Overflowing Crowd at the Tenant Town Hall

Photo by Tenants & Neighbors

There was an overflow crowd at the June 7th Tenant Town Hall. Tenants from the Lower East Side, Washington Heights, the Bronx, the West Side, and even the Upper East Side of Manhattan perched on the stairs and in the balcony of the auditorium once the seats filled, and then filled Hartley Hall's backyard, listening from a speaker rigged up as the crowd grew.  


Tenants spoke movingly of their experiences - and the need for this legislative session to pass bills that will 

• cap Major Capital Improvement (MCI) increases (A2459/S523)
• reform the Rent Guidelines Board (RGB) (A6394B/S741-B)
• protect preferential rent tenants from huge increases,(A1364A/S448)
   and
• protect rent controlled tenants.(A1892B/S5699-A)

  A.M. Linda Rosenthal
  

With several elected officials there, including Assembly Members Dick Gottfried and Linda Rosenthal, and State Senator Tom Duane, tenants made clear that we need these reforms now - and what we don't need is J-51 renewal as is.  (See the excellent Community Service Society report on J-51.)  
As Council Member Tish James said, "“Without rent regulation New York City loses. Rent regulation is what keeps our communities   diverse and viable. Our middle class and working class citizens are the core of our city, we must protect families who have lived here for generations.” 

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