Wednesday 22 June 2022 03:56 PM New York City approves biggest rent hikes in a DECADE: Panel says landlords can ... trends now

New Yorkers living in one million rent-stabilized apartments are now faced with the biggest rent increase in a decade after a panel approved a rent hike for one-year and two-year leases despite tenants already crippled amid the cost of living crisis. 

The NYC Rent Guidelines Board voted 5-4 Tuesday night to raise rent for rent-stabilized apartments to 3.25% for one-year leases and 5% for two-year leases.

The increases are the largest jumps in nearly a decade. 

At the raucous rent board session in Cooper Union's Great Hall, angry New Yorkers blew whistles, shouted 'housing is a human right' and turned their backs to the board, but they could not stop the vote. 

'We fight with the landlords, the rats, the roaches, the leaks, the no-gas, the no-heat, the no-hot water — and you wanna give them more money, to do what with?' Kim Statuto of the Bronx demanded to know when she spoke to NBC4 outside the meeting. 

The new rent increases are set to go into effect in October. 

The average cost of a rent-stabilized apartment in New York City is less than $2,700 a month, no matter the size. If the rent is ever raised over $2,700 or the tenant leaves, the stabilized apartment can become deregulated.

Median rent for a non rent-stabilized apartment in Manhattan hit an all-time high of $4,000 per month in May, a 40 percent increase from a year ago and beating out February's high of $3,700, according to a new report from real estate brokerage firm Douglas Elliman✎ EditSign obtained exclusively by DailyMail.com. 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams said the board's decision of the rent increase will be a 'burden to tenants' at an already difficult time, while noting that without an increase small landlords were at risk of bankruptcy.

'This system is broken, and we cannot pit landlords against tenants as winners and losers every year,' Adams said in a statement following the board vote.

'While we raised our voices and were successful in pushing the increases lower, the determination made by the Rent Guidelines Board today will unfortunately be a burden to tenants at this difficult time — and that is disappointing,' Adams said.

'At the same time, small landlords are at risk of bankruptcy because of years of no increases at all, putting building owners of modest means at risk while threatening the quality of life for tenants who deserve to live in well-maintained, modern buildings.'

Adams faced swift backlash and was criticized by several organizations, including The Legal Aid Society, who had been demanding a rent freeze.

'Tonight's shameful vote, one which was likely predetermined, to increase rents on our most vulnerable neighbors is unconscionable, and many families will suffer as a result,' Adriene Holder, Chief Attorney of the Civil Practice at The Legal Aid Society, said.

The group said the mayor was not doing enough to fight for a freeze, adding it was 'wishful thinking given his appointment of known anti-tenant members to the Board.'

Legal Aid said the decision will mostly impact 'communities of color, across the boroughs who are barely scraping by, disproportionately affected financially by the pandemic and paying exorbitant costs for groceries, medical care and other essential needs.' 

Tenants fought hard to block the vote by showing up to rally outside the Rent Guidelines Board meeting and sharing their stories of financial burden. 

Susan Steinberg, 75, is one of the hundreds of tenants who showed up at the meeting on Tuesday. 

Steinberg used to pay $350 a month for her one-bedroom in Stuytown, ABC7 reported. That was in 1980. Now, she pays $1,500 and her rent is about to go up another 5%.

'I'm angry and on a day-to-day, I have to think now when I go to the grocery store. I can't buy everything I want,' she said.

Brooklyn resident Jean Foltes also showed up to protest. 

'Giving them an increase now is not the answer,' Foltes said. 'Many tenants in there haven't been able to work.' 

But landlords argued that they needed a rent increase to help maintain buildings, especially after zero increase during the pandemic and rising fuel bills, among other issues. There are 25,000 property owners responsible for a million rent-regulated apartments in New York City, ABC7 reported.

Rent is out of control in Manhattan and across other major cities in the nation that are primarily reeling from the economic consequences of the pandemic.

Median rent in Manhattan hit an all-time high of $4,000 per month in May. And with most New York city landlords following a standard that a renters' annual income needs to be at least 40 times the rent, those looking for apartments in Manhattan would be expected to earn at $160,000 a year to be considered. 

The surge in rent in New York City comes as competition for housing soars throughout the city and landlords end special deals that lowered rent for those impacted by the pandemic, according to real estate consultant Jonathan Miller, who prepared the Elliman report.

'We have a rental market moving fast without concerns over affordability' Miller said, 'and we can expect rent growth to continue increasing over the summer.'

And the competitive marker isn't solely a New York problem, according to Redfin, the average rent in Austin had shot up to $2,245 in January 2022, a 35 percent spike over the last year, and Realtor.com found Miami's average rent has shot up to nearly $3,000 in March, a 58 percent increase in the last two years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, many New Yorkers fled the city, and rental prices plunged as desperate landlords tried to lure willing renters into their units with special deals.

Many property management firms offered deep discounts or sweeteners, including multiple months of free rent, to entice renters to sign new leases.

Miller said that once the vaccine came out and disrupted the narrative that the city was 'unsafe,' not only did some residents choose to return, but so too did other New Yorkers who had been driven out by previous rent hikes looking to

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