CENTRAL PARK GARDENS TENANTS' ASSOCIATION

Neighbor: Pat Neely performs Feb. 16

2012-01-28T16:46:00.000-08:00

Gotham Early Music Scene

Abendmusik ~ Thursday, February 16 at 7 pm

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 65th Street and Central Park West

TICKETS:
Suggested donation
$20 ~ General
$10 ~ Students $ Seniors
Email for more info or call 212-877-6815

Germany Finds its Voice in the 17th Century

Patricia Ann Neely

Mezzo Soprano: Jacqueline Horner Kwiatek

Abendmusik
Featuring Jacqueline Horner Kwiatek, mezzo soprano
Judson Griffin and Małgorzata Ziemnicka, violin
Patricia Ann Neely, Carlene Stober, and Elizabeth Weinfield,
viola da gamba
Rick Erickson, chamber organ
. . . .
This concert features the repertoire of Scheidt, Schutz, Buxtehude, Rosenmuller, Hammerschmidt, Schwartzkopf, and Leopoldus I; composers influenced by the continental Europeans. . . . The concert features the mezzo soprano Jacqueline Horner Kwiatek.
Program:
Hammerschmidt – Paduan and Gailliard in d minor
Buxtehude – Mit Fried und Freud ich fahr dahin
Rosenmuller – Sonata @ 5, In te Domine, and
Lieber Herr Gott
Schutz – Erbarm dich mein
Schwartzkopf – Pieces à tre viole di gambe
Scheidt – O, nachbar Roland
Leopoldus I – Regina Coeli

Building Update - following meeting with Stellar

2012-01-20T10:10:00.000-08:00

At the Jan. 20, 2012 meeting of the tenant association's executive committee with building manager Lu Pedraza and the super, Carlos Martinez, we touched on several items:

FIOS v. Time Warner Cable: Lu is working to get Verizon's FIOS wiring into the building - to provide an alternative to Time Warner Cable. Getting it done is not automatic (although Lu has arranged to wire a few other Stellar buildings) because wiring would have to touch or go through some other neighborhood buildings and those managements needto approve it and get it done.

Carbon Monoxide: If your carbon monoxide monitor is not working, write your name in the book for repairs in the lobby and ask for a free replacement. If your carbon monoxide alarm goes off while your oven is on, get your stove checked. Carbon monoxide has no smell and can kill you. Unfortunately, the City Council just voted that landlords may charge $25 for a replacement. So if you can find it cheaper elsewhere, buy it.

Laundry: Carlos will call Coinmach to get more cards put in the machine for those who lose theirs. (Carlos also has a few, but they're running low.) Put your name on your card in magic marker so that if you lose it and an honest neighbor finds it, the card can be returned to you.

Smoking in Stairwells: Please don't. Lu was reluctant to put smoke detectors in the stairwells because they go off frequently and that drives many tenants nuts.

Also, as we have all discovered, both the delicious smells of our neighbors' cooking and the irritating smells of their hobby paints and cigarettes come through the walls - including to the apartments above and below. So please be considerate: use an exhaust fan that draws the odors outside. To make the fan work best, limit the smelly activity to a single room with the door closed and then turn on the exhaust fan.

Intercom List: Lu has asked Fran Schiff (the Director of Operations) to OK a revision of the intercom list so that every tenant named on the lease has his or her own listing. Right now, friends can only find some tenants if they know the last names of their roommates.

Occupy REBNY - Thurs., Jan. 19 at 6 PM

2012-01-14T10:27:00.000-08:00

From the Real Rent Reform Campaign and Met Council on Housing:

Occupy REBNY

(the Real Estate Board of New York)

outside its meeting at the

NY Hilton TONIGHT
Thursday, January 19, 2012 at 6 PM

53rd St. and 6th Ave.

Protest REBNY - New York's biggest landlord lobbyist, which is calling for:

further weakening our rent regulation laws
millions in tax breaks for developers and landlords

Thursday, Jan 19, 2012 - NY Hilton Hotel - 6 p.m.

Meet at West 53reet Street & 6th Ave

Subway: B,D,E to 7th Ave, N,R,Q to 57th St,

F to 57th St., 1 to 50th Street

Tenants are the 99%! And if any entity embodies what's wrong with the power of the wealthiest 1%, it's the Real Estate Board of New York (REBNY) New York's largest landlord and developer lobbyist group. This evening they'll be schmoozing the city's and state's top politicians, asking them to further weaken rent-regulations, and to renew of a $257 million per year tax break for landlords. How powerful are these lobbyists? Gov. Andrew Cuomo snuck out for lunch with them last week, and tonight's event will be packed with New York's top politicians and power brokers. Make sure they hear from tenants, too! Join R3 (including our tenant association, Met Council on Housing, Tenants & Neighbors and 50 other groups) as we protest for stronger rent laws and for better enforcement of our existing tenant protections!

SPEAK OUT and FIGHT BACK

Rally at REBNY’s Annual Gala to tell them that the 99% will no longer subsidize the 1%

WHO: You, plus many other tenants and advocates for working families

WHAT: Protesting REBNY’s attacks on renting families, weak rent laws, and landlords’ outrageous demand for a quarter BILLION dollar tax break

WHERE: The NY Hilton Hotel, at 53rd St & 6th Ave.

WHEN: TONIGHT - Thursday, January 19th at 6:00 PM

OUR DEMANDS:
• No more massive tax breaks for the 1%! Don’t renew J-51!*
• End Vacancy Destabilization of Rent Regulated Apartments
• Pass MCI Reforms Now!
• Stop the Landlords “Preferential Rent” Scam!

___________

*J-51 is a tax break that landlords get for making improvements to their buildings - on top of federal credits and MCI rent increases. The good part of J-51 is that tenants in buildings that have them must stay rent regulated while the tax breaks last. (That will not end if J-51 is not renewed.) The bad part is that it is $257 million that the state needs to keep up other services.

Vacancy Destabilization occurs when a landlord "improves" a vacant, rent-regulated apartment and then claims that the improvements have raised the rent above $2000 (through June 2011) or $2500 (after June 2011) - enough to take the apartment out of rent regulation and charge whatever the market will bear. Because of this vacancy decontrol, thousands of apartments become permanently de-regulated every year, and most New Yorkers find the rents hard to pay.

MCI reforms include ending the rent increase for a Major Capital Improvement once the improvement has been paid for, and not permitting MCIs for building maintenance, like brickwork.

Preferential rent exists when the landlord (usually in the outer boroughs) has registered the regulated rent at one level, but charges a particular tenant a lower rent. That's not bad - unless the landlord then raises the rent back to the original higher rent with a Rent Guidelines increase with a new lease. The tenant who could afford the original rent then finds she can't afford the new one.

Summary of General Tenants Meeting of January 11, 2012

2012-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

Andy Scherer on The Harmon Case

A full house - including City Council Member Gale Brewer, Community Board 7 president Mark Diller, CB7 Housing Committee co-chair Nick Prigo, and Community Free Democrats district leader Joan Paylo - heard Prof. Andrew Scherer talk about the Harmon case. James Harmon, an Upper West Side landlord, is trying to appeal his (so far losing) case to the U.S. Supreme Court, asking the nine justices to overturn all rent regulation in New York.

Prof. Scherer noted that although NYC (represented by the Corporation Counsel - or "Corp. Counsel") and NY State (represented by the Attorney General, Eric Schneiderman), responded when Harmon first brought the case to the lowest and middle federal courts, they did not even bother filing papers when Harmon filed his appeal. The Court had essentially decided this issue approximately 100 years ago in favor of rent regulation, and there was no point, they thought.

Unfortunately, the US Supreme Court has asked the Corp. Counsel and the NYS Attorney General to file their opposition explaining why the Court should not hear this case. This is somewhat alarming: Since the law has been settled on this point, the only reason for the Court to hear the case at all is that it would consider unsettling the law.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch, some conservative think tanks (the Atlantic Legal Foundation, the Cato Institute, the Pacific Legal Foundation, and New York's Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord lobbying group) seized upon Harmon's efforts as the next step in getting rid of as much regulation as they can. These groups are providing Harmon legal support. "Don't regulate the environment or Wall Street, or, now that you mention it, rents either" they cry. "Businesses will do it themselves!" They don't care about the 2.5 million people in those apartments. Even the Wall Street Journal has weighed in, urging the Supreme Court to hear the case.

Harmon claims that preventing him from making as much money as the market will bear deprives him of property without just compensation - in violation of the "takings" clause of the U.S. Constitution's 5th Amendment. To date, the only time the Supreme Court has upheld a landlord's claim in this context is when the government physically forced something or someone in the landlord's property (that case was about a cable television wire). Harmon, who rents out his 6 apartments to tenants as a business, is pretending that the human beings to whom he rents his apartments are unwanted physical intrusions imposed by the government. Not those to whom he's charging market rent - they're presumably wanted. Only those who are not paying what he'd like to collect.

As a NYC landlord who inherited the building with its rent stabilized apartments and who could, under NYS rent stabilization law, take over the entire building for his own family's use if he wanted to (ousting the tenants in the process), he is only interested in the dough. He and other anti-regulation types ignore the fact that "whilethe rest of the investment community suffered from the meltdown of 2008-2009,owners of rent-stabilized properties realized an average increase in net operatingincome of 5.8 percent." (Source: Tim Collins, former Executive Director of the Rent Guidelines Board, writing for Met Council on Housing's Tenant/Inquilino, Dec. 2011. That article is an excellent explanation of the Harmon case!)

It is not that likely the Court will take this case when it has thousands of others to consider, and this has been settled law for almost a century. But IF the Supreme Court decides to consider the case, it probably will not actually be heard until the next Supreme Court term beginning the first Monday of October 2012. And IF the Court agrees to hear the case, tenants have to respond. NYC's Corporation Counsel and the NYS Attorney General will defend the constitutionality of the law. But tenants will need to speak for ourselves both politically and in an "amicus" (friend of the court) brief. Fortunately, Prof. Scherer and other lawyers stand ready to write. And the tenants voted unanimously to support an amicus brief.

_________________

2012 Dues: Tenants are the 99% - but we still have to collect money. So if you haven't yet paid your 2012 dues ($10/apartment), your floor captain and treasurer Joan Browne will happily accept them - and legal fund contributions ($100/year per apartment).

Trouble paying the rent? Legal problems? If you can't afford a lawyer, go to LawHelp.org. You can also contact attorney Joyce Goodman in the office of Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell, 212-866-3970, who helps people for free with benefits and tenant problems. You can find landlord-tenant lawyers (who must be paid) at www.save-ml.org.

Upcoming event: Thursday, Jan. 19, 2012, Occupy REBNY (the Real Estate Board of NY) at 6 PM in front of the NY Hilton at 53rd St. and 6th Ave. The Real Rent Reform Campaign will be there and you should be too.

Clout: It means getting politicians (and judges) to listen - and that means people in large numbers, since we vote. (Unfortunately, just reading informative newsletters on line isn't enough!)

Every one of us counts.

If you have questions or suggestions, contact us!

- The Executive Committee
Sue Susman, sue [ at sign] janak [dot] org
Na'ava Ades, naavaa [@] gmail [dot ] com
Joan Browne, jbbrownefaison [@ sign] att [dot] net
Rich Jordan, richj214 [@ sign] aol [dot ] com
Greg Murray, geeemurr [at   ]aol [ dot] com
Steve Koulish, eskoolman [ @] yahoo [ dot ] com

Harmon Case Challenges Rent Laws - Hear Speaker on Jan. 11, 2012

2011-12-27T14:05:00.000-08:00

Our General Tenants Meeting presents:

Andrew Scherer*

former Executive Director of Legal Services NYC

speaking on the Harmon case
that challenges all rent laws.

Upper West Side landlord (and former federal prosecutor) James Harmon wants the U.S. Supreme Court to undo ALL of NY's rent laws. He claims these laws deprive owners of their property - the ability to rake in as much money as the market will bear. After all, who needs a level bargaining table for the 99%! As the market-rate tenants in our building know, it's hard to bargain with a landlord for a reasonable rent when you don't have the right to a renewal lease as long as you pay your rent and don't cause a nuisance.

While the U.S. Supreme Court has repeatedly decided different aspects of the issue (see HousingNYC.com's explanation starting at page 37) and permitted states to regulate rents, the Court has asked those opposing Harmon to file briefs to say why the Court should NOT take the case and consider the question once again.

This affects all of us - so come hear Andy Scherer and ask questions

WEDNESDAY, JAN. 11, 2012

at 8 PM
In our Community Room

____
*Prof. Scherer, a, writer, teacher and legal consultant, wrote the treatise, Residential Landlord-Tenant Law in New York - the resource book for all lawyers representing tenants in court (for the past 16 years).

About the court and the law:

THE U.S. SUPREME COURT: Harmon has lost in the lowest and mid-level federal courts, and is now asking the U.S. Supreme Court to take his case. A decision by the U.S. Supreme Court can affect the entire United States and there are no more appeals from its decisions.

The U.S. Supreme Court only takes those appeals that it "certifies" from lower courts as important. (A few other cases get there by other routes irrelevant to Harmon). So Harmon has filed a "Petition for Certiorari" - or just a "cert" to formally ask the Court to take his case. The Court typically grants "cert" to only about 3% of private individuals who appeal. Often, other people and groups (not parties to the case) file "Friend of the Court" briefs on one side or the other to persuade the Court. Harmon's case is supported by the Pacific Legal Foundation, the Atlantic Legal Foundation, the Cato Institute, and New York's own Rent Stabilization Association, a landlord lobbyist group. No tenant groups have filed "Friend of the Court" ("amicus") briefs with the U.S. Supreme Court yet.

THE LAW: The U.S. Constitution states (among other things) that the government cannot take people's property without compensation. Landlord Harmon claims that rent regulation and the Rent Guidelines Board that fixes rent increases each year are not actually "due process of law," and thus that the government is "TAKING" his property - the potential higher rents he'd rather be getting.

And while all landlords already have the right under rent stabilization to kick tenants out to use their apartments for the landlord himself and his family to live in, Harmon wants the right to kick out ANY tenant to let any family member take that apartment (or perhaps, better yet, to get a higher rental income).

Please come. Andy will talk and answer questions, and then we'll finish up this General Tenants Meeting with a few short items.

Bring a chair and a neighbor!

R3 Bus to Albany Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011

2011-12-07T12:16:00.000-08:00

JOIN STEVE KOULISH on the BUS TO ALBANY

THURSDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2011

The Real Rent Reform Bus leaves NYC at 9:00 am sharp from Broadway and West 95th Street (outside the McDonald’s). Be there at 8:45 AM, dress warmly and bring your lunch.

