation.

Then download the New York Is Our Home "Shame on Bruno" ringtone for your phone.

When Bruno wouldn't meet with us in Albany, we protested outside of his office. Our chant then was "Shame on Bruno." Now we've turned that chant into a ringtone for your phone so you can put the pressure on. Here's the original ringtone and the remix version. When someone asks you what your ringtone is, explain how the Senate Republicans and Joe Bruno are getting rid of affordable housing through their inaction. If enough people download the ringtone then word will spread to your friends and to their friends, and we can reach enough people to force action to protect affordable housing.

If you want to know more, here is a detailed description of what New York Is Our Home stands for and here is the Losing Ground report that documents the housing affordability crisis.

One last bonus: more pictures from the "Hands Around Stuy Town" rally. These are from the West Side Neighborhood Alliance at the rally and prepping for it beforehand.

Rally Pics and Next Steps

2007-06-22T18:00:00.000-05:00

More pictures from the "Hands Around Stuy Town" Affordable Housing Rally.

100 people have taken the monthly rent increase survey. Be sure to take the survey if you haven't yet. Once you have, ask your friends to take the survey.

We'll have more next week. If you're on MySpace, get a sneak peak by adding the WFP as a friend.

And, to wrap it up, vote on how you want to use the interactive rent increase map:

Rally Pictures and Next Steps

2007-06-01T16:41:00.000-05:00

Here are more pictures from the "Hands Around Stuy Town" Affordable Housing Rally:

We've started a project to create a citywide map of rent hikes. The first step is collecting survey information from you about how your rent has changed over the past years. Almost 100 people have taken the survey, which means there are enough responses to create the map. But we want to make it better, and for that we need your help.

Take the monthly rent increase survey, ask your friends to take it, and vote on how you want to use our interactive rent increase map.

What Kind Of Map Do You Want?

2007-05-29T14:57:00.000-05:00

This is your campaign. As the Hands Around Stuy Town Rally approached, you got the chance to pick an online project that would involve people in New York Is Our Home and spread the word about what we're doing to protect affordable housing in New York City. The winning idea was a project to create a citywide map of rent hikes.

We launched that project last week by asking for your address and monthly rent for the last few years. Already, almost 100 people have taken the survey. That means we're ready to create the map.

We want it to be as interactive as possible. Before we go forward, tell us how you want to use the map.

After you vote, take the monthly rent increase survey if you haven't yet and then ask your friends to take it.

Who Came? 7,000 People

2007-05-25T09:13:00.000-05:00

You made history Wednesday night. 7,000 people. 92 groups. 38 elected officials. That's who came to the Hands Around Stuy Town Rally.

New York City's housing crisis has been building for years. You know that, because you've been living through it.

But you put New York's broken rent laws front and center. You put rent stabilization back on the map and put vacancy decontrol back in the public discussion. You served notice that it's time to pass the Save Starrett City Law and put all Mitchell-Lama buildings into rent stabilization. And you let everyone know that New York Is Our Home!

The rally was a huge success - but it's just the beginning. So what can you do now?

We're launching a new project to create a citywide map of rent hikes. We're asking you for your address and monthly rent for the last few years. The result will be an interactive map charting how individual rents have risen in recent years and showing areas with dramatic rent increases.

Please spend a minute to take the monthly rent increase survey.

We're also going to Albany on June 5th to demand that the Senate and Assembly pass legislation immediately to put all Mitchell-Lama buildings into rent stabilization and to close loopholes that allow landlords to get out of rent stabilization. Email Chloe Tribich from Housing Here and Now for details if you can join us on June 5th in Albany!

An event this large doesn't just happen. It's the result of a lot of hard work.

We'd like to thank everyone who came. You made the event the success that it was. And a special shout out to the speakers and elected officials who came and to the groups in the New York Is Our Home coalition who all did so much work to publicize this event (listed along the right hand side of this page).

Here's some of the coverage we got for the rally:

Ed Ott Gets Going on Affordable Housing [Politicker]
Hands Across the East Village [Daily Intelligencer]
Hands Across the Complex [Empire Zone]
Heading to Stuy Town Today? Bring Purell [Curbed]
10,000 Expected at Affordable Housing Rally [The Real Estate]
WFP Turns Up The Heat On Affordable Housing [Daily Politics]

Check back for more!

