McKee's Media - 12/20/2019

ARTICLES OF INTEREST TO TENANT ADVOCATES

HEAT SENSORS TEST

Shant Shahrigian: HPD will install heat sensors in the 50 residences with the most heat & hot water violations, under new City Council bill (Daily News)

WAREHOUSING VACANT STABILIZED APARTMENTS / TENANT ACTION
Josh Barbanel: NYC landlords slow-walk apartment upgrades, blame new rent law (Wall Street Journal)

Sabina Mollot: More tenants asserting rent overcharge claims as landlords delay filing non-payment cases in NYC Housing Court (Real Estate Weekly)

REZONING

Elizabeth Kim: In huge defeat for de Blasio, judge knocks down Inwood rezoning (Gothamist)

Daniel Geiger: Manhattan Borough President Gale Brewer rejects plan to rezone Lenox Terrace apartment complex (Crain's)

MCIs
Georgia Kromrei: Tenants call for moratorium on MCI rent increases until DHCR issues new regulations to implement 2019 reforms (The Real Deal)

LANDLORDS' WISH LIST / HOW ALBANY COULD PUNISH THEM
Will Bredderman: Landlord group releases 2020 legislative wish list (Crain's)

Georgia Kromrei: Five ways Albany could punish real estate in 2020 (The Real Deal)

TECHNOLOGY - GOOD AND BAD
Michael McKee: How your landlord can use smart access technology to track you (New York Times OpEd)

CITY OF ALBANY's RENT REGULATION PLAN

Michael DeMasi: Albany Common Council approves vacancy study, first step to opting into state rent regulations (Albany Business Review)
News10: Albany Common Council votes to approve vacancy survey (VIDEO)

HOMELESS
Kathryn Brenzel: New York City Council passes homeless set-aside bill; developers must reserve 15 percent of new city-funded apartments (The Real Deal)

WORST LANDLORDS
Daily News: NYCHA is NYC's worst landlord for second year as Public Advocate Jumaane Williams issues list

Claudia Irizarry Aponte: Brooklyn non-profit again number 2 on worst landlord watchlist (The City)

Anna Quinn: Bed-Stuy building with 980 HPD violations is worst building in NYC (Patch)

Greg Smith: How NYCHA lead & repair scams started under Mike Bloomberg's mayoral watch (The City)
Greg Smith: NYC spent $3M for advice on public housing that it had already paid $10M for (The City) 

Nolan Hicks: Angry NYCHA residents slam de Blasio over plan to demolish buildings & partially privatize Fulton Houses (New York Post)

EUROPEAN HOUSING

New York Times: Europe fears a housing bubble as sale prices surge, prompting new rent controls & subsidized housing
Feargus O'Sullivan: Berlin's strict new rent control law kicks in on January 1, faces legal challenges (CityLab)

MISCELLANEOUS

Qns.com: Gov. Cuomo signs Gianaris bill raising NYC small claims court jurisdiction from $5K to $10K
News10: Cuomo signs bill to combat zombie properties (VIDEO)

Ethan Geringer-Sameth: Delay in issuing proposals for reform of NYC property tax system lessons chances of getting this done in Albany in 2020 (Gotham Gazette)  

Valeria Ricciulli: Queens saw biggest spike in NYC median asking rents in the last decade, Bronx was second (Curbed NY)

Linda O'Flanagan: Retail brokers worry about commercial rent control as they claim that market equilibrium has returned (Real Estate Weekly) 

Ryan Whalen: VOCAL Rochester organizer Kim Smith will run for western NY state senate seat being vacated by GOP incumbent Ranzenhofer 

Zach Williams: De Blasio unveils plan to get homeless New Yorkers off the streets, but is he passing the buck to the next mayor?

DISABLED/SENIORS 
Kathryn Brenzel: New York City Council considers bill to require landlords to install grab bars for seniors & people with disabilities (The Real Deal)
Sabina Mollot: Seniors get cold shoulder as real estate icon's charity announces closing of Hell's Kitchen senior citizen residence (Real Estate Weekly)


The Guardian: Know your rental rights in the U.S.: Four valuable facts to keep handy

Michael McKee
Treasurer
Tenants Political Action Committee
mmckee@tenantspac.org 
www.tenantspac.org