Real Rent Reform Campaign + Occupy Albany

BUS to ALBANY

Rally for stronger rent laws, for fair taxation that produces enough revenue to fund social programs, and for fair and independent redistricting of legislative seats. The Legislature will be in session!

Dress warmly! While tenants will be inside the State Capitol for much of the day, Occupy Albany will give us a tour of the encampment across the street from the Capitol Building.

R³ will provide donuts on the trip up – but bring a bag lunch.

This event will be fun!

We anticipate that the bus will leave Albany at 3:30 pm, and return to Broadway and West 95th Street by about 6:30 pm.

To sign up for a seat on the bus, contact Larry Wood of Goddard-Riverside Community Center:

Larry Wood
(212) 799-9400, ext. 216

larryw@goddard.org

Have a good Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T09:35:00.000-08:00

And thanks to all tenants for making this a terrific tenant organization!

Summary of the General Tenants Meeting of Nov. 16, 2011

2011-11-17T17:25:00.000-08:00

The meeting opened with a moment of silence for Richard Geller, who passed away on November 1, 2011 of skin cancer. I relayed his wife Barbara’s statement that the outpouring of support from her neighbors made her appreciate what a remarkable community we have.

Susan Lerner of Common Cause/NY explained redistricting. Using maps, charts and drawings, she showed clearly that drawing different shapes around the same set of voters (Democrats and Republicans) results in very different electoral districts and electoral outcomes. Right now, our state legislators choose which voters they want in their districts – instead of voters choosing which legislators they want.

For example, Sen. Espaillat’s district (31) on the map to the right is green, and runs along Riverside drive, with a little

box cutting into Sen. Perkins’ district. That’s because the last time the state redistricted, the GOP wanted to ensure that then-Sen. Eric Schneiderman did not keep his seat. So his district was changed from mainly Upper West Side to mainly Washington Heights. People joked that he’d have to learn Spanish. He did – and won the next election despite the “gerrymandering.” (A district that looks like a salamander is “gerrymandered,” named after a Massachusetts governor.) It also happened to Assembly Member Hakeem Jeffries, co-head of the Mitchell-Lama subcommittee of the Assembly's Housing Committee.

Federal voting laws require redistricting after every U.S. Census - every 10 years.

So the state legislators are drawing maps to comply with those laws – including making districts the same size. There’s a certain amount of leeway in determining the size of an electoral district. While the federal mandate is 1 person/1 vote, and districts for Congressional elections must be within 2% of even in terms of the number of voters, state electoral districts have a 10% leeway.

Often, the state legislature has divided up cities so that renters (who live primarily in the centers of cities) have less representation than house owners. But renters are a “community of interest” and should make sure that our views are represented in the legislature.

Right now, state legislators are drawing up maps to ensure that incumbents in their own parties will be re-elected.

Governor Cuomo has promised to veto such maps – and this could happen as early as the beginning of March. It appears that the state legislature does not have enough votes to override such a veto. It’s up to us as citizens and tenants to ensure that the governor does what he promised – and that maps are drawn as fairly as possible. These maps are available at http://www.citizenredistrictny.org/blog/ (click on "Mapping). Shortly, that website will have interactive maps, so anyone can suggest moving a line this way or that.

Ms. Lerner suggested that while there are more Democratic voters in the State than there are Republicans, fair redistricting would probably lead to a smaller majority of Democrats in the State Assembly - and probably a Democratic majority in the State Senate.   It is possible that a smaller Democratic majority in the Assembly would mean that progressive caucuses would have more power, rather than less.

No “grace period” for paying rent. If rent is paid after the first few days of the month, the landlord can take a tenant to court. Even if the rent is paid then and the case dismissed, the landlord can do it again the next time the rent is late. That establishes a “pattern of nonpayment” and can be a basis for trying to evict the tenant. So try to pay by the first of the month. If rent bills come late – arriving on Sat., Oct. 30 and due Monday, Nov. 1 as they did this past month – you can walk the rent bills to Stellar's office at 70 West 93rd St. Although we got letters saying payments had to be mailed, that has been revoked and you can get a receipt from Enera (“Ana”) there. She often takes lunch from 2-3 PM.

Leases can have unenforceable clauses in them – such as that you can’t challenge the rent. Even if you sign them, that does not take away your legal rights. You can sign the statement that you will pay a Major Capital Improvement (MCI) rent increase if DHCR orders it. (The law requires us to obey DHCR orders unless we successfully challenge such an increase in court.)

“Unique or Peculiar” Case. We joined other tenant associations in contributing to the outstanding bill of $27,000 for the “U or P” case at the Appellate Division. Although we did not participate before that court, our interests were protected by the lawyers (we won!) , and the lawyers need to be paid.

Building issues – The CPTGA executive committee is having frequent meetings with building manager Lu Pedraza. Issues we’ve taken up include:
•   Mice: Ask Carlos to plug all holes in your apartment, and sign up for the exterminator to get rid of any critters already there.
•   Elevators: Doors are iffy, #3 elevator is thumping, and there’s a buzz sound.
•   Floor tiles and torn or filthy rugs are a problem.
•   Closets: Missing pieces for repairs.
•   Outdoor: Hosing down the area where garbage has been stored
•   Outdoor: lighting during dark weather.

Financial report - Treasurer Joan Browne gave the report - and urges everyone to stay up to date with their dues ($10/year per apartment) and legal fund contributions ($100/year).
Larry Gluck and others in the Real Estate Board of NY represent the 1%. For the rest of us - the 99% - there are various activities to support what we need. Check ‘em out!

Got questions? Suggestions? Contact us.

The Executive Committee
- Sue, sue [at sign] janak [ dot] org

- Na'ava, naavaa [@ sign] gmail [dot ] org

- Rich, richj [ at sign] aol [dot] com

- Steve, eskoolman [@ ] yahoo [ dot ]com

- Greg, geeemurr [at sign ] aol [ d o t ] com

Redistricting: Common Cause speaker at General Tenants Meeting

2011-11-08T18:29:00.000-08:00

__________________________

Learn about
REDISTRICTING

at our GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

Wednesday, November 16, 2011
at 8 PM
in the Community Room.

"Redistricting" means drawing the lines to determine each electoral district - to elect members of the U.S. Congress as well as for State offices. It happens every 10 years when the Census Bureau comes up with its report. How it happens determines whether those who represent us will be the "same old same old" incumbents, or people who will really speak for us. (Sometimes they are in fact the same, but not always!)

Come and learn

how it affects us as tenants, as Upper West Siders, as neighbors, as New Yorkers
what we can do to affect the process of redistricting.

Bring a chair and a neighbor!

Sad News: Richard Geller died.

2011-11-02T08:49:00.000-07:00

The tenants' association mourns the loss of our dear friend and neighbor Richard Geller and gives our condolences to his wife Barbara, his son Jason and daughter-in-law Mikiko, his daughter Lisa, his brothers Harold and Allen, and to his many extended family members. Below is an obituary prepared by his family.

Richard B. Geller
(August 20, 1946 – November 1, 2011)

Richard, age 65, died Tuesday afternoon, November 1, 2011, at the NYU Langone Medical Center hospital after a hard-fought battle with melanoma cancer. During his final hospital stay, he was almost constantly surrounded by as many family members as his room could hold. His unconditional and unwavering love, generosity, support, loyalty, and tireless passion for family, friends, and teaching math forever enhanced and changed the lives of those who knew him well.

Richard was born on August 20, 1946, in Brooklyn, New York. The oldest of three sons, he taught his brothers games like chess and billiards. He loved his brothers deeply, and maintaining relationships with them was a priority throughout his adult life.   His father discontinued school after 8th grade but believed in the importance of education and wanted his sons to pursue college and graduate school. After graduating from Midwood High School in 1963, Richard attended Brooklyn College and graduated in 1967 with a bachelor’s degree in Mathematics. He later enrolled in a masters degree program in Statistics at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. During these college years he was involved in civil rights and anti-war protests.   To avoid the draft, he left graduate school after one year to pursue a career in teaching and to earn a masters degree in education.

Richard soon married and became the father of two children. Through tough times and good times, his love for his children never wavered. He was driven by a desire to promote their present and future happiness, to support their pursuit of their own dreams, and to solidify extended family ties.   He also loved his daughter-in-law as his own. Regardless of where his children moved as adults, including San Antonio, Las Vegas, Hawaii, Guam, Korea, Tokyo, Nagoya, and Okinawa, he made visiting a priority. His no-nonsense directness and honesty, while sometimes blunt, was always motivated by the best of intentions. They never had to guess about what he thought and knew they could always count on him with no strings attached.

No one knew Richard’s romantic side better than the love of his life Barbara. At the time they met he was rapidly evolving into a connoisseur of fine foods and a gourmet cook, characteristics Barbara greatly appreciated. He proposed to Barbara in Switzerland at the most famous restaurant in the world, Girardet. Barbara was totally surprised and thrilled. When she accepted, he characteristically ordered the most famous champagne in the world, Dom Perignon.   From then on they always celebrated life’s big events by cooking feasts at home, or dining at the best restaurants, including Lutece, Raos, and Bouley. He personally knew some of the best chefs in New York.

After their marriage, he became an uncle and jumped into his new role with both feet. Despite geographic separation up to a thousand miles, he was a cheerleader at most significant competitions, performances, and events, often carrying a bag of math problems to work on during down times. He visited his young nephew in Delaware so often that his nephew thought he lived at the Christiana Hilton. He provided invaluable support, and a home away from home, to his niece from Wisconsin, who attended college and graduate school in New York City. He welcomed all his nieces and nephews in his apartment at every opportunity, showing them around New York, cooking special meals, playing games, and making jokes.   He gave them his time, and they knew he loved them.

Math was his passion, and he found his calling as a math teacher, a job he performed with great enthusiasm for forty three years. His students became like a second family, and he was always thinking about their future in everything he did. While some saw him as overly strict or ornery, he worked tirelessly for them without regard to recognition or popularity. Nonetheless, he was recognized with innumerable awards and recognitions for teaching and coaching. In recent months, Richard said the main thing that helped with the cancer pain and fatigue was teaching. He continued to work even from the hospital on his death bed, and in the hours before his death he was talking in his sleep about teaching a lesson.   He seemed to sleep well that night!

Family, math, and food were not his only passions.   He also loved sports, especially the Giants, Rangers, Knicks, and Mets, international travel especially to France, and cycling (he rode 12 miles to and from Stuyvesant High School every day and took several long biking adventures including a 400 mile journey along the Erie Canal and many European bike trips with his wife Barbara). However, what he wanted most in life was to express his love for teaching math and his love for his wife and family. Although he always said “Math is #1 and Family is #1”, for him, love was really #1.   And this is how he will be remembered.

Richard was preceded in death by his parents, Morris and Minnie. He is survived by his wife, Barbara, brothers Harold and Allan, daughter Lisa, son Jason and daughter-in-law Mikiko.   He is also survived by brothers- and sisters-in-law Art, Jean, David, Donna, Sue, Jim, Rob, and Tricia and by his nieces and nephews Katie, Dan, Alex, Sarah, and Emma.

His family wishes to thank Dr. Anna Pavlick and the entire incredible team at the NYU Clinical Cancer Center for their willingness to find the best possible experimental treatments for Richard and their unwavering emotional support. They also want to thank Dr. Amy Lewis and the research team at Genentech for their steadfast advocacy and support for Richard every step of the way.

A memorial was held Friday November 5, 2011 at Riverside Memorial Chapel, 180 West 76th Street at Amsterdam Avenue. The family received visitors beginning and showed a short film of Richard’s farewell to his Stuyvesant High School students and community before the memorial itself.

In lieu of flowers, contributions can be made to a scholarship fund at Stuyvesant High School set up in Richard’s name. Checks can be made out to Richard B Geller Memorial Scholarship for Mathematics and sent to Barbara Geller, 50 West 97th Street #11T, New York, NY 10025.

1. YouTube video of Richard Geller's Stuyvesant Graduation Speech
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbfPGlPpUns

2. NY Times article
http://www.nytimes.com/schoolbook/2011/11/02/stuyvesant-students-mourn-a-math-teacher-who-was-no-1/?scp=1&sq=richard%20geller&st=cse

3. Stuyvesant High School Spectator article
http://stuyspectator.com/2011/06/08/richard-geller-the-lifelong-mathematician/

4. Riverside Memorial Chapel Web site with photos
http://obits.dignitymemorial.com/dignity-memorial/obituary.aspx?n=Richard-Geller&lc=1227&pid=154449568&mid=4872538&locale=en-US

Building Issues - Report of Oct. 13 Meeting with Builidng Manager

2011-10-13T12:41:00.000-07:00

Executive Committee members of the Central Park Gardens Tenants' Association met with Lucio Pedraza, the building manager, on Thursday, October 13, 2011. There will be a follow-up meeting in two weeks. Below is what we discussed and the proposed resolution to each issue.

INSIDE THE BUILDING

MICE (and RATS in ground-floor compactor rooms) - Stellar will send a notice to all tenants to sign up for the building staff to plug all holes in your apartment with steel wool and special foam - including around your air conditioner (inside the sleeve) if you're on a lower floor. Please take advantage of this and get your apartment mouse-proofed (even if you have not seen a mouse).

The exterminator should be here twice a week. We told Lu the exterminator did not come last Saturday at all). He said it's a new extermination company whose contract begins this coming week.

Given rat-sightings in the ground floor compactor rooms, Lu will have rat bait traps put all around them.

If you have mice in your apartment, put your name on the list for the exterminator at the doorman's desk. If the exterminator just puts down traps, tell Carlos you need the whole apartment sealed with steel wool and foam. Apartments with infestations get priority.

The most common holes are found:

around the gas pipe leading to the stove
around the 2 pipes inside each radiator
around pipe under your kitchen sink - and any other cabinet opening into the building's insides
in closets where there are holes into the interior infrastructure of the building - such as holes for telephone wires, or incompletely sealed walls
around the air conditioner inside the sleeve facing the balcony. If you live on the 2nd floor, DON'T leave your balcony door open unless you have a screen door (purchased individually from your own source).

ATM – Stellar will move the ATM into the mailroom. It will take a little while since Lu has to put in a job order for the outlet to be installed. This should help both security (so no one outside can see a tenant take cash out before exiting the building, and so only tenants know it's there) and appearance.

BUILDING SECURITY – Lu will remind the doormen to either tell visitors & deliverymen to ring intercom or the doorman will CALL upstairs. Lu will give the doorman TWO lists: one by tenant names (already there) and one by apartment number. Tenants should tell delivery people their names and intercom numbers - rather than apartment numbers. The tenant or doorman can tell the person the apartment number.