Thanks to Those Who Spoke

2007-05-24T17:47:00.000-05:00

"If we do not fix rent regulation, New York's working-class and middle-class will slowly bleed to death. What makes this place great is that we're all in this together - nurses and computer techs and teachers and struggling actors and cops and everybody. Let's keep it that way."
- Dan Cantor, Working Families Party

Yesterday's speakers at the Hands Around Stuy Town Rally conveyed the passion and urgency of the crowd. Thank you all! The speakers included:

Mary Brosnahan, Coalition for the Homeless
Bertha Lewis, ACORN
Dan Cantor, Working Families Party
Ed Ott, Central Labor Council
Hilda Chavis, NW Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition
Randi Weingarten, UFT
Lillian Roberts, DC37 AFSCME
and elected officials.

Here's the Central Labor Council's Ed Ott speaking:

Who Came? The Electeds

2007-05-24T17:13:00.000-05:00

Here's the list of elected officials who came to yesterday's Hands Around Stuy Town Rally. Thank you all!

Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum
Comptroller William Thompson
Council Speaker Christine Quinn
Borough President Adolfo Carrion
Borough President Scott Stringer
Senator Martin Connor
Senator Thomas Duane
Senator Liz Krueger
Senator Kevin Parker
Senator Bill Perkins
Senator John Sabini
Senator John Sampson
Senator Andrea Stewart-Cousins
Assemblyman Jonathan Bing
Assemblyman James Brennan
Assemblyman Adam Clayton Powell, IV
Assemblyman Ruben Diaz, Jr.
Assemblyman Adriano Espaillat
Assemblyman Richard Gottfried
Assemblyman Andrew Hevesi
Assemblyman Brian Kavanagh
Assemblyman Rory Lancman
Assemblywoman Linda Rosenthal
Assemblyman Keith Wright
Council Member Charles Barron
Council Member Bill de Blasio
Council Member Gale Brewer
Council Member Inez Dickens
Council Member Mathieu Eugene
Council Member Dan Garodnick
Council Member Alan Gerson
Council Member Eric Gioia
Council Member Robert Jackson
Council Member Letitia James
Council Member Jessica Lappin
Council Member Melissa Mark-Viverito
Council Member Darlene Mealy
Council Member Rosie Mendez
Council Member James Sanders
Council Member David Yassky

Update: added Senator Bill Perkins and Council Member Gale Brewer to the list

7,000 and Counting

2007-05-23T15:51:00.000-05:00

The New York Is Our Home coalition is closing in on 100 groups. And with all those groups working to turn people out for tonight's Hands Around Stuy Town Rally, there are now over 7,000 people coming!

As part of the rally, we're asking for your help to launch a new project to map rent increases in New York City. Fill out our online monthly rent increase survey with your address and recent monthly rent history. The result will be an interactive map at NewYorkIsOurHome.org charting how individual rents have risen in recent years and will collectively show areas of dramatic rent increases.

Take the survey today!

Thank You!

2007-05-23T15:42:00.000-05:00

Thank you for your help to launch a new project to map rent increases in New York City.

The result of everyone's online monthly rent increase survey will be an interactive map at NewYorkIsOurHome.org charting how individual rents have risen in recent years and showing areas with dramatic rent increases.

There's one more thing you can do right now: tell your friends. Click here to send email using your own address book.

Losing Ground

2007-05-23T15:07:00.000-05:00

There is no doubt that New York City is in the midst of a housing affordability crisis. Department of Housing Preservation and Development (HPD) Commissioner Shaun Donovan recently referred to an "affordability squeeze" and acknowledged the need to preserve regulated apartments.

Losing Ground (pdf), a new report from Housing Here and Now, documents the threat to affordable housing in New York City and lays out solutions to the problem.

The New York Is Our Home campaign has united tenant groups, the Central Labor Council and the Working Families Party to craft the following proposals to preserve our affordable housing stock and allow New York City to retain its diversity and vibrancy:

Preserve Rent-Regulated Units, including repeal of vacancy decontrol to eliminate the rent threshold that allows owners to decontrol units once they become vacant and hit that threshold.
Prevent unfair rent increases and tenant harassment by strengthening enforcement of the rent laws and making other reforms at the NYS Division of Housing & Community Renewal (DHCR).
Preserve Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 Housing, including extending rent regulations to ALL Mitchell-Lama and Section 8 buildings and closing loopholes that undermine rent protections.
Preserve State and City-built public housing by restoring State and City funding to protect 27,000 units of public housing and to preserve thousands of Section 8 vouchers with an annual State contribution of $70 million and a City contribution of $120 million.
End the State's Discrimination against New Yorkers Living with AIDS by capping rental payments to 30% of a tenant’s income. The State now requires some tenants living with AIDS and receiving SSI to pay all but $330 of income toward rent.

