Latest news with #AnnKorchak
Politico
29-07-2025
- Business
- Politico
Mamdani's rent freeze promise could run into stark financial reality
Meanwhile, the share of buildings that are considered distressed — defined as costs exceeding gross income — is up sharply from the years leading up to 2019. The property values of rent-regulated buildings are also down significantly since then. Complicating that picture, however, is the fact that landlord incomes have on average spiked in recent years — driven by massive increases in Manhattan, according to Rent Guidelines Board data. Even as Adams' rent board has approved higher increases than his predecessor, rent-stabilized landlords have continually complained that these hikes are insufficient in the post-2019 landscape. Ann Korchak, a Manhattan landlord and board president of an association representing small owners, said the most recent rent hike 'failed' small property owners and 'didn't follow the math.' Post-2019, 'the RGB is the only way to get meaningful rent increases, which we're not even getting,' she said. The landlord representatives on the board had argued for increases as high as 8 percent over one year. For a typical rent-stabilized apartment — at the median rent of $1,500 per month — that would mean a rent spike up to $1,620, or an extra $1,440 per year for the median household. The median income for rent-stabilized tenants was $60,000 in 2023, according to the city's most recent housing and vacancy survey. Vacant apartments affordable at that income level are exceedingly scarce. 'Rent-stabilization is one of the only lifelines and we have to do everything we possibly can to keep it affordable,' Weaver said. Of all the candidates in the Democratic primary, Mamdani ran most forcefully on a rent freeze, while his opponents either waffled or rejected the idea. 'I'm going to freeze the rent for more than 2 million rent-stabilized tenants because that's the mayor's power — the last mayor did that three times,' the democratic socialist said in a radio interview before the primary. 'We have these tools; it's just a question of do we want to do this.'
New York Post
27-05-2025
- Business
- New York Post
NYC's Rent Guidelines Board walks back hike on stabilized apartments in rare revote
The Rent Guidelines Board on Tuesday scaled back its planned hikes on nearly 1 million rent-stabilized units — in a rare reversal that landlords said will leave New York City's aging buildings in disrepair. The board's re-vote shaved down the proposed range of increases for two-year leases to 3.75% to 7.75%, down from the minimum of 4.75% that it passed last month. Rent increases for one-year leases will stay the same at a range of 1.75% to 4.75%. Ann Korchak, president of the Small Property Owners of New York, said she had pushed for at least a 6.3% increase on rent-stabilized units. 'The RGB process is intended to be based on the math,' Korchak said, calling on the city to freeze property taxes and utility costs to help landlords stay afloat. 3 Landlords who own rent stabilized buildings want the government to help them out with other costs if the minimum rent increase is not at least 6.3 percent, Korchak said. Getty Images The nine-member board, which has greenlit 9% in rent increases over the last three years, will finalize the rates June 25. Mayor Eric Adams, who appointed most of the board's current members, had called the old proposed increase 'far too high' and urged balance. 'New Yorkers are hurting. I've been very clear we need a balance,' Hizzoner said at an unrelated press conference Tuesday. 3 Raucous protestors during the last Rent Guidelines Board meeting May 15. X/Brad Lander The Legal Aid Society slammed any increase as 'reckless,' arguing that landlords are already seeing strong returns. 3 Tenants rights groups think the rent increases are still too high and want to see a full rent freeze. Helayne Seidman 'In the weeks ahead, we urge the Board to listen to tenants, hear their concerns, and recognize how reckless it would be to raise rents on poor and working-class households in these unprecedented times,' the group said in a statement. The board has two owner representatives, two tenant representatives and five public members. Any approved hikes would affect rent-stabilized leases starting on or after Oct. 1.