INTERCOM NAMES: The list will be corrected to include all tenants named on lease, in their own alphabetical order. (Now it's "Husband, H. and Wife, W." so someone just looking under "W" wouldn't find the second last name.)

RECYCLING - Since some tenants noticed building staff shoving recyclables down the chute, Lu will remind staff to keep recycling separate - or Stellar gets a fine.

HALLWAY CARPETS – Lu will tell the building staff to clean carpets more thoroughly, and to dust the moldings on hallway walls.

TILES NEAR ELEVATORS - Lu is looking for tiles to replace those that are chipped.

OUTSIDE THE BUILDING

SIDEWALK WASHING NEAR GARBAGE BINS– Lu will instruct the staff to hose down the sidewalk outside the east side ramp. Apparently the manager of the neighboring building has also complained. Sometimes the city's Sanitation trucks spill the contents of the bins as they are tipped up by the truck lifts.

WEST SIDE RAMP - Lu will check a report of cracked cement on the left wall going up to the building.

If you have additions for the meeting in two weeks, tell a member of the Executive Committee

Sue Susman

Na'ava Ades

Joan Browne

Rich Jordan

Steve Koulish

Greg Murray

Summary & Update - General Tenants Meeting - September 2011

2011-09-27T18:52:00.000-07:00

CENTRAL PARK GARDENS TENANTS’ ASSOCIATION
Sept. 21, 2011 Meeting Summary & Update

Building & Neighborhood
CPG Tenant Handbook -- the latest edition is available on line at www.cpgta.org.

SCRIE - Senior citizens who are in the SCRIE program may find their accounts messed up: for some reason, the City did not pay many landlords the difference between what SCRIE tenants pay and the legal rent. If you have a problem, contact SCRIE through 311, or call attorney Joyce Goodman at Assembly Member Daniel O'Donnell's office to set up an appointment: 212-866-3970 (it's free).

Infestations
Mice: If you’ve seen them or their droppings in your apartment,
1.    Write your name on the exterminator list at the guard’s desk.
2.    If the exterminator or maintenance man just gives you traps, say you need the entry points blocked.
3.    If they don’t do it or you still find mouse droppings or other signs of rodents, contact Lu Pedraza, the building manager: 212-222-4430, lpedraza@stellarmanagement.com.

Bedbugs: If you don’t see flecks on your bed, don’t worry about bedbugs. If you do, follow the procedure above. If Stellar asks to inspect your apartment, let them: it could be that an apartment above or below or near yours was infested, and they want to prevent further spread. Do not use commercial sprays yourself. You can poison your family without killing bedbugs.

Security - Tell all delivery men they will not be allowed in unless they dial your intercom code (you can find it on the list in the entry foyer). When they dial it, the phone number you gave to Stellar will ring, and you can talk to the person as on a regular phone call. To let them in, press 9 and then hang up. If the local Chinese restaurant asks for your apartment, say your code instead (for example, “1234”). If your name is on the lease but is not listed separately on the intercom, contact Ana at 212-222-4430.

ATM in the lobby - We were not consulted and they are not illegal in common areas of a residential building - although the mailroom would be a less conspicuous place. The machine charges a $2 fee. The location is obtrusive and tenants have commented that it’s tacky, giving the lobby a “convenience store” look. The tenant association executive committee will be discussing it shortly.

Plumbing disasters – please don’t put a washing machine in your apartment!

Tenants in the S-line have had their share of disasters recently: the roof leaked during storms, and Tropical Storm Irene left puddles and damp walls.

Further, the apartments below the 5th floor have been getting filthy, sudsy water (replete with hair and lint) bubbling up through their kitchen sinks - possibly from a portable washing machine in their own or neighboring lines. Unfortunately, our plumbing is not built to filter the dirty water of that magnitude, and the tenants below are suffering a health hazard.

Parking - Thanks to Rosa Delgado and Community Board 7 for restoring angle-parking to the east end of our block – by getting ambiguous signs removed and putting an end to ticketing for that reason.

Victories and Ongoing Battles
“Unique or peculiar” case – Tenants have won, based on a regulation & (D)HCR order denying Stellar’s 2005 application to raise the rent stabilized rent based on Gluck’s 2005 application to the state’s housing agency, Homes & Community Renewal (formerly “DHCR”). This regulation and court decision affect 17,980 units in and around NYC. Not bad! But it could change for other buildings unless the state passes a statute – and not just a regulation that interprets a statute.

Redistricting - Right now, the state legislature is determining New York State’s state and federal voting districts. This affects tenants: if the legislature creates a new district upstate, for example, that will give even less voice to the more-highly populated downstate area – tenants in big apartment buildings, for example. If the legislature insists on violating recent state law and counting prisoners as “residing” in their prisons (where they can’t vote) rather than where they are from, those of us in NYC get less of a voice.

What you can do: Contact LATFOR (Legislative Task Force on Demographic Research & Reapportionment) and let them and Governor Cuomo know you want an independent commission that does not guarantee incumbency (as all of the last redistrictings have done).

LATFOR
250 Broadway — Suite 2100
New York, NY 10007
212-618-1100

Rent Guidelines Board - Every June, the RGB decides the percentage rent increases for lease renewals going into effect any time from the following Oct. 1st to the next Sept. 30th.

This past June, the increases were 3.75% for a 1-year renewal, and 7.25% for a 2-year renewal. This is among the highest in a long time.

Worse, the state’s highest court upheld the RGB’s power to create a special “class” of tenants who will get higher increases. (When they did this in 2008, it only affected buildings that had been rent stabilized for at least 6 years. Since ours left Mitchell-Lama in 2005, that order did not affect our building.)
So we have to work with other groups in the Real Rent Reform Campaign to keep rent increases down (including MCI’s), to keep buildings in rent-regulation, and to preserve affordable homes for the next generation. Steve Koulish and Na’ava Ades are our representatives to the R3 campaign so far. Are you interested in participating?

Rent Stabilization - Rent stabilized tenants have rights, including rent reductions for service reductions, and the right to a guaranteed lease renewal.

Non-stabilized tenants have only 4 years from the date their particular apartment was taken out of rent stabilization to apply to get back in. They can call HCR (718-739-6400) to find out the last rent stabilized rent. Then they can calculate (use Home Depot prices) the work done to renovate the apartment. Only if 1/40th of the cost – added to 120% of the last rent stabilized - comes to $2000 should that apartment be de-regulated. (For renovations since June 2011, it must be 1/60th of the cost, bringing the rent to $2500.) Contact the tenant association for details.
_________________

Got ideas or suggestions? Contact us!

The Executive Committee

Central Park Gardens Tenants’ Association
-    Sue Susman, president, 212-866-1616, sue[ at] janak.org
-    Na’ava Ades, vice president, 212-666-9591, naavaa [ type the "@" sign] gmail.com
-    Joan B. Browne, treasurer, 212-864-3612, jbbrownefaison[ at ] att.net
-    Rich Jordan, vice president, 212-866-1070, richj214[ [at] aol.com
-    Steve Koulish, vice president, 212-866-8280, eskoolman[ type @ ] yahoo.com
-    Greg Murray, vice president, 212-866-3552, geeemurr[   at   ]aol.com

Come to the General Tenants Meeting - Wed. Sept. 21, 2011

2011-09-17T10:35:00.000-07:00

All tenants are welcome to the

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

Wed., Sept. 21, 2011

8 PM - in the Community Room

We'll talk about . . .

Victory in the "U or P" case!

Bedbugs, mice - and fighting the problems we have in common together.

Redistricting - it affects tenants!

and the HEAT SEASON begins Oct. 1st.

BRING A CHAIR AND A NEIGHBOR

- The Executive Committee

Sue Susman, sue [ at] janak.org

Na'ava Ades, naavaa [at ] gmail.com

Joan B. Browne, joanbbrownefaison[ @] att.net

Rich Jordan, richj214 [ at ] aol.com

Greg Murray, geeemurr [@ ]aol.com

Steve Koulish, eskoolman [at ] yahoo [ dot] com

Tenant on US Musical Tour to Middle East / North Africa

2011-09-13T10:55:00.000-07:00

Tenant - and drummer - Danny Mallon will be going on a State Department tour to bring American music to parts of the Middle East and North Africa. See his blog. Have a great trip!

2011-08-04T14:18:00.000-07:00

IT’S TAKEN 6 YEARS – BUT WE WON THE “UNIQUE OR PECULIAR” CASE !!!

When Gluck (Stellar Management) took this building out of Mitchell-Lama in 2005, he applied to the state housing agency to quintuple our first rent-stabilized rents based on a provision in the law called “unique or peculiar circumstances.” What were those circumstances? That he took the building out of Mitchell-Lama and lost the tax abatement that went with it.

Under Governor Spitzer, the state’s housing agency issued a regulation that says that just taking a building out of Mitchell-Lama is not by itself a “unique or peculiar circumstance” justifying a rent increase. (A regulation interprets a statute. It’s the law, but not as strong as a statute, and can be more easily changed.)

So Gluck - on behalf of several buildings he took out of Mitchell-Lama - and a few of his fellow-landlords sued the state, claiming the regulation was not valid.

DHCR (now called NYS Housing & Community Renewal) answered, and several tenant associations, including ours, joined in to defend the regulation. We also worked hard to get other tenant associations to join us. It was a complicated case!

The lower court supported us. Then the mid-level state court supported us.

In the meantime, Gluck withdrew from the case - and DHCR denied the “U or P” increase application Gluck had filed when we first left Mitchell-Lama.

Finally, the last landlord involved in the case decided not to pursue his appeal. (His deadline was July 25, 2011.)

So it's over - at long last - and WE WON!!!!

We will still get rent increases with lease renewals and in some cases for Major Capital Improvements. But as long as we stand together, we can fight to keep all our homes affordable.

Rent Guidelines Board increases

2011-07-01T10:38:00.000-07:00

The Rent Guidelines Board has issued its order determining the percentage increase for lease renewals that go into effect any time from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.

If your lease will not be renewed during that period, you don't have to worry about this.

If you renew your lease for 1 year, the increase will be 3.75% over your current base rent.

If you renew your lease for 2 years, the increase will be 7.25% over your current base rent.

Remember that your base rent was increased permanently because of the MCI based on the number of bedrooms in your apartment:

1 bedroom = $23.01 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $230.10)

2 bedrooms = $30.68 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $306.80)

3 bedrooms = $38.35 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $383.50).

So that permanent increase is now part of the base rent and the RGB percentage increase for a lease renewal this year (not all tenants are renewing between Oct. 1, 2011 and Sept. 30, 2012) is based on that new total.

If you did not pay the full retroactive amount the first month (most people did not, and it makes no financial difference), you also have on your rent bill part of the payment for the RETROACTIVE amount we owe (10 months' worth of MCI - from the date that Stellar applied for it to the date Stellar actually began charging it). That part will bring the total increase (permanent MCI payment + partial payment of 10 months' retroactive MCI) to 6% of your previous base rent.

The partial payment is NOT considered in determining your new lease amount. (If you find that it has been added, contact Jasmine Ferrer, jferrer@stellarmanagement.com, to get it corrected.)

Once the partial payment has paid off the full 10 months of retroactive payments, that amount will no longer be added to your rent bill.

RENT STABILIZED TENANTS MAY BE ABLE TO FREEZE RENT AT ITS CURRENT LEVEL:

SENIORS & DISABLED: You may qualify for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption or the Disability Rent Increase Exemption. If you do, you must APPLY, then be APPROVED, before your rent will be frozen at its current level. Nothing happens automatically.

To qualify:

(1) You must be paying (or about to pay with a new lease) at least 1/3 of your income in rent, AND

(2) SENIORS: The tenant named on the lease must be at least 62 years old, and the household income must be no higher than $29,000.

(3) DISABLED: The tenant named on the lease (or the spouse or domestic partner) must have a disability that is recognized by the government (Social Security, Veterans' Administration, etc.), and the household income must be no higher than

$19,284 (single-person household) or
$27,780 (for households consisting of two or more members).

New Rent Law Passed - No Weakening, Slightly Stronger

2011-06-27T11:52:00.000-07:00

THE RENT LAW HAS BEEN PASSED!

The new hodge-podge bill including the rent law, (S5856/A8518) passed both houses of the the State Legislature and was signed into law by Governor Cuomo that evening, June 24, 2011.

This is the first renewal in many years that does not weaken the rent laws.

It renews the law for 4 years.

The law raises the rent level for de-regulation to $2,500 (from the current $2000) - so
- in VACANT apartments, the rent must be at least $2500 before an owner can de-regulate it, and
- in OCCUPIED apartments, the rent must be at least $25000 AND the household income must be at least $200,000 for two consecutive years
before the owner can take it out of rent stabilization.

The law requires owners to file papers with Until now, it's been on the honor system and filing papers is not required - so no one really knows
- how much money the landlord claims was put in to raise the rent to the de-regulation level, and
- how many apartments are being de-regulated.

The law provides that in buildings with 35 or more units - like ours - only 1/60th (not the current1/40th) of the cost of improvements to an individual apartment can be added permanently to the rent. This would affect both an occupied apartment (if the tenant gets a new stove from the owner, for example), and to a vacant apartment if the owner is trying to raise the rent to get it de-regulated.

The law leaves the Roberts J-51 decision intact: It remains illegal for landlords to take apartments out of rent stabilization while receiving J-51 tax breaks over a period of years.

From Michael McKee of Tenants PAC and a leader of the Real Rent Reform Campaign:

S5856/A8518 passed both houses of the State Legislature on Friday evening, June 24, and was signed into law that evening by Governor Andrew Cuomo.

It is now known as Chapter 97 of the Laws of 2011.

This omnibus bill linked several related/unrelated issues, making it harder for members to vote no:

a 2 percent property tax cap for upstate and suburbs;
renewal and slight enhancements of the rent laws (and renewal of the coop laws without changes);
limited relief from unfunded mandates that the State has imposed on local governments; and
renewal and enhancement of the 421-a tax giveaway to developers of luxury housing.

This is why legislators describe this kind of end-of-session bill as "One Big Ugly." No one likes voting for parts of it.

The bill passed the Senate by a vote of 57 to 5, with five Democrats voting no: Ruben Diaz, Sr.; Adriano Espaillat; Shirley Huntley; Kevin Parker; and Bill Perkins.

The bill passed the Assembly by a vote of 120 to 15. Several suburban Democrats voted no, all citing their opposition to the property tax cap and the negative impact it will have on the public school system. Cathy Nolan of Queens made the same objection in voting no. Inez Barron of Brooklyn was the sole Assembly Member to cite the weak rent protections in the bill in explaining her negative vote. Several New York City Democrats complained that the bill was inadequate in terms of tenant protections and preservation of affordable housing, but voted yes.

