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Budget, Education & City Services
State Assembly Bill #A10944, to amend the Rent Stabilization Law that defines building “demolition
WHEREAS, According to the NYC Rent Guidelines Board report “Changes to the Rent Stabilized Housing Stock in NYC in 2004,” a total of 88,000 rent stabilized housing units were lost in New York City in a 10 year period from 1994-2004; and
WHEREAS, Building owners eager to increase profits on rent-stabilized units have utilized a variety of means to turn these units into luxury housing or commercial units resulting in thousands of rent-stabilized units being permanently removed from rental housing stock; and
WHEREAS, The current demolition provision in the NY State Rent Stabilization Law enables building owners to demolish old, dilapidated and dangerous housing in order to replace it with new, safe housing; and
WHEREAS, Building owners are increasingly circumventing the Rent Stabilization Law by applying for a demolition permit in order to move tenants out when their real purpose is to do a simple renovation so that they can lease apartments for higher rents; and
WHEREAS, New York State Assembly Member Deborah Glick has introduced Bill #A10944 that will clarify the definition of demolition, making it consistent with its common and intended definitions; and
WHEREAS, This bill will make it clear that owners will not be permitted to eliminate rent-stabilized housing units by manipulating the demolition provision; therefore be it
RESOLVED, That Community Board Five strongly supports Assemblymember Deborah J. Glick’s Bill #A10944 in order to preserve affordable housing in New York City.
The above resolution passed with a vote of 31 in favor, 0 opposed, 0 abstention.