What They're Saying About Affordable Housing

2007-05-22T15:48:00.000-05:00

Support is building for tomorrow's Hands Around Stuy Town Rally. 95 groups have joined the coalition. 7,000 people are coming to the rally tomorrow - blowing past our initial goal of 6,000 people. And more than 50 state legislators have endorsed the New York Is Our Home! agenda.

People are talking. Here's what they're saying.

Here's Ed Ott, Executive Director of the New York City Central Labor Council, a federation of 400 affiliated local unions representing over one million working men and women in New York City:

"A top priority at the Central Labor Council since our inception has been to protect affordable housing and preserve tenant rights for the working men and women we represent. The lack of affordable housing in New York has become an unmitigated crisis. With tenant rights our focus, we will continue to work hard to protect the millions of low and moderate income tenants who now live in daily fear of losing their homes."

Here's George Gresham, President of 1199 United Healthcare Workers East, a union representing 275,000 nurses, nurses aides and home health care aides:

"Our deeply flawed rent laws have failed to protect the affordable housing that we have, squeezing thousands of New Yorkers out of their homes, with thousands more on the brink. It is absolutely vital to working families in this City that our elected officials make immediate progress on this agenda."

Here's Dan Cantor, Executive Director of the Working Families Party:

"Elected officials need to realize that the housing crisis in New York City has reached a boiling point. While the Bloomberg Administration is building 165,000 new units of affordable housing, we are set to lose more than twice that in the coming years. Already we have lost hundreds of thousands of units of affordable housing in this City. We are putting this back on the agenda and making this a litmus test for the 2008 elections. We will be judging our elected officials by their success and commitment to this affordable housing agenda."

Here's Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers:

"In terms of our government's investment in protecting affordable housing, the rent is way past due. Thousands of working families – including teachers, teacher's aides and home daycare workers – lost their homes to skyrocketing rents last year. Thousands more will lose them this year. This agenda for reforming our destructive rent regulation laws cannot wait."

Here's Bertha Lewis, Executive Director of NY ACORN:

"After Stuyvesant Town, after Starrett City, after tens of thousands of rent stabilized units being converted in our neighborhoods, when are our elected officials going to step up and say 'enough'. On Wednesday we are going to wrap ourselves around Stuyvesant Town to send a message and put this issue back on the map — and then we're going to fan out into Senate and Assembly districts and work until election day to ensure that this finally gets on Albany's agenda."

We'll give the last word to Julie Miles of Housing Here & Now, Director of the New York Is Our Home Campaign:

"This is a big agenda. But as the mayor has reminded all of us — we need to take action today to secure New York City's future. Securing the hundreds of thousands of affordable units that we are losing by repealing vacancy decontrol is the most important action government leaders can take to solve the affordable housing crisis."

New Flyer Is Up - Now Pass It Out!

2007-05-22T11:04:00.000-05:00

Our latest flyer for the Hands Around Stuy Town Rally tomorrow is up on the site (pdf).

Take a minute right now to download it, print it out, make copies, and flyer your building tonight when you go home. This last minute push to remind your neighbors about the rally will really boost turnout.

See you tomorrow!

Next Week We Rally

2007-05-15T15:57:00.000-05:00

Next week, you will be able to meet 6,000 other New Yorkers who care about affordable housing and join together to do something about it. Wednesday, May 23rd, is the day 6,000 of us join Hands Around Stuy Town. More than a massive rally, this is going to be visually stunning event.

RSVP today!

We're expecting the attention and excitement of the rally will bring new people here to the web site to find out more. So we're planning now for ways to get all those people involved. It can be serious or it can be fun, but it needs to send the message that New York Is Our Home!

Here are a couple of our ideas. Vote for which one you like best, or post your own idea in the comments.

Hands Around Stuy Town : 12 Days To Go

2007-05-11T18:18:00.000-05:00

We're now less than two weeks away from the Hands Around Stuy Town Affordable Housing Rally.

Momentum is building for the rally. Borough Meetings in Brooklyn and Lower Manhattan were high energy and well attended.

May 23rd will be even bigger. Over 80 groups are on the phones calling their members to bring 6,000 people to the rally. And 70 people have RSVPed online.

We're expecting the attention and excitement of the rally to send a wave of people to the web site, and we're looking for ways to get those people involved. It can be serious or it can be fun, but it needs to send the message that New York Is Our Home!

Here are a couple of our ideas. Vote for which one you like best, or post your own idea in the comments.