Mayor Bill de Blasio signed a bill Monday that extends the city’s rent stabilization laws for another three years.
The mayor implored Albany to also follow the city’s suit as the Urstadt Law of 1971 comes up for renewal this June. The city extension will only stick if the state renews the law.
The city’s 2014 Housing Survey found that the rental vacancy rate is 3.45%, indicating a housing emergency.
“Rent regulations are vital to protecting New Yorkers from displacement and keeping our communities whole,” he said in a statement. “We will fight alongside our partners in the City Council and our delegation in the State Legislature to ensure we have the tools we need to preserve more than a million rent stabilized apartments.”
Under the city’s rent regulation laws, rents in certain units cannot exceed $2,500 a month and the tenant’s gross income must not exceed $200,000.
Housing advocates want the Legislature to tweak the law to close some loopholes that allow landlords to destabilize the rents. Landlords, however, want to see less regulation to offset taxes and other ownership costs.
City Councilman Jumaane Williams, Chair of the Housing and Buildings Committee, said the city’s law will send a message to Albany.
“It’s my hope that with this legislation passed, our state legislators hear the council’s recommendations loud and clear,” he said in a statement.