Summary of General Tenants Meeting May 11, 2011

2011-06-16T14:24:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY of GENERAL TENANTS MEETING –
May 11, 2011 – with Updates to June 16, 2011!

The backyard looks great! Thanks to Barbara Geller, Lora Kahn and Helen Merber for plantings in the backyard.

Their gardening enhanced the Pot Luck Party on June 4th – until the rain drove some folks indoors again. Thanks to Maxine Soares, Debbie Gonzalez and Lydia Pitsirilos for a wonderful party. Please check the mailroom board and this website for thanks to all the people who made it great!

The vacancy on our advisory Board has been filled by floor captain Marlene Melton.


Marlene Melton

There were originally two candidates: Sheila Friedling and Marlene, but Sheila deferred to Marlene. With only one seat and only one candidate, Marlene won by acclamation. All floor captains are invited to Board meetings – whether or not they’re officially on the board. The next BOARD meeting will be October 12, 2011.

We mourn the passing of our neighbor Floyd Torrence, and give our condolences to his wife Linda Tyler.

The Real Rent Reform Campaign has been working hard – but as of the date of this writing,

Albany negotiations continue. The rent laws expired but tenants with leases are protected, and NYSHCR (the agency that has replaced DHCR) promised to protect tenants if harassed by their landlords. The State Senate wants weaker rent laws, the Assembly and the Governor want stronger protections – and the Governor has said he’ll keep the Senate in Albany until a law is passed.

The rent laws have gotten worse (aside from Albany) with a decision by the state’s highest court, Casado v. Markus. The court ruled that the Rent Guidelines Board may create special categories of renters to get higher increases. In 2008, they said a rent stabilized tenant whose rent was under $1000 and who had lived in that apartment for 6 years or more had to pay a flat dollar increase that was higher than the percentage increase for other tenants. We don’t know what they’ll do this year – but they’ve proposed :

1-year lease renewal increase of 3.25% to 5.75%
2-year lease renewal increase of 6.5% to 9%!!
AND an additional possible one-time “fuel adjustment” of 1% increase that would not be considered in calculating future increases.

The RGB's vote this June applies to tenants whose lease renewals go into effect any time from October 1, 2011 through September 30, 2012.

Come to the RGB hearings. The final vote is June 27, 2011 starting at 5:30 PM at Cooper Union’s Great Hall in the basement. There is a rally to protest high increases starting at 4:30 PM at 7 E. 7th St. (3rd Ave. /Astor Place).

Joan Browne gave a financial report. Our bank account is doing better thanks to people donating to our legal fund ($100/ apt.) and paying membership dues ($25/apt. for new tenants and $10/apt. thereafter).

Stellar has filed an appeal seeking more money under the Major Capital Improvement (MCI) for submetering. Our attorney filed a response. We think we’ll win.

Eligible for the Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption (SCRIE) or the Disability Rent Increase Exemption (DRIE)? Rent stabilized tenants who are eligible should apply now! It will freeze your rent at its current level (or 1/3 of your income - whichever is higher).

SCRIE: Tenant on lease is 62 or older, household income is no more than $29,000, and tenant is paying at least 1/3 of income in rent – or will be with new lease renewal. Contact One-Stop (Amsterdam between 96th and 97th St. above Associated), 212-864-7900 or Goddard-Riverside on 89th & Columbus, 212-873-6600.

DRIE: Tenant is disabled according to the government, household income is no more than $19,284 (single-person household) or $27,780 (for households of two or more members); and tenant is paying at least 1/3 of income in rent - or will be with new lease renewal. Contact Joyce Goodman at Assembly Member O’Donnell’s office (212-866-3970).

Submetering: If you haven’t filed your papers yet, do it. It takes about a year to come through. Contact Sue.

Building issues:

Mice: Write your name in the book for an exterminator. If the exterminator comes a second time, insist he seal off the pipe behind the stove and the pipe under the sinks, and any other entry points.
Try to avoid smoking directly in front of the building – and please, no butts on the ground
Bedbugs: If you think you have them, call Stellar to inspect. Stellar will send an exterminator to all surrounding apartments without mentioning your name. Let’s nip this in the bud.

Come to our next General Tenants Meeting on September 14, 2011 – and contact any member of the Executive Committee (or your floor captain) with questions and suggestions.

The Executive Committee

Sue Susman, sue [at sign] janak.org
Na’ava Ades, naavaa [at sign ] gmail.com
Joan Browne, jbbrownefaison[ at sign] att.net
Rich Jordan, rich214 [ at sign] aol.com
Steve Koulish,eskoolman[ at sign ] yahoo.com
Greg Murray, geeemurr [use at sign] aol.com

Rent Laws Expired - Tenants Safe for Now - Call Albany

2011-06-16T10:14:00.000-07:00

The rent laws expired on Wednesday, June 15, 2011. Tenants are protected by their leases, and the new rent law, whenever it's passed, will be retroactive. If you are harassed by Stellar, check the NYS HCR (which used to be "DHCR") protections, including a hot line at (855) 391-4526 and at rentlaws2011@nyshcr.org.

We need to hold out for a good deal, not just any deal. See the statement of our State Senator, Bill Perkins.

CONTACT ALL THE PLAYERS AT ONCE: You can reach Governor Cuomo, Senate Maj. Leader Dean Skelos, and two recalcitrant State Senators Golden and Lanza IN ONE FELL SWOOP by going to

http://thenyic.e-actionmax.com/takeaction.asp?aaid=954

CALL OR E-MAIL:

Governor Andrew Cuomo
Phone: 518-474-8390, Fax: 518-474-1513,   NYC Phone: 212-681-4580
Email the Governor through his webpage: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos
Albany:: 518-455-3171,   District office: 516-766-8383, email: skelos@nysenate.org

And even though they're out of our district, call or e-mail these NYS Senators from NYC:

Senator "Marty" Golden: Albany-518-455-2730, Bklyn district office: 718-238-6044, email: golden@senate.state.ny.us

Senator Andrew Lanza: Albany-518455-3215, Staten Island district office-718-984-4073, email: lanza@senate.state.ny.us

MESSAGE:

Tenants need stronger rent laws, which means

repealing vacancy decontrol (not just raising the limit)
putting into rent stabilization all buildings out of Mitchell-Lama

regardless of when they were built
regardless of when they were taken out of the program
WITHOUT "unique or peculiar circumstances" increases. (The DHCR regulation is not enough to protect us!)

At the very least, owners should not be allowed to take apartments out of rent stabilization "on the honor system" - not having to file any papers at all unless they feel like it.

CALL or FAX TODAY to protect all our homes.

Albany - What do we NEED?

2011-06-12T10:40:00.000-07:00

Since even the GOP agrees that the rent laws should be renewed, the question is WHAT will be in them aside from what's there now.

If they're left as is (the GOP plan), more apartments will be de-stabilized as they become vacant, and landlords will keep their incentive to find reasons to oust stabilized tenants.

They could be made worse - if the Legislature undoes the "Roberts" (J-51) decision, for example.

They could be made better - best if vacancy decontrol is repealed altogether; marginally better if, for example, the burden is shifted to landlords to prove they've put in improvements; better if all buildings leaving Mitchell-Lama or Project-based Section 8 go into rent stabilization regardless of the year they were built and without "unique or peculiar circumstances" increases.

In 2003 when it was getting close to the wire to renew the rent laws, the Senate put out a pro-landlord bill and left town. The Assembly seems to have gotten snookered: It decided it had to take that bill or the rent laws would end.

WE CAN'T LET THAT HAPPEN. So let's hang on - calmly, deliberately - to ensure that the laws are not further weakened.

Come to a

RALLY to STRENGTHEN and RENEW THE RENT LAWS

Wed., June 15th (the day the laws expire)

5 PM

In front of Gov. Cuomo's NYC office:

633 Third Ave. (between 40th & 41st Streets)

and if you're free on

Monday, June 13, 2011 - Get on the bus to Albany. It's leaving from in front of McDonald's on Broadway between 95th and 96th Streets at 10 AM. Contact realrentreform@gmail.com to reserve a free seat. (You'll get free pizza for lunch in Albany!).

What a Pot Luck Party!!!

2011-06-05T18:10:00.000-07:00

If you weren't there last night, you missed truly spectacular food,

great music

http://www.djmdnyc.com/bio.ht

- thanks to Bobby Moorhead's
DJ-ing

and singing by one and all -

and good company.

Thanks go first to the Pot Luck Planners:

Seen in last year's photo

Debbie Gonzalez, Lydia Pitsirilos, and Maxine Soares,

who with grace and competence put the party together, did the entire set-up (with help from Rosa Delgado) and beautiful decorations, and oversaw every detail all evening. Catering isn't their business, but you sure couldn't tell it from the smooth flow of the evening.

Thanks to Marie Squerciati and her good friend Oliva who staffed the "welcome" desk, signed everyone in, gave out name tags, collected money, directed people who were bringing food and drink - and brought a hot dish to share as well!

Thanks for food and drink

go to:

Ruby B for lemon nut cake
Laurie B for baked chicken wings
Nicole B for tossed green salad
Chariss B for Entemann's pies
Renée B for panettone
Nery C for flan
Jurency De A. for coconut custard
Lavina E for fruit platter
Paulie F for his sheet cakes for tenants - with appropriate decoration
Bonnie F for apple pie
Sheila F for tossed salad with chickpeas
Barbara G for berry salad

Janett G for helping to distribute flyers about today's fair rent rally (it was also a blast at the First Corinthian Church in Harlem)
Debbie G for roasted vegetables
Zena and Louis G for soda
Yvonne G for corn cakes
Linda G for rugelach
Celeste H-B for home-style tiramisu
Tish H for pasta with chicken
Monica J for whole wheat linguini with pesto sauce, and mixed vegetables
Pat J for macaroni and cheese, and for a cabbage dish
Mike and Sara L for chicken scarpariello
Mona L for scalloped potatoes
Frank L for meat loaf with ricotta stuffing
Ena M for pigeon peas and rice and for turkey meatloaf
Eva Marie M for gazpacho
Brenda M for cake
Mary M for chocolate cake
Millie M for soda
Marlene M for her famous punch
Rhonda M for cole slaw
Sylvia M for cheese cake
Jorinda M for chicken with pesto sauce
Kathie M for turkey chili
Adelaide N for pastelitos (meat patties)

Prudence O for black beans with sausage
Eric O for cupcakes that he made himself
Letty O for baked chicken
Carlos O for rice pudding
Jerry P and Florence J for 3-bean salad
Lydia P for pernil (roast pork) and rice & gandules
Sekhar R for Indian-barbecued chicken and spicy vegetables (1 spinach with onion, 1 okra, and 1 broccoli dish)
Gloria R for a Peruvian meat dish
Ann R for cupcakes
Claude S for curried lamb meatballs with sour cream, and ice for the drinks
Vicky S for flan
Jewel S for macaroni casserole
Maxine S for jerked chicken
Janie S for string beans
Winy V for macaroons
Anna and Cary W for truffled green beans with red onions
Georgina W for desserts.

And (from sources as yet unnamed):   yummy Asian noodles, scrumptious rice pudding, chocolate cake, beverages, and more dishes! (If your name and dish are missing from this list, just contact Sue who will add them. )

THANKS for cleaning up go to:

Winy V and Denis H (and Nicky and Katie)
Elisa O
Wyona P
Claude S
Cary W.

And thank to all the tenants who contributed money!
Our trusty treasurer, Joan Browne will tally it all up.

A great time was had by all (including baby H. who smiled happily throughout the evening, and little Kia who sang out through her missing front teeth).

If you have photos of the event, please pass them along, and Sue will post them on the website!

POT LUCK this SATURDAY, 6-8 PM in the BACKYARD

2011-06-02T13:10:00.000-07:00

Come to the Tenants' Association

this Saturday
6- 9 pm
in the Backyard and Community Room. (Get to the backyard through the Community Room.)

We'll have veggies and pastas and meats and salads and desserts and . . . from all the cuisines we can cook!

Bring

a dish that will serve 8 to 10 people, or
non-alcoholic beverages or
volunteer for the set-up, keep-up(!) or clean-up committees - and your household eats for free.

Let Debbie or Maxine know what you plan to bring - or just bring it to the Community Room after 4 PM.
Otherwise, please donate $10 for an individual or $15 for your household.

Jam Session by Dorit Levi

And if you play a non-electric instrument, bring it. We'll jam and sing and just noodle around.

COME . . .


to meet friends and neighbors,

to smell the newly-planted roses,

and

2011-05-25T11:33:00.000-07:00

On May 25, 2011, Albany reached a deal on the Property Tax Cap - yes, the bill that the Assembly "wouldn't pass" unless the rent laws were renewed and strengthened. But so far the rent laws have not been either renewed or strengthened.

(1) Sign a Petition to the Governor if you haven't already.

(2) Go to ALBANY on JUNE 1st by bus. (Read below.)

SEVEN DEADLY BILLS IN THE STATE SENATE

THREATEN TO TOTALLY GUT RENT LAWS AS THEY ARE RENEWED.
PLEASE JOIN OUR DRIVE TO STOP THEM.

While many rent-regulated New Yorkers have been told by newspapers, TV and radio that the Rent Laws that sunset on June 15 are certain to be renewed, the Real Estate lobby has been busily slipping into the State legislature’s agenda seven separate bills that, if enacted into law, would destroy almost all protections we now enjoy.

Using as their vehicle Senator Catherine Young, a Housing Committee chair from a small upstate city 322 miles from here - rumored to have more cows than people, and where the words “rent regulated” are probably unknown, they have managed to get voted out of committee and ready for Senate passage destructive bills that would accomplish the following. (Note: Only someone whose constituents are not affected by these changes would dare to sponsor these bills. The compressed material that follows is drawn from the summaries Senator Young filed with the bills):

• If a tenant fails to file a city or state tax return, a landlord can claim that the apartment is not the primary residence. (Don’t earn enough to pay State taxes? Watch it!)

• A landlord can make the claim that an apartment is not the tenant’s primary residence at any time during the tenant’s lease, not only at lease renewal. (Some landlords do this now, but it’s not legal.)

•    Property owners may apply vacancy increases when family members succeed to tenancy of a rent-regulated apartment upon the permanent departure of the initial tenant. (Married an initial tenant who thoughtlessly died? Tough.)

