Rent law debate goes down to wire

While Riverdale is widely regarded as an affluent neighborhood, plenty of people are lured here by relatively modest rents regulated by the state. The 34th state Senate district, which includes Riverdale, has 44,930 rent-controlled or rent-stabilized apartments, according to an October study by the non-profit Community Service Society.te

With lawmakers cutting it down to the wire for a deal on rent regulations that expire on Monday, June 15, tenants are nervous about their futures.

“It’s just very difficult if the prices go up every year,” said Carole Walker, a municipal employee who lives with her husband in a rent-stabilized apartment at 699 W. 239th St. “We’re not getting increases in our salaries. Everything is going up. After a while, how much are they going to charge for a one-bedroom or a two-bedroom?”

That is one of many questions lawmakers are debating in Albany now.

After the Democrat-controlled Assembly passed a bill to extend rent regulations another four years — with measures including a limit on hiking costs when regulated apartments become vacant — all eyes are on the Senate, where majority Republicans stand in the way of passing the leading Democratic bill, introduced by state Sen. Adriano Espaillat.

Mr. Espaillat, whose Upper Manhattan district includes part of Marble Hill, wants to eliminate vacancy decontrol (the current practice of removing rent stabilization rules from apartments costing $2,500 per month once the tenants leave) and limit the amount landlords can charge renters for capital improvements, among other measures.

Bronx state Sen. Gustavo Rivera, a co-sponsor of the Espaillat bill, said he and fellow Democrats were still trying to figure out how to work with the new majority leader, Republican state Sen. John Flanagan.

“I am hoping the Republicans understand that they should be responding to the concerns of most New Yorkers as opposed to a small subgroup of them,” said Mr. Rivera, whose district includes Kingsbridge.

Acknowledging the difficulty of persuading Senate Republicans, Mr. Espaillat said his strategy is to make rent regulations an ethics issue.