Housing Emergency to Maintain Rent Stabilization Laws
By Forum Staff
The City Council on Tuesday voted to declare that there is an ongoing housing emergency to extend the Rent Stabilization Law from expiring on April 1, 2024, to April 1, 2027. To maintain New York City’s rent stabilization laws pursuant to state law, the Council must determine whether there is an ongoing housing emergency every three years, defined as a vacancy rate of less than 5 percent of the City’s rental housing stock. Findings from the 2023 Housing and Vacancy Survey show a citywide rental vacancy rate of 1.41 percent, the lowest this measurement has been since 1968, and a significant decline from 2021, when the net vacancy rate was 4.54 percent.
The council also passed legislation to require the Department of Education to report on the actual class sizes of all classes in DOE schools and programs. This bill would also require the DOE to report, on a district, borough, and citywide level, the number and percentage of students in special programs, disaggregated by program type, grade, race or ethnicity, gender, special education status, and English language learner status.
“The shortage of available homes in our city has contributed to an affordability crisis affecting all New Yorkers,” said Speaker Adrienne Adams. “The results from the latest Housing and Vacancy Survey underscore how dire our housing crisis has become, especially for units at the most affordable rates. By passing today’s legislation, the Council will extend the Rent Stabilization Law to ensure rent regulation protections can continue in our city. I thank Chair Sanchez for her leadership and all of our colleagues for supporting this important legislation.”
Declaring Continued New York City Housing Emergency to Extend Rent Stabilization Laws
Introduction 653-A, sponsored by Council Member Pierina Sanchez, would extend the Rent Stabilization Law from expiring on April 1, 2024, to April 1, 2027, based on the declaration of an ongoing housing emergency from findings of the 2023 Housing and Vacancy Survey.
Resolution 256, also sponsored by Sanchez, would declare that there is a continuation of a public emergency that requires rent control in New York City beyond April 1, 2024.
“New York’s intersecting crises of rising evictions, record homelessness and housing unaffordability are only worsening,” said Sanchez. “The most recent housing vacancy survey highlights the lowest vacancy rate on record since the 1960s, showing a 1.4 percent vacancy rate, with nearly 90 percent of unassisted low-income households severely rent burdened. As the demand for housing continues to surge, and supply remains severely constrained, low-income and working-class New Yorkers are leaving in record numbers. In charting the path forward, we must increase housing supply to accommodate the city’s needed growth, invest in building upgrades and tenant protections so tenants can remain safely in their homes, and increase New Yorkers’ ability to afford our homes so we can stay and contribute to our city’s vibrancy.
Sanchez continued: “Thus, our vote today on my Intro. 653 and Reso 256, which acknowledge the finding of a historically low vacancy rate of 1.4 percent, allow for the continuation of rent regulation in NYC, a necessary step in providing even a modicum of stability for nearly a million rent regulated city households.”
Tracking Public School Class Sizes
Introduction 45-A, sponsored by Council Member Rita Joseph, would require the Department of Education to report the actual class size of all classes in DOE schools and programs. This bill would also require the DOE to report, on a district, borough, and citywide level, the number and percentage of students in special programs, disaggregated by program type, grade, race or ethnicity, gender, special education status, and English language learner status.
In 2022, the State Legislature passed legislation mandating that the Department of Education limit the number of students in classrooms across all of its K-12 schools, through a five-year phase-in process beginning in fall of 2023. Though the DOE currently provides reporting on the average class size of all DOE schools and programs, reporting on actual class sizes would provide increased transparency.
“By requiring the New York City Department of Education to report actual class sizes three times a year and expand reporting on the number of students in special programs, we are taking a critical step towards ensuring equitable access to quality education for all,” said Joseph. “Int.45 will empower parents, educators, and policymakers with the information they need to advocate effectively for our children’s futures. Together, we are building a stronger, more accountable education system that leaves no student behind.”
Distributing Information on Low- or No-Cost Healthcare to Older Adults
Introduction 228-A, sponsored by Council Member Crystal Hudson, would require the City Department for the Aging to make information available to older adults about NYC Care, the NYC Health + Hospitals initiative to provide low- or no-cost primary health care to income-eligible Big Apple residents. DFTA would be required to provide eligibility guidelines for the initiative, clarify it is not based on immigration status, and ensure information is available in paper form and at all locations where DFTA services are provided.
“For our older neighbors, access to low or no-cost primary health care is a vital resource,” said Hudson. “However, too many of our neighbors—of all ages—are unaware of NYC Health + Hospitals’ NYC Care initiative, which was created to expand access to primary health care for all New Yorkers, regardless of immigration status. The passage of Int. 228A will help us guarantee our older neighbors are equipped with the information they need to lead healthy lives and gain access to the myriad additional resources NYC Cares provides, including housing, legal, and food assistance. Int. 228A also represents another critical piece in our fight to make New York City the best place to grow older, and I am eager to continue working toward that end under the leadership of Speaker Adams.”
Clarifying Frequency of Reports on the Removal of Individuals Experiencing Homelessness from Public Space
Introduction 349, sponsored by Council Member Sandy Nurse, would clarify that required reports on the removal of individuals experiencing homelessness from public spaces, and the services offered and outcomes, are to be submitted on a quarterly basis.
“Today’s bill further clarifies that the City will be required to issue quarterly reports on homeless sweeps and other removals, the first of which is expected in May,” said Nurse. “Int. 349 is especially prescient as recent reporting has shown that more and more migrants are being forced to sleep on the streets and subways due to the Administration’s new rules restricting shelter stays. Now more than ever the Council needs greater transparency and accountability over the Administration to protect people’s human and civil rights, as well as to move us away from destructive policies that do nothing to place people in housing.”
Additionally this week, Justice Avenue Tower, LLC, in Councilman Shekar Krishnan’s (D-Jackson Heights) district, requested a cancellation of a Restrictive Declaration from 1973 prohibiting commercial uses on the site that would otherwise be allowed as-of-right. This will facilitate the conversion of community facility space to commercial use in a portion of a recently completed 18-story mixed-use building with 180 residential units, community facility space in the Central Queens Academy Charter School, ambulatory medical space, and 407 parking spaces in a multi-level parking structure.