•    At present, in order to face high rent/high income decontrol, a tenant must have a federal adjusted gross income of $175,000 for each of the two prior years. This bill makes a switch to gross, not adjusted gross income and to an average of $175,000 for the prior two years, not for each of the prior two years. (The Feds allow deductions for tuition and fees or your IRA contribution but they don’t get you off the decontrol hook.)

•    The way is eased for property owners to obtain possession of apartments occupied by rent-stabilized tenants by claiming that they need the space for personal use.

•    The monthly rent “threshold” for deregulating an apartment is reduced from $2,000 to $1,500 - so even honest building owners who want to take an apartment out of rent regulation have to put in fewer improvements. (For owners who already put in less than they need to, this law is a joke.)

•    And to cap it all off, there’s the bill that would overturn or obliterate retroactively the State Court of Appeals landmark Roberts ruling on J-51 (which does not apply to our building). That ruling forbids owners from de-stabilizing apartments while the owner receives tax breaks to make improvements.

LET'S STOP THIS FROM HAPPENING !

GET ON THE BUS TO ALBANY on JUNE 1. Join other tenants for a Rolling Town Hall, then a Rally and visits to legislators on Wednesday, June 1st. Sign up: realrentreform@gmail.com or call Tenants & Neighbors: 212-608-4320 ext. 316.

DISTRIBUTE FLYERS in front of Governor Cuomo’s office, each Thursday until June 15th 12:30 to 2:00 PM and 4:30 to 6:00 PM.

PHONE Governor Cuomo's Midtown office at (212) 681-4580 or Albany office at (518) 486-9749 and ask him to

strengthen rent regulations,
repeal Vacancy Destabilization
put all buildings out of Mitchell-Lama into rent stabilization without “unique or peculiar” increases

and do it all without harming the Roberts decision.

Ask your neighbors to do the same.

FAX Governor's Cuomo and ask him to strengthen rent regulations, repeal Vacancy Destabilization and do it all without harming the Roberts J-51 decision.

To sign up for the bus or flyering activities please contact realrentreform@gmail.com or call Tenants & Neighbors: 212-608-4320 ext. 316.

General Tenants Meeting - Wed, May 11 at 8 PM in the Community Room

2011-05-05T12:38:00.000-07:00

Come one, come all to the

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

This Wednesday, May 11, 2011

8 PM

in the Community Room

RENT STABILIZED RENTS GOING UP: NEW RULES FOR RENT GUIDELINES BOARD

REPORT OF REAL RENT REFORM: RGB & ALBANY RALLIES

(Join the Monday, May 16 Rally near Gov. Cuomo's NYC Office at 5:30!)

R3 Tenants in Albany on May 3, including Steve K on the right

POT LUCK PARTY for ALL tenants on Saturday, June 4th - save the date!
RAFFLE for the MITCHELL-LAMA RESIDENTS COALITION (the prizes are money)

and more.

Bring a chair and a neighbor!

Big Events in Next 2 Weeks - Including our Tenants Meeting May 11th!

2011-04-27T09:48:00.000-07:00

TUESDAY, MAY 3, 2011

RALLY AT FOR RENT LAWS at the RGB HEARING
Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 E. 7th St. (at 3rd Ave.)

4:30 PM.

Rent Guidelines Board Preliminary Vote on rent increases for leases effective any time from October 1, 2011 to and including Sept. 30, 2012. Because of a recent decision by New York State's highest court, the RGB has the power to say (as they did in 2008) that anyone with a rent under $1000 who has lived in their rent stabilized apartment for at least 6 years must pay a flat dollar-amount increase that could be double the percentage increase for those already paying higher rents.

Sen.Perkins & Sen. Espaillat: Countdown clock

TUESDAY, MAY 3
BUS TO ALBANY.
Reserve a free seat from realrentreform@gmail.com and then catch the R3 bus on the northeast corner of Broadway & 96th St. at 9 AM). Greet our legislators (returning from a long break) with the message that renewing & strengthening the rent laws must be first on their agenda.

FRIDAY, MAY 6

Fundraising Fiesta to support the Real Rent Reform Campaign
6-8 PM
1199/SEIU's Penthouse
330 W. 42nd Street, 33rd Floor
$25 minimum (but if you'd like to go and can't afford it,
contact Steve ).

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11

OUR GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

8 PM in the Community Room

Court Decision affecting how our rents can be raised
Nomination to replace a CPG Board member who resigned for health reasons
Report on rent law status
Pot Luck on Sat., June 4th. What can you bring (or do)?
Bring a chair and a neighbor!

MONDAY, MAY 16
R3 Rally near Gov. Cuomo's NYC office to let him know we need our rent laws strengthened and renewed NOW!
5:30 PM
Meeting place not yet fixed - but will be near 3rd Ave. & 41st St. in Manhattan
Go with Steve (or meet him there).

Petition Governor Cuomo

2011-04-20T13:56:00.000-07:00

Encourage Governor Cuomo to strengthen and renew the rent laws before they expire on June 15th!

PRINT OUT SOME PETITIONS TO THE GOVERNOR.. (Scroll down for the text.) Get them signed, and give them to Steve Koulish in Apt. 12C

SIGN THE PETITION ON LINE by clicking on http://www.change.org/petitions/support-stronger-rent-laws .

GO TO ALBANY ON MAY 3rd! Scroll down for details .

RALLY at RENT GUIDELINES BOARD on MAY 3rd from 4:30 PM on

PARTY: "Cinco" de Mayo FUNDRAISER on MAY 6 from 6-8 PM

(1) Petition Governor Cuomo

Dear Governor Cuomo:

We, the People of New York, call on you to keep your promise to renting families by ensuring that more than two million New Yorkers do not lose their homes on June 15, 2011. The City of New York and the suburban counties are in a housing emergency. Without the protections of rent stabilization, the working and middle class -- the lifeblood of New York -- will be displaced. Governor Cuomo, we urge you to use your strong leadership to save our homes from special interests and to preserve affordable housing by:

1. Renewing and strengthening the rent laws which expire on June 15, 2011.

2. Repealing vacancy destabilization, the law has allowed 300,000 units to become destabilized since 1997, and

3. Re-regulating all apartments that have been deregulated under a flawed system that encourages fraud and tenant harassment, and

4. Extending rent regulation protections to tenants in former Mitchell-Lama and project-based Section 8 buildings.

New York needs real rent reform. The future of the rent regulation system is at stake.

Governor Cuomo, it’s up to you.

Photo by Muhamed Ibrahim
(2) Join the Real Rent Reform Campaign in Albany
on Tuesday, May 3, 2011!

The state legislature is on vacation for the rest of this month (passing a budget on the backs of working people is hard work…) and will be back in session on Tuesday, May 3rd.

Let's be there to welcome them back up to Albany and make sure that rent regulation is the top priority.

Tenants say no business gets done in Albany until the rent laws are renewed and strengthened!

We can’t wait until the midnight hour on June 15th for stronger rent laws.

Buses will be leaving from throughout the city that morning, and returning in the evening. There is no cost for transportation. [We're trying to get one in the neighborhood.]

The Real Rent Reform Campaign is also sending groups up every week following this big mobilization. Please also contact realrentreform@gmail.com if you’re interested in going up on

Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Tuesday, May 24, or

Wednesday, June 1.

We’re getting down to the wire, folks – this is it! Please RSVP to realrentreform@gmail.com for a spot on the bus.
___________________________________________________________________

(3) Rally at the Rent Guidelines Board Preliminary Vote on Tuesday, May 3, 2011

4:30 PM on . . . !

Join other groups of stabilized tenants outside the Rent Guidelines Board

Cooper Union's Great Hall, 7 East 7th St. (at 3rd Ave.)

and testify to keep our rents low.

____________________________________________________________________

(4) Rally in front of Gov. Cuomo's NYC office

Monday, May 16, 2011

5:30 PM

The R3 Campaign will be rallying in front of Gov. Cuomo's NYC office at 633 Third Ave. (between 40th and 41st Streets) in Manhattan. He will only hear tenants voices if there are a LOT of us!

Sneak preview: May 11th General Tenants Meeting

2011-04-08T14:09:00.000-07:00

There was a recent RENT STABILIZATION court decision
that will likely impose an increase on all tenants whose rents are below $1000.

After two victories in the lower and middle courts - tenants lost and there can be no further appeal.

So come hear (and read) how YOUR rent will be affected by this decision - and what you can do about it* - and how we can stop the countdown to the expiration of the State's rent laws!

Sen. Perkins & Sen. Espaillat with the Countdown Clock

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

WEDNESDAY, MAY 11, 2011

8 PM

in the COMMUNITY ROOM

Bring a chair and a neighbor!
_______________________________________

* SOME of the things we can do:

(1) Attend the Rally at 4:30 and testify at Rent Guidelines Board hearings, especially on Tuesday, May 3rd . Ask your neighbors to join you as you explain ("testify") how rent increases affect YOU.

(2) Go to Albany with the Real Rent Reform Campaign on Tuesday, May 3rd. Educate your neighbors about the rent laws. (Most people in rent stabilization are low- or moderate income. We need our homes - and the rights that come with rent stabilization - protected!)

Stellar appealing for more MCI $$

2011-04-01T13:21:00.000-07:00

When Stellar applied for a Major Capital Improvement (MCI) increase last June, it ended up only applying for the elevators and submetering. (Apparently because of the escrow account set up for this building when we left Mitchell-Lama, Stellar withdrew its application for brickwork and boilers.)

DHCR granted the MCI only for the elevators. Stellar is now appealing the denial of its application for an MCI for installing submetering - as we expected.

THE TENANTS' ASSOCIATION LAWYER will respond on behalf of everyone, so please do not respond on your own.

April rent bills

2011-03-30T13:08:00.000-07:00

Rent Stabilized tenants: Your rent bill for April should include

the permanent MCI increase for your apartment based on the number of bedrooms:

1 bedroom = $23.01 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $230.10)
2 bedrooms = $30.68 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $306.80)
3 bedrooms = $38.35 (retroactive amount for 10 months is $383.50).

AND EITHER

the full retroactive amount (if you arranged for it with Stellar in advance of this month's rent bill) or

an installment payment toward the retroactive amount. If you're paying the retroactive amount in installments, your TOTAL BILL INCREASE for the MCI will be 6% of whatever your lease said your rent was for April 2011.

Summary of the General Tenants Meeting - March 16, 2011

2011-03-21T19:20:00.000-07:00

SUMMARY of GENERAL TENANTS MEETING
March 16, 2011

FOR ALL TENANTS

Elevators: If the elevators break down, keep a log. If any elevator is out of service for over a day (or has any other serious problem), call 311, get a reference number, and give the number to a member of the Executive Committee. And that includes the west side elevators getting stuck on the 2nd floor! Please request elevator and all other repairs in the requisition book at the guard’s desk in the lobby.

Real Rent Reform Campaign: The R3 campaign wants 3 things:

renewal of the rent laws that expire on June 15, 2011

the repeal of vacancy destabilization – which will put back into stabilization all the market-rate apartments in this building androll back their rents to what they were in January 2007; and

making rent stabilized all buildings out of Mitchell-Lama or Project-based Section 8, regardless of when they leave or left and when they were built, and without “unique or peculiar circumstances” increases.

But none of this will happen unless lots of tenants

call Governor Cuomo at 212-681-4580 and ask him to support these 3 demands, or

send him a letter, post-card, fax (518-474-1513), or email
http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Executive Chamber
Albany, New York 12224

Check out the Calendar for activities to persuade Governor Cuomo to act in the interests of New York tenants.

Finances: Treasurer Joan Browne reported that our Valentine’s Day fundraiser was a great success – and THANKS to all those who have contributed $10 in dues ($25 for newly-joining households) and $100 for our legal fund. If you’d like to contribute, please contact Joan (see below) or your floor captain.

Pot Luck: We had one last Spring, and it was fun, delicious, and a good way to meet neighbors. It was great to be out in the backyard. Join the Pot Luck Planners (Maxine Soares, Debbie Gonzalez and Lydia Pitsirilos) to help plan this one for SATURDAY, JUNE 4th in the Community Room and backyard.

FOR RENT STABILIZED TENANTS:

Major Capital Improvement:
This will not affect SCRIE or DRIE tenants if they submit an “Adjustment of Abatement” form to SCRIE or DRIE. (Contact your floor captain for the form, or click on SCRIE form or DRIE form to get and download it.)

For all other rent stabilized tenants:

The order is for an increase based on the number of bedrooms you have:

1 bedroom, permanent increase = $23.01.

2 bedrooms, permanent increase = $30.68.

3 bedrooms, permanent increase = $38.35.

In addition, since the MCI order was effective as of June 1, 2010 – and it has been 10 months from then to April 1, 2011 when Stellar is actually starting to charge the MCI addition, we owe 10 months’ worth of RETROACTIVE amount.

1 bedroom: 10 X $23.01 = $230.10.

2 bedrooms: 10 X $30.68 = $306.80.

3 bedrooms: 10 X 38.35 = $383.50.

That retroactive amount will be added in installments to your rent bill. For easier bookkeeping, you may be able to pay the retroactive amount at once (rather than installments) if you contact the secretary of Francine Schiff at Stellar Management, 212-406-0030 and ask if Stellar can add it to your next rent bill.

Get a sense of what your increase will be each month if you pay the retroactive amount in installments by multiplying your rent by 1.06. Note that those figures do NOT include any lease renewal increases. Those will be on top of the Major Capital Installment permanent increase.

“Unique or Peculiar” case: The state’s housing agency (DHCR is now called HCR) denied the application that Stellar had filed in 2005 for “unique or peculiar” increases to our initial rent stabilized rent. However, Stellar may appeal, and in the meantime, the court case goes on: Owners challenged DHCR’s regulation that says that just leaving Mitchell-Lama is NOT a “unique or peculiar” circumstance justifying a rent increase. DHCR and tenants prevailed in the first state court (State Supreme Court), and in the mid-level Appellate Division (unanimously!). Now the one owner left in the case is seeking permission to appeal to the state’s highest court, the Court of Appeals.

FOR ALL TENANTS: Got questions or suggestions? Let us know!

The Executive Committee

Sue Susman
Na’ava Ades

Joan Browne
Rich Jordan
Steve Koulish
Greg Murray

Rent Law Battle Heating Up

2011-03-17T14:01:00.000-07:00

How you can help:

Call Governor Cuomo at 212-681-4580 and ask him to support the renewal and strengthening of the rent laws in the budget,specifically the repeal of vacancy destabilization.
Send a letter or postcard to Gov. Cuomo (look below on this website, or contact your floor captain for a sample).
March at 4:30 PM on Monday, March 21st starting from 42nd St. & Park (near Grand Central). Contact Steve Koulish for more details.
Hand out flyers at Grand Central Station and elsewhere!
Come to Albany! R3 is arranging daily mobilizations. Contact realrentreform@gmail.com or Steve Koulish in this building if you are interested in going up on:

Tuesday, March 22nd with Tenants & Neighbors
Tuesday, March 29th with Goddard-Riverside Community Center and other groups.

