NYC pols are about to display their ignorance (or cynicism) about housing

[Kamaji]

NYC pols are about to display their ignorance (or cynicism) about housing

By NY Post Editorial Board
May 15, 2022

City Council members just put off a show hearing set for Tuesday on two housing issues that the state controls in a bid to win progressive cred. Wise move: It could only expose their gross ignorance (or cynicism) instead.

The issues themselves remain alive: One is the deceptively named “Good Cause Eviction” bill; the other, renewal of a half-century-old tax break (called 421-a) that encourages developers to build affordable housing.

The council members want Albany to pass the Good Cause bill, which would block landlords from ever evicting tenants, except under the narrowest of circumstances. It would also, in effect, cap rent hikes (at 3%, or 150% of the region’s Consumer Price Index) on every apartment in the state, even ones rented by wealthy tenants.

This would discourage building new rental housing, make landlords think twice about just who they’re renting to (perhaps for life), trigger vastly higher rents for vacant apartments and force many to skimp on maintenance and upgrades. It’s a major loser for most tenants.

Meanwhile, failure to renew 421-a, which expires next month, would slam affordable housing by steering builders to focus solely on luxury units, so they make a fair return on their investments. Short-sighted progressives hate seeing developers get a break, but without the abatement, city levies and other costs make it financially impossible for landlords to offer below-market units. Like passing Good Cause, letting the break die will poison the housing market.

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Source:  https://nypost.com/2022/05/15/nyc-pols-are-about-to-display-their-housing-ignorance/

[DefiantMassRINO]

In the 1970s and 1980s, many of the rent-control apartments in Cambridge, MA, were rented to Harvard professors and state judges.  Rent-control only allows rich people to save on rent.

[Kamaji]

In the 1970s and 1980s, many of the rent-control apartments in Cambridge, MA, were rented to Harvard professors and state judges.  Rent-control only allows rich people to save on rent.

The same happens in NYC.  In fact, in 2003, when there was a move to start decontrolling, a study was done on who benefitted the most from rent control and rent stabilization, and it turned out that the residents in the Financial District - downtown, and very wealthy - got a substantially better deal than people living in Astoria, in Queens, where some of the rents were found to even be above market, generally due to the frequent vacancies and the fact that the rent control/stabilization rules allow landlords an 18% to 20% increase for a vacancy.