Cohen: Freeze senior rent hikes for good

Updated on Thursday.

Earlier this year, the state budget passed with a measure increasing the number of people covered by the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption. The income eligibility threshold for rent freezes went up from $29,000 to $50,000 — but only until July 2016.

Northwest Bronx Councilman Andrew Cohen and Upper West Side Councilwoman Helen Rosenthal recently introduce a bill calling on the state legislature to make the change, along with a similar expansion of benefits for disabled people, permanent.

In a phone interview, Mr. Cohen said more people benefit from SCRIE in Riverdale, known for its relative affluence, than you might expect.

“There are a lot of people [such as] seniors who moved to Riverdale when it was much more affordable in pockets of places that people don’t normally know, either,” he said.

Data on the number of northwest Bronxites with rent freezes through SCRIE or DRIE, the rent freeze program for disabled people, were not immediately available.

The SCRIE expansion came as part of the “Affordable New York” agenda, a range of initiatives advocated by state Sen. Co-majority Leader Jeff Klein and his group of breakaway Democrats. Mr. Klein did not answer an e-mail inquiry for this article.