Coming Wednesday: General Tenants Meeting!

2011-03-14T13:10:00.000-07:00

Come to our

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

this Wednesday, March 16, 2011

8 PM in the Community Room

Report from the Real Rent Reform Campaign and how you can take action to support

renewing the rent stabilization law before it expires in 3 months (on June 15, 2011);
putting into rent stabilization all the market-rate apartments in our building and rolling the rents back to what they were in January 2007 - by repealing vacancy decontrol
ending "unique or peculiar" increases permanently.

Major Capital Improvement

how to calculate it (bring a slip of paper with your actual rent amount - not including electricity - or click on: CALCULATE - not including lease renewal increases.
can you pay off the retroactive amount all at once? YES: Contact Stellar Management (ask for Francine Schiff's secretary): 212-406-0030. Ask her to include the full retroactive amount in your APRIL rent bill.

"Unique or Peculiar" case (we keep winning), and what to expect

Elevators and more building issues.

SCRIE & DRIE Tenants & the MCI

2011-03-12T10:53:00.000-08:00

Tenants on SCRIE (Senior Citizen Rent Increase Exemption) and DRIE (Disabled Rent Increase Exemption) will NOT pay the Major Capital Improvement (MCI) increase every month. BUT

(1) You must pay (just once) the increased security resulting from the MCI's increase for your apartment.
1 bedroom apartment: $23.01
2 bedroom apartment: $30.68
3 bedroom apartment: $38.35.

(2) You must notify DRIE or SCRIE using a form called "Adjustment of Abatement" about the MCI so that the government can pay Stellar the increase.

SCRIE tenants can find the form at http://home2.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/scrie/scrie_adjustment_to_abatement.pdf .
You will need to fill in your SCRIE Docket Number.

DRIE tenants can find the form at http://www.nyc.gov/html/dof/html/pdf/drie/drie_adjustment_to_abatement.pdf
You will need to fill in your DRIE Case Number.

Fill in the form, including your Docket or Case Number. Check "Major Capital Improvement" in the Section II. Sign and date the form in Section 8.

Attach a copy of the DHCR order granting the MCI to the form.

Send them together to the address on the form:

NYC Department of Finance

Attn: SCRIE (or if you're on DRIE, write, "Attn. DRIE")

59 Maiden Lane, 22nd Floor

New York, NY 10038.

If you do not have a copy of the DHCR order granting the MCI, please contact Sue.

Call or Write Governor Cuomo

2011-03-10T09:38:00.000-08:00

The rent-stabilization and rent-control laws that provide basic rent and eviction protections for 2.5 million New Yorkers are set to expire this June, putting affordable housing of some 2.5 million New Yorkers - including us - in jeopardy. While Governor Cuomo’s staff has indicated some willingness to roll the renewal of rent regulations into the budget process, this still hasn’t happened. We need to keep the pressure on the Governor to act sooner rather than later to renew and strengthen the rent laws.

Please CALL or WRITE the Governor.

IF YOU CALL (518-474-8390), here's a script you may want to use:

Hi, my name is _________ and I’m calling to ask Governor Cuomo to protect tenants by renewing and strengthening rent laws. We need the Governor to stand up to special interests and protect millions of everyday New Yorkers and their families. Please tell Governor Cuomo to support renters, repeal vacancy destabilization, and save tenants in former Mitchell-Lamas.

IF YOU WRITE , here's a sample letter you may want to use:
E-mail him through his website at: http://www.governor.ny.gov/contact/GovernorContactForm.php
Fax him at 518-474-1513 or send the letter by regular mail at the address on the letter:

(Date)

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo
Executive Chamber
Albany, New York 12224

Re: Strengthen Rent Laws Now

Dear Governor Cuomo:

I urge you to support full repeal of vacancy destabilization, and re-regulation of the hundreds of thousands of apartments that have been deregulated during the last two decades.

Restoration of our rent laws is necessary for the future economic and social health of New York State.

Sincerely,

(your name signed)
(your name & address printed)
__________________

The Real Rent Reform Campaign (R3) is working for ALL of us - including the market-rate tenants who need the protections of rent regulation. If you can

flyer
phonebank
come out for rallies or town hall meetings

please contact Sue or Steve!

For updates and more information on the R-3 Campaign, visit: http://www.realrentreform.blogspot.com ; and "friend" R3 on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/realrentreform .

Our building & neighbor in West Side Spirit report

2011-03-09T20:10:00.000-08:00

West Side Spirit

http://westsidespirit.com/2011/03/09/an-apartment-as-a-lifeline/

An Apartment as a Lifeline

Posted by West Side Spirit on March 9, 2011 · View Comments

By Megan Finnegan

Nery Cruz has lived in her apartment on 97th Street for 31 years, and she has never been more fearful for her future.

Cruz, 60, shares her two-bedroom apartment with her daughter, a teacher with an Ivy League education and a master’s degree who can’t find work. Cruz works full time as a social worker at a hospital. She just renewed her lease again, for $679 a month.

While the price might seem like a steal, it’s all that Cruz says she can afford, and she’s terrified of what will happen if rent-regulation laws aren’t renewed and strengthened this year.

“If the rent goes up, where are we going to live? We’re going to end up in shelters,” said Cruz. She said that rents on some neighbors’ apartments, after they have been vacated, have been jacked up to the $3000 range, forever pushing them out of rent regulation.

Cruz fears that her landlord wants her to leave in order do the same thing to her apartment.

Nery Cruz fears what will happen to poor people in the city if rent-control laws expire. Photo by Andrew Schwartz

“The superintendent told me last year, oh you know a lot of people are moving,” said Cruz. The landlord has offered current tenants $50,000 to vacate their apartments and give up their stabilized leases, but Cruz said she still couldn’t afford to leave her home of over three decades.

She said that she’s seen landlords in similar buildings in her neighborhood install cheap updates, like linoleum flooring, and then adjust the rent to over the $2,000 regulation threshold. Lately she’s had a hard time getting things fixed in her apartment, and she suspects that its all part of a tactic to get her to move out.

Cruz’s greatest concern is that her rent will suddenly skyrocket to five or six times what it is now, as she’s seen happen to apartments in her area brought to market rate.

“I cannot be paying rent, with the salary that I have, that is $3,800,” Cruz said. “There’s no place to live in New York because of the rent. The salaries, they don’t go up, they go down.”

West Side Spirit, http://westsidespirit.com/2011/03/09/an-apartment-as-a-lifeline/

See also "Rents Through the Roof," http://westsidespirit.com/2011/03/09/rents-through-the-roof/

Rent Stabilized tenants: Calculate your MCI increase (more or less)

2011-03-07T18:22:00.000-08:00

Thanks to tenant Janak Ramakrishnan for creating an on-line calculator. It is for tenants who choose to pay off the retroactive part of the MCI (Major Capital Improvement) month by month. (There is no disadvantage if you do that.)

If you click here, you can type in the rent on your current lease and the number of bedrooms in your apartment, and calculate approximately

your rent bill for April 2011
your permanent MCI increase
how many months it will take you to pay off the retroactive amount in installments
your monthly installment (paying off the retroactive amount) for the first year
your monthly installment (paying off the retroactive amount) for some months into the second year.

This figure will only be APPROXIMATE since it does not take into account when and whether your lease will be renewed during this period, and whether any lease renewal is for one or two years.

The MCI increase is on top of any lease renewal increase. So if your lease renewal increase is 6% for example, and the MCI is roughly 6%, that would make roughly a 12% increase in your current rent.

Click here or above for the calculator.

General Tenants Meeting - Wed., March 16, 2011

2011-03-06T12:10:00.000-08:00

Come to a

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

Wed., March 16th

8 PM - in the Community Room

Get a copy of the Tenants Bill of Rights that applies to ALL tenants (regulated and market-rate). If the bill is passed by the NYC Council, it will have to be posted in every apartment building).

We will discuss:

(1) The MCI (Major Capital Improvement) increase - which is generally under 6% of your rent stabilized rent.

(2) DHCR's denial of Stellar's application for "unique or peculiar circumstances" increases in our rent.

(3) The Real Rent Reform Campaign (on facebook and see the main website at http://realrentreform.blogspot.com/ ), including the Omnibus Rent and other bills.

Please bring a chair and a neighbor!

MCI & U or P:

2011-02-18T14:07:00.000-08:00

Rent Stabilized Tenants:

(1) MCI

Because Stellar did not have time to add the MCI increases to your March bill, the first increase you will see will be on your APRIL 2011 bill.

That bill will be 6% higher than what your lease says is your rent for that month.

To calculate that amount, multiply your BASE RENT (not the electricity part) by 1.06.

At the

General Tenants Meeting

on Wednesday, March 16, 2011

we will provide a step-by-step explanation of what that 6% includes.

Below is a chart of the amounts in the DHCR orders for each apartment line. The number of rooms listed for each apartment is exactly the same as the number of rooms Stellar listed when it applied for submetering. Stellar must be consistent - so even if your rent registration form lists a different number of rooms, the number below is what DHCR is using. Check page 2 of the DHCR order for your apartment to confirm.

The permanent increase is PERMANENT and will not be rolled back.
The retroactive payment will only be included until that amount is paid in full.

Under no circumstances can Stellar charge you more than 6% increase over your lease amount for the MCI in one year (beginning February 1, 2011).

APARTMENT LINE	PERMANENT MONTHLY INCREASE	RETROACTIVE PAYMENT for 10 months (June 1, 2010 through March 31, 2011) If your lease was renewed between June 1, 2010 and April 1, 2011, contact Fran Schiff at Stellar before March 18, 2011 for the corrected figure. Otherwise this figure does not change.
A line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
B line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
C line = 5 rooms	$ 38.35	$ 383.50
D line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
E line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
F line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
G line - 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
H line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
J line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
K line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
L line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
M line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
N line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
P line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
R line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80
S line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
T line = 5 rooms	$ 38.35	$ 383.50
U line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 230.10
V line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 306.80

If you want to pay off the retroactive amount at one time, call or e-mail Francine Schiff at Stellar, 212-406-0030, fschiff@stellarmanagement.com to verify the retroactive amount. You can ask her to include the full amount in the April bill - or leave things as they are (maximum 6% per year increase).

________________

(2) U or P case

On February 17, 2011, the state's housing agency formally denied Stellar's application for "unique or peculiar circumstances" increases. That is an ADMINISTRATIVE (as opposed to COURT) decision. Stellar has 35 days to file an appeal within DHCR if it chooses.

We now have on our side:

DHCR's administrative decision (the February 17, 2011 notice sent to your mailbox)

DHCR's court victory in the State Supreme Court - the NYS lowest general court

DHCR court victory in the Appellate Division - the NYS mid-level court.

The only owner who appealed to the Appellate Division, Steve Witkoff of Columbus 95 (95 W. 95th Street), had until 5 PM on Friday, February 18, 2011 to file an appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals. (We're waiting to hear whether he did or didn't.)

Pre-Valentine's Day Fundraiser a SUCCESS!

2011-02-14T17:31:00.000-08:00

The pre-Valentine's Day fundraiser was a great success!

We raised over $ 3,700 on Sunday - and

Sent about 100 cards each to Speaker Sheldon Silver thanking him for supporting renewing & strengthening rent regulation and Gov. Cuomo - urging him to support it.

Thanks go to Rosa Delgado and Debbie Gonzalez for organizing the evening, and to all those who staffed the table in the lobby on Sunday:

Wassie Ayalew, Laurie Barton, Rosa Delgado, Andrew Dubin, Debbie Gonzalez, Steve Koulish, Helen Merber, Greg Murray, Lydia Pitsirilos, and Maxine Soares.

THANKS!

Sat. Feb. 19 - Bus to Albany for Tenant Rally!

2011-02-10T17:20:00.000-08:00

Get on the Bus to Albany!

SATURDAY, FEB. 19, 2011

for a

RALLY to RENEW & STRENGTHEN the RENT LAWS!

The rally will be held as part of the annual Black, Latino & Asian Caucus in Albany

at 3 PM

Meeting Room 6, off the Concourse of the Legislative Office Building in Albany.

The Rent Stabilization Law for our building EXPIRES on June 15, 2011. We need it renewed and strengthened before that date.

Real Rent Reform Campaign buses will be leaving from the Upper West Side (95th & Broadway - from the McDonald's). Contact Larry Wood if you'd like to get on the bus.

So far, the State Assembly has an "Omnibus Rent bill" that has a chance of passage in that house (go to www.save-ml.org for more information on it) - but we need to talk to BOTH Senators and Assembly Members about it.

Contact Mary Tek for more information at mtek@tandn.org.

Review of the Manhattan Town Hall Meeting on Rent Regulation

2011-02-07T09:31:00.000-08:00

Last week's Manhattan Town Meeting hosted by the Real Rent Reform Campaign had a terrific turnout: over 300 people all told, with at least 8 from our building.

The Assembly Members spoke about what they would do to ensure renewal and strengthening of the rent laws. (These laws EXPIRE on June 15, 2011!!!!) The Assembly Members who spoke included:

Danny O'Donnell - our Assembly Member, told Governor Cuomo that he would not even READ the property tax cap bill until rent regulation renewal and strengthening was passed, and has shared that view with Speaker Sheldon Silver. Go, Danny!

Linda Rosenthal of the Upper West Side is the prime sponsor of the vacancy decontrol and Mitchell-Lama bills (in slightly altered form they're part of the Omnibus Rent Bill) She heads the Mitchell-Lama Subcommittee of the Assembly's Housing Committee. She noted that we NEED these bills to save our homes - and mentioned that she sleeps in her red R3 t-shirt (and thus verified a statement her colleague made at the Jan. 20th hearing: that Linda Rosenthal lives, breathes and sleeps real rent reform!). What would we do without her!

Guillermo Linares of Washington Heights, the newest member of the Assembly, movingly spoke about the people coming to his district office for help - two-thirds of whom are there because of housing problems. (View a short clip: Assembly member Linares (en español)

Deborah Glick of the West Village noted that owners and their lawyers routinely violate the law by challenging "primary residency" (whether the tenant actually is living in that apartment) in the middle of lease terms. (This is against the law, which limits such challenges to when leases are supposed to be renewed.) She wants to challenge the lawyers through the NYS Attorney General's office and his hoping Eric Schneiderman will be receptive. (That's good, but
we need to know how she will ensure the renewal and strengthening of the rent laws this year!! If they expire, lease challenge provisions will be irrelevant.)

