Knakal and housing advocate debate Albany rent proposals

Over the weekend in Albany, legislators and Governor Andrew Cuomo hammered out a budget deal, but they have yet to resolve the complex issue of extending the state law covering apartment rent regulations which sunset in June.

Commercial sales broker Robert Knakal, chairman of Massey Knakal Realty Services, and Maggie Russell-Ciardi, executive director of the advocacy group New York State Tenants & Neighbors Coalition, spar over rent regulation issues in this week’s Insights from The Real Deal (see video above).

They debate the idea floated by Steven Spinola, president of the Real Estate Board of New York, of raising the $2,000 threshold for decontrolling apartments, as well as the New York State Court of Appeals ruling concerning the tax abatement known as J-51. The decision determined that some landlords had improperly raised rents on their tenants while receiving the financial incentive.

The current law laying out state rent regulations was last extended in 2003 and is set to expire June 15. Although lawmakers are expected to pass some version of the measure, elected officials are debating which provisions to include.