Photo Courtesy of Ed Reed/Mayoral Photography Office
Mayor de Blasio said the initiative helps those eligible stay in affordable housing by freezing their rent.
The city has enrolled 20,000 seniors and people with disabilities in the NYC Rent Freeze Program since expanding access in June, 2014. The program, which includes the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) Program and the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE) Program, helps those eligible stay in affordable housing by freezing their rent.
New efforts to inform tenants about the Rent Guidelines Board’s freeze on one-year rent-stabilized leases, and two-percent increase on two-year leases—both of which took effect this October 1st, have also been launched.
About 1.6 million New Yorkers who live in rent stabilized apartments have leases coming up for renewal during the term affected by these guidelines, and the board ruling means that hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers now have more security and a better shot at making ends meet.
“Keeping New Yorkers in their homes has been a top priority of this administration since day one and our Rent Freeze Program is designed to do just that,” said Mayor Bill de Blasio. “A person should not be forced to leave the place they’ve called home because they’ve been priced out or are unable to work due to a disability.”
“As legislators and as citizens, we have an implicit responsibility to care for our aging generations,” said Council Speaker Melissa Mark-Viverito. “When the City Council expanded the eligibility threshold for SCRIE and DRIE in 2014, it was to ensure that residents in need would be receiving the resources necessary to remain in the city. I am proud to see the results of our efforts today, as thousands of senior New Yorkers find relief from rising rent costs, and I thank the administration, Council Committee on
In July, 2014, with support from the de Blasio Administration, the New York State Legislature increased the income ceiling for rent freeze programs from $29,000 to $50,000, to help ensure that vulnerable individuals remain in their homes. Since then, the city has enrolled over 20,000 people. In an effort to reach the remaining 77,000 potentially eligible individuals and assist with yearly re-enrollment, the Department of Finance, the Mayor’s Community Affairs Unit and the Public Engagement Unit will work in coordination to host “Day of Action” events that involve door knocking and handing out pamphlets in targeted neighborhoods, and will hold subsequent enrollment events. The city has identified the following top five under enrolled and potentially eligible neighborhoods:
- Stuyvesant Town/Turtle Bay
- Coney Island/Brighton Beach
- Kingsbridge/Mosholu Heights
- Upper West Side
- Upper East Side
According to the New York City Department of City Planning, the population of senior citizens in New York City will increase by 40 percent to more than 1.4 million people between now and 2040. The escalating costs of rent and growing income inequality cause many of the poorest New Yorkers to pay a greater share of their income on housing, which means they have less money for other important needs. As a result, it has become more critical than ever to increase enrollment in SCRIE and DRIE programs.
These benefits provide tax credits to landlords that effectively freeze rent for low-income New Yorkers living in rent-regulated apartments.