Brian Kavanagh of the Lower East Side (who represents Stuyvesant Town among other developments) exhorted tenants to stay on top of what their legislators are ACTUALLY doing - not just what they're saying. See a video clip of him speaking on 421-a - a tax-break provision that developers love and that expires this year too - making it an obvious choice for leverage. (Here's another video clip of Brian Kavanagh speaking on Mayor Bloomberg and the rent laws.)

Keith Wright likened the Assembly Members there to a basketball team for rent regulation renewal, with Linda Rosenthal as the forward and Richard Gottlieb as the captain - and urged everyone to come up to Albany in those easily identifiable red "R3" (Real Rent Reform)
shirts. If you have one and go to Albany, wear it. In the meantime, the R3 campaign is figuring out how to come up with more! (And if you get on the bus to Albany and don't already have a shirt, they'll give you one!)

See R3 shirt at the right (modeled by Pat Coleman)

Richard Gottfried, the Assembly Member present who has been in Albany the longest fighting for tenants (among other excellent causes), told of his ambitions for tenants (rent regulation protections for all!) that go even beyond the Omnibus bill. Assembly member Gottfried says he withhold support of 421a. (See a video clip.)

The video clips were filmed by Bennett Baumer of the R3 campaign.

If you have friends in Brooklyn, tell them about the Brooklyn Town Hall Meeting on Rent Regulation on February 17th at 6 PM at the Lafayette Avenue Presbyterian Church,
85 S. Oxford Street at Lafayette Avenue.

This Thursday - Town Hall Mtg at Goddard-Riverside on Renewing Rent Laws

2011-02-01T10:33:00.000-08:00

The Real Rent Reform Campaign is hosting a Town Hall Meeting in our Neighborhood on

RENEWING & STRENGTHENING

OUR RENT LAWS

Thursday, Feb. 3rd

at 7 PM

at the Goddard-Riverside Community Center, 593 Columbus Ave. at 88th St.

Talk directly to the State Assembly Members from Manhattan

In June 2011, all NYS rent protections will expire.

The rent laws must be RENEWED and STRENGTHENED:

Full Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol;

Extend Rent Protections to all Mitchell-Lama & Section 8 buildings that leave government programs.

Those Assembly Members with a * listed below have sponsored a bill to renew rent regulation, protect tenants in former Mitchell-Lamas, and repeal vacancy decontrol. But passing it is only the first step. We and they together must work to ensure this is a "must" bill for the NYS Senate and Governor as well.

Join tenant and housing advocates from across Manhattan for this critical borough-wide meeting. Come for the latest updates from Albany and to strategize with our allies on how to protect our homes!

New York State Assembly Members Representing Manhattan (all invited). Here are the photos, so you'll know whom to THANK (with apologies for odd formatting on this website! ) - and urge them to help make this bill a MUST for the State Senate too.


Daniel O'Donnell*

Linda Rosenthal*


Keith Wright*

Speaker Sheldon Silver*

Richard Gottfried*

Herman Farrell*

Deborah Glick*

Jonathan Bing*

Brian Kavanagh

Micah Kellner

Guillermo Linares

Robert Rodriguez

For more information: Real Rent Reform www.realrentreform.org

212-608-4320 x316, 212-979-6238 x200

Let's walk over there together (slowly and carefully!).

Heat and Hot Water

2011-01-30T11:04:00.000-08:00

To achieve those temperatures, the boilers cycle on and off - just like an oven maintaining a steady temperature. So touching the radiator at a given time is not the way to see if Stellar is in violation of the law. (It is a way to see if the radiator itself is not working - if it stays cold to the touch for hours. In that case, fill out a repair requisition at the guard's desk in the lobby.)

Use a digital indoor thermometer to see if the temperature in your apartment is BELOW THE LEGAL LIMIT for that time of day. If it is, please

(1) Call Stellar and tell them. If no improvement after an hour,

(2) Call 311. (You may do it anonymously if you choose, but then no inspector will come to your apartment.)

(3) Get a reference number and give it to Sue.

Note that the City generally gives owners a period of about 24 hours to fix a broken boiler before issuing a violation.

MCI Order from DHCR

2011-01-28T14:10:00.000-08:00

January 28, 2011

All rent stabilized tenants should receive today or tomorrow DHCR's grant of a small portion of Stellar's Major Capital Improvement (MCI) application. Stellar asked for over $22 a room, and DHCR granted $7.67. (Click here for a notice given to a 3-bedroom apartment tenant.)

Since this was not included in the February rent bills, just pay the regular February rent bill to Stellar.

Toward the end of next week, we'll be distributing a full explanation of the MCI and how it affects each apartment.

- The Executive Committee
Sue, Na'ava, Joan, Rich, Steve, Greg

Summary of the January 19, 2011 meeting

2011-01-22T11:13:00.000-08:00

[This summary has been revised as of Jan. 30, 2011. ]

The meeting began with a moment of silence for Mona Goodman, who died at the age of 71 on January 6, 2011.

MAJOR CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT CASE - DHCR (now called HCR) has granted Stellar an MCI increase of $7.67 per room for rent stabilized tenants - just a fraction of the $22+ that Stellar had requested. Given our tenant association's strong response, Stellar got nothing for any of the work covered by our escrow account when we left Mitchell-Lama, nor for submetering.   This does not affect market-rate tenants.

This increase is just a tad over 6% of our rents and 6% is the maximum MCI increase that can be added to our rents in a given year.

Our rents will go up the full 6% beginning March 1, 2011, (to cover the permanent increase and a small part of the retroactive payment) and the year after, will go up TEMPORARILY to cover the rest of the retroactive payments due from June 2010 through the month of February 2011 (The HCR orders say that the retroactive amount they give covers 8 months - but Stellar did not charge us for the MCI on the February rent bill.) The temporary increase should be dropped once the retroactive payments are made. (A bill pending in the NYS Assembly would roll back even "permanent" MCI payments once the improvement is fully paid for.)

The apartment increases will be:

*APARTMENT LINE*	*PERMANENT MONTHLY* *INCREASE*	*RETROACTIVE PAYMENT for 9 months*
A Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
B Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
C Line = 5 rooms	$ 38.35	$ 345.15
D Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
E Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
F Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
G Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
H Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
J Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
K Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
L Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
M Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
N Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
P Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
R Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12
S Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
T Line = 5 rooms	$ 38.35	$ 345.15
U Line = 3 rooms	$ 23.01	$ 207.09
V Line = 4 rooms	$ 30.68	$ 276.12

This increase likely does not apply to SCRIE or DRIE tenants - but check with the city agency at 311.

"UNIQUE OR PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES" CASE - In 2005, Stellar applied to increase our initial rent stabilized rents under a loophole in the law that put our building into rent stabilization. (They sought increases of 3 to 5 times the rents.) The Emergency Tenant Protection Act permits either the owner or the tenant to ask the state's housing agency (DHCR) to adjust the rent under "unique or peculiar circumstances" ("U or P" - and sometimes called "U and P"). But in 2007, DHCR adopted a regulation stating that just losing money because the building is taken out of Mitchell-Lama is not a "U or P" circumstance. If the owner fails to make a fair profit, he can always apply for an extra rent increase under the law's "hardship" provision - which would require that he open his books for examination.

Larry Gluck, his former partner Steve Witkoff (who owns Columbus 95, at 95 W. 95th St.), and other landlords sued DHCR, claiming the regulation was invalid, and even if it was valid, that their U or P applications should be dealt with based on policy before the regulation was passed. The State Supreme Court (actually the lowest-level general court) upheld the regulation's validity - and noted that the regulation expressed prior DHCR policy. Witkoff appealed, and on December 28, 2010, the Appellate Division unanimously affirmed, ruling the regulation valid. Witkoff can seek permission from the Appellate Division or from the Court of Appeals (the state's highest court) to appeal.

DHCR and the tenants are likely to prevail in this case, which is simply about the validity of a state agency's regulation. (That's different from the KSLM-Columbus case concerning Westgate down the block, where the court was asked to figure out DHCR policy in the absence of a regulation.) While the court cases have gone on, the courts have "stayed" (halted) DHCR's determination of pending applications.

Stellar is evidently trying to distance itself from its earlier U or P court cases. (Click here for a chart of the various U or P cases to date.) The Real Deal reported,

Stellar, led by developer Laurence Gluck, denied that the ruling would
impact any of his buildings.

"Stellar has never employed "unique and peculiar" circumstances in setting their rents," said a Stellar spokesperson, in an e-mailed statement. "Unfortunately despite abandoning these proceedings years ago, Stellar's name could not be removed from the caption for legal procedure reasons."

To underline that point, someone from Stellar even called the head of another tenant association in the neighborhood to tell him to remove from his blog some mention that "Stellar" had lost this appeal. Talk about heavy handed!

Even if we win this case outright, however, that will only leave us with a valid regulation. Since regulations can be changed more easily than the statutes they implement, we could use a statute! See Part K of the Omnibus Rent Bill that the Assembly is now considering.

So come to the Town Hall Meeting with all the NYS Assembly Members from Manhattan to get their support - and kick off the Real Rent Reform Campaign:

Thursday, FEBRUARY 3, 2011
7:00 - 9 PM
Goddard-Riverside Community Center, 593 Columbus Ave. at 88th St.

The REAL RENT REFORM (R3) CAMPAIGN, of which our tenant association is a member, wants renewal of the rent, co-op and eviction laws that expire in June 2011 (under 5 months away) - without the weakening that the Real Estate lobby would prefer. That includes:

repealing vacancy decontrol (which would re-stabilized the apartments of market-rate tenants in our building and roll back their rents to what they were on December 31, 2006)
putting into rent stabilization all buildings leaving or that have left Mitchell-Lama or Section 8 projects, regardless of the year they were built and without "U or P" increases.

R3 is made of more than 30 groups (community , tenant, labor, religious, and other), and is working with elected officials at all levels, as well as with the media and groups that are not yet members.

Four people from our building attended the R3 Candlelight Vigil at City Hall on Jan. 3rd, and two went to the NYS Assembly Hearing on Rent Regulation on Jan. 20th and submitted testimony.

ANNUAL APARTMENT REGISTRATION FORMS - The forms that Stellar filed with DHCR (and sent copies of to each tenant) are incorrect for those whose rents have been reduced because of submetering overcharges. Francine Schiff said Stellar would file corrected forms - but so far we have not yet seen them. The Tenants' Association will be taking legal action if the forms are not corrected. However, DHCR recognizes that the forms are what the landlord says, and not necessarily accurate. If your form is inaccurate in any other way (not just the rent amount), please contact Stellar directly.

SUBMETERING OVERCHARGE COMPLAINTS - If you have not yet submitted one, and you had an appliance surcharge under Mitchell-Lama that became rolled into your rent stabilized rent, please

contact Stellar to get a resident ledger for your apartment, and when you have it
contact Sue for an appointment to prepare the complaint.

If your rent bill continues to show a minus sign (" - ") before the words "Amount due," you do not owe anything.

FINANCIAL REPORT - It's a new year, so it's time for dues ($25 per apartment if you are just joining and $10 per apartment thereafter) and legal fund contributions.

We ask for $100 per apartment (or more!) for the legal fund and appreciate whatever you can give.

We will be having a Valentine's Day fundraiser in the lobby - so please volunteer (contact Rosa), for what will be a very sweet day!.

BUILDING SECURITY - The doormen / guards seem to be providing more security by asking people to use the intercom. If your intercom is not working, please fill out a requisition slip at the guard's desk. Building manager Lu Pedraza had said that he would have metal strips put over the openings on the outside doors leading to the stairwells, but so far that has not happened.

NEIGHBORHOOD - Community Board 7, which provides advice to the Borough President, has taken a position supporting the renewal of rent regulation. Apparently because of confusion between vacancy decontrol and high income (luxury) decontrol, it has not yet taken a position on that issue. To clarify the issue:

VACANCY DECONTROL: When an apartment is vacant, regardless of the rent of the previous tenant, the owner gets an automatic increase (usually 20%), and then must put in improvements worth at least 40 times the difference between the rent and the $2000 level required to get the apartment out of rent regulation. However, since this is

on the honor system, and
it is up to the new tenant to challenge the amount of money put in, and
DHCR does not have the staffing to investigate every claim,

as a practical matter owners have been known to put in much less and permanently take apartments out of rent regulation. (Owners have also been known to harass tenants out, motivated by the difference between the rental income from a tenant paying $600 a month and one paying $3800 a month.) This has nothing to do with the income of the tenants. Our building has lost about 30 apartments from rent regulation this way since January 2005. This is the single most important way that rent regulated housing becomes unaffordable.

HIGH INCOME DECONTROL : This would rarely apply in our building, since it requires BOTH that the stabilized rents be at least $2000 and the household income at least $175,000 for two consecutive years. There is a myth that most rent stabilized apartments are occupied by wealthy people. In fact, only a tiny percentage of apartments are subject to "luxury" decontrol. The vast majority of tenants occupying rent regulated housing are low and middle-income. About 40% of rent stabilized tenants are in fact below the poverty line, according to the Legal Aid Society's Steve Banks.

Tenant Paul Fisher is on Community Board 7 and has stood up for the repeal of vacancy decontrol. He urges tenants to come to the Housing Committee hearing in February (date to be determined) and then to the full CB7 meeting the following month on this issue.

- The Executive Committee

NYS Assembly introduces Omnibus Bill

2011-01-19T22:54:00.000-08:00

The NYS Assembly introduced an omnibus rent bill on January 19, 2011.

Among other things (and subject to further study of the bill in detail), it appears to

renew rent regulation

bar "Unique or Peculiar" increases in former Mitchell-Lamas and in former Project-based Section 8 buildings - all of which would go into rent stabilization regardless of the year built

repeal vacancy decontrol & roll back rents in previously regulated apartments to what they were in Dec. 2006

end Major Capital Improvement surcharges once the improvement is paid for

and do many other things. IF the bill passes the Assembly, it would then have to pass the State Senate and be signed into law by the governor.

Below is a quick summary part by part. Click here for a Real Rent Reform memorandum in support of the bill.

The bill is divided into parts A through K:

Part A
Reform of the "owner use" eviction provisions, limits recovery to one apartment, procedural reforms including requirement that landlord prove immediate and compelling need.

Part B
Reduces statutory vacancy bonus from 20 to 10 percent, limits collection to once per calendar year.

Part C Allows a declaration of emergency for former Section 8 buildings, prohibits rent increases based on unique or peculiar circumstances (does not apply to Section 8 buildings that have already left Section 8).

