Paterson’s rent regulation proposal criticized

Stuyvesant Town

Governor David Paterson’s proposal to override the Stuyvesant Town and Peter Cooper Village court decision by allowing units receiving tax abatements to be taken out of rent-stabilization has drawn criticism from tenants, Crain’s reported. Under the proposal, landlords affected by the court decision — which said that rents were illegally raised while the buildings received J-51 subsidies — would be able to pay the tenants back without facing any penalties. Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, praised the proposal to supersede the state appeals court’s decision, saying it would give landlords the peace of mind needed to make investments in their units. But landlords found fault with another part of Paterson’s plan, which would raise the vacancy decontrol and high rent threshold to $3,000 a month, and which tenants also frowned upon. The proposal is part of a series of amendments that would extend state rent laws, which are due to expire in 2011, for eight years.[Crain’s] 

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