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NEW YORK - Congressman Charles Rangel on Wednesday joined local housing advocates in calling on state officials to do more to reform current state laws to preserve and create housing that more working families can afford.
"While Congress works on trying to untangle our current credit mess in Washington, we can't lose sight of how all levels of government can address critical issues, like housing," said Rangel. "Too many residents -- a growing number really -- pay 50 percent or more of their plummeting income on housing. That leaves less money not just to spend on their own personal necessities, but less money to spend on local businesses and less money that can go in the city and state coffers for programs and other resources.
"But this housing crisis is not just an economic issue, it's also a moral one. These are our neighbors, those who supply the energy, grit and the spirit of our city," said Rangel. "We're not just talking about real estate. The affordable housing units that blanket the five boroughs are sources not just of income for landlords, but also of those that provide stability and strength for our communities."
The Congressman's remarks come on the first day of new rental increases approved by New York's Rent Guidelines Board. The measures passed this summer include a 4.5 % increase for a one-year lease and an 8.5% increase for a two-year lease. The board also for the first time instituted minimum increases for residents who have been in their apartment for six years or more.
Rangel, Dean of the New York Congressional delegation and Chairman of the House of Representatives' Ways and Means Committee, called those increases a burden that most New Yorkers couldn't afford.
"Instituting a minimum fee increases of $45 and in some cases, $85 is the sort of housing tax that disproportionately affects those who are already struggling in this economy," said Rangel. "We need to find alternative ideas and resources to ensure that increases, due to either rising costs or just sheer greed, are not passed along to tenants."
Rangel said that he hoped that this year's upcoming elections would provide an opportunity for voters to help usher in the kind of state action to bring fairness to the housing system.
"We are at a crossroads in our city for affordable housing," said the Congressman. "We have the opportunity in November to take control of the State Senate and enact legislation that protects New York City residents. This includes restoring home rule, and allowing our City Council to make rent laws for local residents. It also includes repealing vacancy decontrol to stop the slow death of affordable housing. Once one of these apartment is lost to market rate rents, it is lost forever to the working- and middle- class. "
Rangel has a more than 30-year record on fighting on the national level for housing and tenant rights. More than 90 percent of the affordable housing units built over the last twenty years are as a result of his Low-Income Housing Tax Credit. Achievements this summer included federal legislation that could help build as much as 5,000 units of affordable housing in the city and a total of 10,000 across the state. Also celebrated in August were local agreements that would keep nearly 400 apartments in Central and East Harlem affordable as part of the federal Section 8 program.
Rangel is also working with groups to tackle the issue of predatory lending, a practice in which rent stabilized apartments are threatened by overpriced mortgage deals orchestrated by landlords and private equity groups. The most publicized case to date may be that of the Riverton Apartments, the rent-regulated complex on 135th Street and 5th Ave that is best known for housing African American World War II veterans when city officials refused to integrate Stuyvesant Town/Peter Cooper Village.
This summer, Riverton landlord Larry Gluck announced that he might default on his mortgage payments, mostly due to the fact that his five-year plan to convert 600 apartments to market-rate rents was not materializing as he had thought. With the worsening economy, media reports say that deals involving Savoy Park and Delano Village have those developments on the brink of default. Advocacy groups estimate that more than 13,000 units of subsidized housing and 70,000 units of rent-regulated housing across the city could be affected.
However, since a late August press conference on the issue, work between these groups, Rangel's office and the offices of Senator Charles Schumer, Sen. Hillary Clinton, Congresswoman Nydia Velasquez and Congressman Jose Serrano has resulted in various letters sent to HUD and other agencies. Rangel has also reached out to New York State Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and other city and state agencies about possible local investigations and/or hearings.
"This is a critical issue for our constituents and our economy," said Rangel. "We all need to come together now to not just talk, but to act."
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