Part D
Repeals the Urstadt Law, thereby restoring full home rule powers over rent and eviction regulation to New York City.

Part E
Extends Rent Regulation:, the Emergency Tenant Protection Act of 1974, state rent control (including the Albany chapter of 1963), the three-county coop/condo conversion protection law, and the New York City coop/condo conversion protection law to June 15, 2016.

Part F
Reforms individual apartment improvement program by reducing the rent increase that can be added to an individual tenant's rent from 1/40the the cost to 1/60th, plus procedural provisions.

Part G
Repeals high rent vacancy decontrol, re-regulates apartments in suburbs that rented on or after January 1, 2007 for less than $5,000 per month (New York City) or less than $3,500 per month (suburbs); at current rent if vacancy occurred prior to January 1, 2007 or at legal rent in effect December 31, 2006 plus legal rent increases if vacancy occurred on or after January 1, 2007.

Part H
Reforms preferential rent provisions to prohibit landlords from raising preferential rent to legal rent upon lease renewal; allows increase to legal rent upon vacancy if vacancy was not caused by failure of landlord to maintain habitability.

Part I
Increases from three to six years the ownership requirement before landlords can qualify for rent increase under the alternate hardship provisions of the Omnibus Housing Act of 1983.

Part J
Reforms major capital improvement program by making MCI rent increases temporary surcharges, not to be compounded with base rent, and ending when landlord has recovered the cost of the improvement; procedural changes.

Part K
Allows a declaration of emergency for former Mitchell-Lama buildings, including those already taken out of Mitchell-Lama, prohibits rent increases based on unique or peculiar circumstances. (This bill would not roll back rents in post-1973 buildings whose rents were already doubled and tripled when they were taken out of Mitchell-Lama.)

Click on www.save-ml.org for a fuller discussion, with a part-by-part summary.

Save the DATES: Jan. 19 - Gen. Tenants Meeting, Jan. 20 -- NYS Assembly Hearing; Jan. 27 - Town Hall, R3 Campaign

2011-01-10T05:49:00.000-08:00

Old tenants, new tenants, young tenants & old tenants (and those in between) are invited to our

GENERAL TENANTS MEETING

Wednesday, January 19, 2011

at 8 PM in the Community Room.

We'll discuss

the recent "U or P" victory and what it means for us
the Real Rent Reform Campaign's success in its NYS Assembly campaign - and the upcoming Town Hall meeting at Goddard-Riverside with many Assembly Members (Thursday, Jan. 27 from 7:00-8:30 PM, 598 Col. Ave. at 88th St.)
building security

and more.

Got an issue to raise? You can contact any member of the Executive Committee and let us know, or just raise it at the meeting.

And the next day, Jan. 20th, the NYS Assembly's Housing Committee will be holding a hearing on affordable housing - and it's our moment to speak out (to a sympathetic committee). Click on http://assembly.state.ny.us/comm/Housing/20101221/ for details, or to register to speak. Sue will be driving down for the hearing that begins at 1 pm - and is happy to take some neighbors.

We Won at APPELLATE DIVISION on U or P CASE!!!!

2010-12-28T11:31:00.000-08:00

HURRAH!!

As we worked hard for, the state's mid-level court - the same court that issued the "unique or peculiar" decision that started our problems - has supported us unanimously. This affects not only us but tenants in some 60 buildings. The landlords whose tenants brought the case own these buildings:

Boulevard Towers I (now Stellar 2020 LLC)
Bruckner Towers (now Stellar Bruckner LLC)
Central Park Gardens (now West 97th St. Realty Corp.)
Columbus House (95 W. 95th st.)
Columbus Manor LLC (70 W. 93rd St.)
Dancia - 1889 Sedgwick (now Stellar Sedgwick LLC)
Janel Towers LLC (Bronx)
Hempstead Plaza (now Hempstead Stellar Plaza LLC)
Highbridge House (now Highbridge House Ogden LLC)
New Amsterdam (now Axton)
Noble Mansion (now Noble Mansion Associates LLC)
River Park (now Stellar Morrison LLC)
Town House West Apts (now Town House West , LLC)
Undercliff (now Stellar Undercliff LLC)
Westview (now 765 Amsterdam Ave LLC)
Westwood House, LLC

The Appellate Division, First Department (the state's mid-level court covering Manhattan and the Bronx), has ruled VALID the state's housing agency regulation that says that just leaving Mitchell-Lama is NOT by itself a "unique or peculiar circumstance" justifying a big rent increase. You can read the court decision at
http://www.courts.state.ny.us/reporter/3dseries/2010/2010_09569.htm .

This applies to all buildings constructed before 1974 that have been (or will be) taken out of Mitchell-Lama. Those buildings go into rent stabilization under the 1974 Emergency Tenant Protection Act. A loophole in that law says that in "unique or peculiar circumstances" the state's housing agency can adjust the first stabilized rent. The definition of what those "circumstances" are was at stake. Landlords claimed that just leaving Mitchell-Lama qualified, while the courts (and the tenants) pointed out that "unique or peculiar" (sometimes called "unique and peculiar" or U&P) means what it says: a few, not every apartment coming out of the program.

Thanks to David Hershey-Webb of Himmelstein, McConnell, Gribben,Donoghue & Joseph, the attorney for the Columbus House Tenants Association who wrote the brief and argued the case on appeal to the Appellate Division. (The other tenant associations - including ours - were not permitted to remain as "intervening parties" at this level, although they had been at the lower State Supreme Court level.) It is extremely likely that the owners will try to appeal to the state's highest court, the Court of Appeals.

But what a nice victory to savor right now!

Candlelight Vigil - Monday, Jan. 3rd to Save our Homes

2010-12-23T17:42:00.000-08:00

Candlelight Vigil

Join your fellow tenants and community leaders,

Assembly Housing chair Vito Lopez

and other elected officials

Tell Governor-elect Andrew Cuomo and our state legislators

that our

RENT LAWS need to be RENEWED and STRENGTHENED:

*Full Repeal of Vacancy Decontrol.

*Extend Rent Protections to all Mitchell-Lama and

Section 8 buildings taken out of government programs.

Monday, January 3, 2011, 6:00 pm sharp!

(get there are 5:30 to go through security)

City Hall Steps, Manhattan

Bring signs, banners, neighbors and warm clothes!

On June 15, 2011, state rent protection laws will expire, threatening the stability of NYC and suburban neighborhoods and putting HUNDREDS of THOUSANDS of New York residents at risk of losing their homes. Join us as we call on Governor Cuomo and NYS legislators to strengthen and renew our rent laws NOW!

Meet Steve Koulish in the lobby at 4:30 PM and go down together!

For more information:

Anderson Fils-Aimé

Tenants Political Action Committee (347) 392-9851

For the Real Rent Reform Campaign andersonfilsaime@yahoo.com

Cards for Cuomo, Governor-Elect - We got lots and lots!

2010-12-19T20:51:00.000-08:00

Photo by Dan Bryk

Tenants in this building really came through, and we've gotten over 150 cards for Governor-Elect Cuomo. Some were sent off before we could count them, and some tenants sent their own. Tenants offered cards (so we went through some 150 -) and stamps.

Photo by Dan Bryk

Thanks to: Renée Belzile, Paulie Fisher, Linda Greenman, Monica Jenkins, Patricia Jordan, Steve Koulish, Jesse Poppick, Eve Posen, Carmen Reyes, Claude Saucier, Maxine Soares - and anyone and everyone who sat at the table! And thanks to the many, many tenants who signed cards at the table, sent off their own cards, contributed money for postage and cards, contributed cards, and joined in the fun. (Some took a cookie or two.)

Photo by Dan Bryk

If you'd like to send a holiday card to Governor-Elect Cuomo but haven't gotten around to it, you can write your own - or contact Sue and get a pre-printed card that you just have to sign (and print your name and address on) and send off.

Click here for a sample card .

With the other buildings and groups sending Cards to Cuomo, there should be big stacks of cards on Governor-Elect Cuomo's desk before he takes office!

Summary of Nov. 17, 2010 General Tenants Meeting

2010-12-16T21:33:00.000-08:00

The meeting began with State Senator Bill Perkins giving some general information about what he does and the legislature, and then focusing in on questions. Sue noted that Sen. Perkins is one of the few senators who stood up for tenants when no one else would.

Given the uncertainty of which party would control the State Senate at the time, he was unwilling to speculate about specifics. (He was confident that the Democrats would win all three disputed seats, but in fact only one went to the Democrats while two went the Republicans – with one of those still being contested.)

He urged that tenants be active in the coalition (the Real Rent Reform – or “R3” campaign) of tenant groups and that we tell our representatives loud and clear what we want and need. He said he expected angry letters on his desk by January 1st from tenants – letters he could then show John Sampson (who would have been the Democratic majority leader had the Democrats held the majority).
And he said we should tell Governor-elect Cuomo what we need.

As a consequence, the tenant association has maintained its membership in the R3 Campaign (this year they required $500 dues, which our board approved in its December 8, 2010 meeting). Steve Koulish has joined R3’s Legislative Committee and Sue Susman is on the Communications Committee.

And part of the very first R3 action is to send holiday cards to Governor-elect Cuomo telling him what we need to make our New Year happy:

Renewal of the rent regulation laws, which expire in June 2011. (They are always renewed, but with anti-tenant people holding the State Senate, the laws may well be diluted further, in the landlords’ favor.)
Repeal of vacancy decontrol (that lets owners take apartments out of rent regulation once they’re vacant and if the owner makes improvements to raise the rent to $2000 or more). It could put market rate tenants back into rent stabilization, and
Protection of tenants in former Mitchell-Lamas and Section 8 buildings from big rent increases.

(Check out the R3 Facebook page too!)

So tenants later arranged to gather in the lobby on Saturday, Dec. 18 and Sunday, Dec. 19 to share a little holiday spirit and collect holiday cards.

Steve Koulish then announced that we’ve won the submetering overcharge case. Stellar has credited those tenants who already received DHCR orders resolving their cases. Those who have not yet filed still have time. If you had appliance surcharges under Mitchell-Lama that were rolled into your first rent stabilized rent, contact Sue for help putting the complaint together. Your first step: get a copy of the tenant ledger from Stellar Management down at 70 West 93rd Street. Then call Sue to set up an appointment. Why pay more than you have to?

Since tenants got back hundreds and in some cases a few thousand dollars (those who paid more in appliance surcharges got back more), we urge that those tenants and others contribute $100 (each year) toward the legal fund that made it possible.

The Major Capital Improvement (MCI) application that Stellar filed is still pending. Our lawyer filed his response in September- and we have not heard anything yet. It may well be that there will be some increase, but we hope it will substantially below the $18 per room that Stellar requested. This will not affect market-rate tenants.

Joan Browne gave a financial report – and thanked Rosa Delgado and Debbie Gonzalez for their fundraising work on October 30th at which we raised over $4000.

Save the date: Monday, Jan. 3, 2011, join the R3 campaign’s candlelight vigil (with handwarmers, we hope!) in front of City Hall at 6 PM. Several of our elected officials will be there to set forth what we really need – and to point out that despite the fairy tales of landlords and the now-indicted Pedro Espada, rent regulation is not a subsidy, but a way to level the playing field between tenants and landlords.

Our next General Tenants Meeting will be January 19, 2011 at 8 PM in the Community Room. Old and new tenants welcome!

CENTRAL PARK GARDENS TENANTS' ASSOCIATION

Neighbor: Pat Neely performs Feb. 16

Gotham Early Music Scene

Abendmusik ~ Thursday, February 16 at 7 pm

Holy Trinity Lutheran Church 65th Street and Central Park West

Building Update - following meeting with Stellar

Occupy REBNY - Thurs., Jan. 19 at 6 PM

Summary of General Tenants Meeting of January 11, 2012

Harmon Case Challenges Rent Laws - Hear Speaker on Jan. 11, 2012

R3 Bus to Albany Thursday, Dec. 8, 2011

Have a good Thanksgiving!

Summary of the General Tenants Meeting of Nov. 16, 2011

Redistricting: Common Cause speaker at General Tenants Meeting

Sad News: Richard Geller died.

Building Issues - Report of Oct. 13 Meeting with Builidng Manager

Summary & Update - General Tenants Meeting - September 2011

Come to the General Tenants Meeting - Wed. Sept. 21, 2011

Tenant on US Musical Tour to Middle East / North Africa

Rent Guidelines Board increases

New Rent Law Passed - No Weakening, Slightly Stronger

Summary of General Tenants Meeting May 11, 2011

Rent Laws Expired - Tenants Safe for Now - Call Albany

Albany - What do we NEED?

What a Pot Luck Party!!!

POT LUCK this SATURDAY, 6-8 PM in the BACKYARD

General Tenants Meeting - Wed, May 11 at 8 PM in the Community Room

Big Events in Next 2 Weeks - Including our Tenants Meeting May 11th!

Petition Governor Cuomo

(1) Petition Governor Cuomo

Photo by Muhamed Ibrahim(2) Join the Real Rent Reform Campaign in Albany on Tuesday, May 3, 2011!

Sneak preview: May 11th General Tenants Meeting

Stellar appealing for more MCI $$

April rent bills

Summary of the General Tenants Meeting - March 16, 2011

Rent Law Battle Heating Up

Coming Wednesday: General Tenants Meeting!

SCRIE & DRIE Tenants & the MCI

Call or Write Governor Cuomo

Our building & neighbor in West Side Spirit report

West Side Spirit

An Apartment as a Lifeline

Rent Stabilized tenants: Calculate your MCI increase (more or less)

General Tenants Meeting - Wed., March 16, 2011

MCI & U or P:

Pre-Valentine's Day Fundraiser a SUCCESS!

Sat. Feb. 19 - Bus to Albany for Tenant Rally!

Review of the Manhattan Town Hall Meeting on Rent Regulation

This Thursday - Town Hall Mtg at Goddard-Riverside on Renewing Rent Laws

Heat and Hot Water

MCI Order from DHCR

Summary of the January 19, 2011 meeting

NYS Assembly introduces Omnibus Bill

Save the DATES: Jan. 19 - Gen. Tenants Meeting, Jan. 20 -- NYS Assembly Hearing; Jan. 27 - Town Hall, R3 Campaign

We Won at APPELLATE DIVISION on U or P CASE!!!!

Candlelight Vigil - Monday, Jan. 3rd to Save our Homes

Cards for Cuomo, Governor-Elect - We got lots and lots!

Summary of Nov. 17, 2010 General Tenants Meeting

Photo by Muhamed Ibrahim
(2) Join the Real Rent Reform Campaign in Albany
on Tuesday, May 3, 2011!